A WONDERFUL NIGHT BY ANDRE ALFA

Synopsis: One of the greatest and most memorable human episodes to take place amid the atrocities of the First World War occurred four months after it broke out in Europe when all along the front lines late in December 1914, opponents in the West laid their weapons down to celebrate Christmas together in a spontaneous gesture of peace on earth and goodwill toward men. In a war famous for its unprecedented horror and brutality, English and German troops sang carols, ate and drank, exchanged gifts and shared food parcels before burying the dead and even playing a soccer match, which the Germans won 3-1! This was not a contagion of goodwill spreading along the Western Front, but a series of individual initiatives at a number of places and times. This is the story of the one that happened in the Ypres Salient in Northern France on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day between the English 2/Bedforshire, the Scottish 2/Seaforth Highlanders and German soldiers of the 133rd Infantry Regiment. Diaries, letters home and newspapers of the time referred to it as A Wonderful Night.