Christmas Truce 1914: Amazing Photos of British and German Troops Meeting in No Man's Land During the Western Front

Late on Christmas Eve 1914, men of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) heard German troops in the trenches opposite them singing carols and patriotic songs and saw lanterns and small fir trees along their trenches. Messages began to be shouted between the trenches.

The following day, British and German soldiers met in no man’s land and exchanged gifts, took photographs and some played impromptu games of football. They also buried casualties and repaired trenches and dugouts. After Boxing Day, meetings in no man's land dwindled out.

The truce was not observed everywhere along the Western Front. Elsewhere the fighting continued and casualties did occur on Christmas Day. Some officers were unhappy at the truce and worried that it would undermine fighting spirit.

After 1914, the High Commands on both sides tried to prevent any truces on a similar scale happening again. Despite this, there were some isolated incidents of soldiers holding brief truces later in the war, and not only at Christmas.

In what was known as the ‘Live and Let Live’ system, in quiet sectors of the front line, brief pauses in the hostilities were sometimes tacitly agreed, allowing both sides to repair their trenches or gather their dead.

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Incredible Stereographs of World War I

An incredible stereograph collection of from The Library of Virginia that shows scenes from World War I in Germany, England, France, the United States, Belgium, Italy, and Serbia.

French storming hill Notre Dame de Lorette

French 'tanks' which saw service - parading, Paris streets

Gallant legionaries of Czechoslovakia on parade, Prague

German prisoners 'cleaning up' at Chateau-Thierry, France

German prisoners under guard of French soldiers. These prisoners are treated humanely by the Allies

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Touching Picture of American Soldiers Paying Tribute to All the Horses That Lost Their Life in World War I

It’s not just human soldiers who fought for their country. Millions of horses and other animals also served during wartime, and one special photo shows just how much their human counterparts appreciated the war horses and their sacrifice.

This touching black and white photo is believed to have been taken by officers of the Auxiliary Remount Dept. No.326 in Camp Cody, New Mexico in 1919.

650 officers and enlisted men of Auxiliary Remount Depot No. 326, Camp Cody, N.M., in a symbolic head pose of "The Devil" saddle horse ridden by Maj. Frank G. Brewer, remount commander. (Image: Library of Congress)

The image shows about 650 soldiers standing in a formation that, from above, resembles a cavalry horse’s head, neck, and bridle — a true tribute from the soldiers to the many horses who fought, and often died, by their side in the Great War.

While horses have served in many other wars, the large number of horses killed in WWI was staggering; about eight million horses, and countless mules, and donkeys were lost in the war. The U.S. Army and the British Army both used mounted infantry while Germany stopped sending them to the Western Front early on in the war. The horses suffered terrible conditions, and were killed most often on the front lines by machine gun fire and gas attacks.

Horses and their counterparts also helped carry food, water, ammunition, gas masks and medical supplies in supply wagons over long distances and rough terrain to the allied forces on the front lines. Their bravery inspired the book “War Horse,” by Michael Morpurgo, which was later adapted into a film of the same name directed by Steven Spielberg.

(via Wide Open Pets)

Breathtaking Photos Showing the Moment World War I Ended in Color For the First Time

Breathtaking photos showing the agony and ecstasy of the end of the First World War have been brought to life in color for the first time.

Jubilant crowds in New York can be seen celebrating the allied forces’ victory and joyful soldiers make the long journey home from the front lines. Man charged after woman, 73, burgled then stabbed to death at home. Another photo reveals nuns peacefully laying wreaths in a field of mass graves.

But these photos stand in stark contrast to ones depicting coffins of fallen British troops being solemnly carried through the streets of London.

The photos were colorized by Cardiff based electrician Royston Leonard, who painstakingly brought them into the 21st century. ”The First World War was the first-time machines took over the battlefield, guns got massive with both sides raining down shells by the day,” he said. “It made it hell for troops on the ground to the point where the men just had no hope at all, it was just madness.”

The announcement of armistice brought ecstatic scenes to Philadelphia. This picture was taken on Nov 11, 1918.

Captain Benjamin H Geary VC, 1st Battalion, East Surrey Regiment being carried in on a stretcher by prisoner bearers at Achiet-le-Petit. 21 Aug 1918.

