THEME 5 BREAKING BARRIERS In war, borders often change as territories are conquered or lost.
The following song by Mike Harding tells a story from the Western Front. The Western Front was the line along which most of the battles during the First World War took place between Britain and Germany. It was an area of meandering trenches and battlefi elds, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss border with France. (Think back to the Sainsbury’s advertisement on page 177, which deals with the same events.)
Christmas 1914 Christmas Eve in 1914
Stars were burning, burning bright And all along the Western Front Guns were lying still and quiet. Men lay dozing in the trenches, In the cold and in the dark, And far away behind the lines A village dog began to bark.
Some lay thinking of their families, Some sang songs while others were quiet Rolling fags and playing brag To while away that Christmas night. But as they watched the German trenches Something moved in No Man’s Land And through the dark came a soldier Carrying a white fl ag in his hand.
Then from both sides men came running, Crossing into No Man’s Land, Through the barbed-wire, mud and shell holes, Shyly stood there shaking hands. Fritz brought out cigars and brandy, Tommy brought corned beef and fags, Stood there talking, singing, laughing, As the moon shone on No Man’s Land.
Christmas Day we all played football In the mud of No Man’s Land; Tommy brought some Christmas pudding, Fritz brought out a German band. When they beat us at football