A crowd of soldiers on the Western Front celebrating as an officer announces the news of the Armistice.

Three soldiers look out across a battlefield where wagons are upturned and destroyed and craters break up the mud.

A group of troops wave their hats as they pose for a camera on the edge of a road next to some hedgerows on Armistice Day.

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Faces From the Front: Incredible Before and After Photos Show World War I Soldiers’ Horrific Facial Injuries

These incredible before and after photographs show how British and French soldiers had to have their faces completely rebuilt having been maimed during World War One.

The photos are part of a book, Faces from the Front, looking at the early development of plastic surgery. It highlights the work of young surgeon Harold Gillies, who repaired the faces of those who were injured and shipped back home between 1914 and 1918.

Mr Gillies spent years restoring the dignity of men who had been prepared to sacrifice their lives. His incredible skill saw him use a rib to reconstruct a jaw. He also spent six years and 19 operations restoring a cheek, upper lip and nose of another soldier.

Impressive before and after images of Private Harold Page, of the Norfolk Regiment, who lost an eye in the Battle of the Somme.

Private William Thomas of the 1st Cheshire Regiment on the first day of his admission (left) and his final appearance (right).

Captain J.G.H Budd shown in May 1919 who had reconstructive surgery on his nose.

Private Arthur Mears is captured during treatment (left) and afterwards (right) following the repair of his jaw using his rib.

Lieutenant T.H. Elderton, of the 3rd Batallion, Bedford Regiment, before the war (left); on admission to Sidcup on February 10 1918 (center) and after being worked on by Harold Gillies (right).

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Germans During WWI Through Incredible Colorized Photos

A collection of colorized photos from DURIEZ Frédéric that shows Germans during the First World War.

Flamethrower pioneers of Assault Battalion No. 5 (Rohr)

9 cm Batterie Hoffman in Fuerstellung, Ersatz Btn. 44

101st Grenadier Saxon, 1914

A German mortar section with horse-drawn transport moving through wooded country on the Montdidier - Noyon sector of the front, June 1918

A sharp 1918 field portrait of a young sergeant from an unidentified Saxon formation

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56 Incredible Colorized Photos That Revived 'Russia During WWI'

These incredible photos were colorized by Olga that show Russia during World War One.

Shell hole, 1914

Colonel Grigory Kuchin, 1914

General Aleksei Brusilov, circa 1914

Michael A. Dashkov, Captain of the 9th Russian Army under the command of General Lechitsky, November 19, 1914

 Portrait of a Russian nurse, 1914

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During World War I, France Built a Fake Paris to Fool German Pilots

How do you save Paris from German World War I bombers? By building a life-sized decoy city, of course.

Crater of a Zeppelin bomb in Paris, 1917.

During World War I, the French created a dummy version of Paris to the city's immediate north. The plan was to fool German planes into thinking the Potemkin city was the real thing, thus leaving the City of Lights untouched by bombs.

Along with a fake Arc de Triomphe, the French built a replica wooden Opera house, Gare Du Nord and Champs-Elysées. For verisimilitude, they added careful touches like translucent paint to mimic dirty glass roofs of factories. Alongside Hausmann's boulevards, they constructed lifelike industrial suburbs.

Detailed map of the fake Paris 1917.

Detailed map of fake Paris 1917 with suburban area.

Electrical engineer Fernand Jacopozzi, who later went on to illuminate the Eiffel Tower, was hired to create the impression of trains and machines whirring away at night with white, yellow and red lamps.

The fake city, built 15 miles outside of Paris along the River Seine, was never put to use; German bombing raids ended before it was completed. Luckily, the real Paris remained unscathed. The same cannot be said for secret Paris II, which was dismantled rapidly and built over, surviving only in the pages of forgotten archives.

The renewed interest in the unusual tactic is thanks in large part to Armistice Day, also known as Veterans Day. On November 11, 1918, the Allied Forces and Germany declared the end of "the war to end all wars."

Rare Photographs of World War I Through Vintage Tobacco Cards

The world’s first global conflict, the “Great War” pitted the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire against the Allied forces of Great Britain, the United States, France, Russia, Italy and Japan. The introduction of modern technology to warfare resulted in unprecedented carnage and destruction, with more than 9 million soldiers killed by the end of the war in November 1918.

Below are some rare photographs of World War I from a set of early Spanish or Cuban tobacco cards.

WWI barbers

WWI wounded

WWI dogs

WWI trunks

WWI spy

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Doughnut Girls: The Women Who Fried Donuts and Dodged Bombs on the Front Lines of World War I

During World War I, the Salvation Army sent women to France to lift the spirits of the soldiers – and to serve them comfort food. Their food of choice? Hot donuts. The women became known as “Doughnut Girls,”

When America entered the hostilities in April 1917, Evangeline Booth (USA National Commander) placed the entire Salvation Army in the USA on a war-service basis.

Hostels and service centers were established adjacent to military camps and when the American Expeditionary Force went to France, Lt-Colonel William Barker was dispatched to see how the Army could best serve them. In response to Barker's request to "Send over some Lassies", Evangeline dispatched a group of eleven handpicked officers, including four single women believing that quality mattered more than quantity. More officers followed and Salvation Army huts, rest-rooms and hostels soon sprang up wherever the American troops were stationed, some right at the front line where the women as well as men were in danger from shells and gas.

Evangeline Booth

In October 1917, Ensigns Helen Purviance and Margaret Sheldon, decided to lift the spirits of the troops by providing some real home cooking. With only flour, sugar, lard, baking powder, cinnamon and canned milk at their disposal it was agreed that they would make and serve Doughnuts. The dough was patted into shape by hand and fried, seven at a time, in a small pan. The tempting fragrance of frying doughnuts drew the homesick soldiers to the hut and they lined up in the rain waiting for a taste. Although the Ensigns worked late into the night, only one hundred and fifty were served. The next day the number was doubled and later, when fully equipped for the job they served up to nine thousand doughnuts daily.

Stella Young, a "Doughnut girl" holding a rolling pin and donut mold.

Stella Young holding pan of doughnuts.

American sheet music celebrating the Salvation Army “Doughnut girls.”

A Salvation Army poster for the campaign.

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Leaving the Homeland: Pictures of Belgian Refugees During the First World War

In Belgium, the outbreak of the First World War and subsequent German invasion caused massive population movements. Hundreds of thousands of Belgian refugees fled the country to seek asylum in the Netherlands, France or Great Britain. The total number of Belgian civilians who settled abroad during the First World War may reasonably be put at around 600,000 or some 8 percent of the Belgian population at that time.

The proclamation of the armistice in November 1918 gave rise to great expectations among the refugees, the vast majority of whom were clearly impatient to return to their families and property after years of absence. By July 1919, most of the Belgians who had taken refuge in the Netherlands had returned home; very few decided to remain permanently. The British authorities, deeply concerned with the impending economics crisis threatening to engulf the country, immediately took measures to repatriate the refugees. By mid-1919, almost all Belgians who had resided in Britain had left the country. France, bled dry by four year of war, did not view the repatriation of Belgian refugees as a pressing issue. A few thousand settled permanently in France, especially in Normandy, where many were granted fertile farmland. All in all, however, almost all of the hundreds of thousands of Belgian refugees returned to their homeland after the war.

After the war, many refugees were met with indifference or even hostility. Some were treated as cowards. Many considered them privileged people or deserters who had failed to demonstrate sufficient courage in the face of the enemy. Their contribution to the war effort was judged marginal at best. This was evident in the commemorations organized after the war. There was no place for refugees in the Belgian memory of the war. As a result, Belgian historians and citizens rapidly forgot the refugees’ war experience.

Belgian refugees arrive in the Netherlands, 1914.

Belgian refugees carry their belongings ahead of invading troops through Northern France, 1914.

Belgian refugees on the harbour at Ostend waiting for a boat to take them to England, 1914.

Belgian refugees read Flemish messages left by other refugees in a French town, 1915.

A group portrait of the managers and workers in the Belgian Munition Works in London, which employed Belgian refugees to manufacture grenades and artillery shells for the war effort, September 1918.

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