Christmas in the Trenches

by Alan Wakefield

  One incident I must put in was a remark made one night by one of the audience. One of the lines the principal boy had to say was ‘But I want to be a soldier’. A very fed up voice came from a member of an infantry battalion ‘Do yer, well there’s a blighter here whose place you can have.’

  Our show soon became famous through the Division. The place was full every night and we gave matinees on Wednesday and Saturday. Men could come down from the line, see the show and be back before morning. (Pte George Veasey, 8th Ox & Bucks Light Infantry)

  If things were quiet on both sides of the Adriatic the same could not be said for the Middle East. Following unsuccessful attempts to take the town of Gaza in March and April, Gen Sir Edmund Allenby replaced Gen Murray as commander of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) on 27 June. After building up his forces, Allenby launched the Third Battle of Gaza (31 October–7 November). This proved a complete success and steady progress was maintained towards Jerusalem despite tough Turkish resistance. The surrender of Jerusalem on 9 December and Allenby’s formal entry into the city two days later fulfilled Lloyd George’s request that the city be delivered as a Christmas present for the British people, who had had little in the way of striking victories to celebrate in 1917. This is not to say that the Turks had given up the fight and, as Christmas approached, troops of the EEF found themselves north of Jerusalem covering the Nablus road and waiting for a counter-attack:

  On December 23rd we went back into action. We passed through Jerusalem again at night. We take up our position about four miles outside the city astride the Nablus Road. It commences to rain hard. We hear that the Turkish counter attack is imminent. During the 24th we did our best in the appalling weather to dig ourselves in. Christmas Day dawned and the rain came down incessantly. About midday the General in charge of our Division inspected our position with the C.R.A. He did not like it at all and ordered us out. We were, he said, too vulnerable. We were to take up a position some eight hundred yards further back. The rain persisted with a piercing cold wind. Those six guns had to be man-handled out of the mud and on to the road before the teams could hook up and take them away . . . drenched to the skin, cold, and almost exhausted our guns were eventually in position and we looked on in vain for a dry spot to rest. Somebody, somehow managed to brew some tea. The C.O. ordered a rum ration. Hot tea laced with a small dose of rum and bully beef and biscuits was very welcome Christmas fare. Nobody was in festive mood. In fact I am quite sure nobody realized what the date was until afterwards. We waited throughout the night for the expected attack but it never came. The rain persisted. I am sure that was the longest, coldest and most miserable night I have ever had. Dawn came and still no attack. Fortunately the rain ceased on the 26th and we were able to sort things out and get a semblance of a gun position. The climax came just before dawn on 27th after heavy bombardment during the night. I don’t think we were ever so glad to go into action as we were that night. The suspense had been severe. (Gnr Thomas Edgerton, D Battery, 301 Brigade, RFA)

  Through the deteriorating weather conditions most men relied on bivouac tents for shelter. The 2/15th Londons, who had been in Salonika the year before, found themselves in the support line near Bire also waiting for the Turkish attack:

  Xmas Eve. Such rotten luck, we came out of our billets at midday and relieved the 20th London Regiment at our old place in the line.

  The weather was frightful, cold and continuous rain. As soon as we arrived at our position we were detailed to go on a carrying party to ‘C’ Company who were up in the line. The job was carrying . . . fresh water . . . in a galvanised flat-sided tank taking 12 gallons of water. It was a terrible job slipping and sliding in all the rain and mud, manhandling the heavy tanks. Before going Hewer and I and all others put up their bivouacs hoping to get some shelter from the weather. A Xmas ration of cigarettes was issued.

  On the way back from the line we lost our way and finally arrived back at our bivouac at midnight only to find it blown down and under water. The cigarettes were spoilt by the rain. Our camp was in an old quarry, selected for safety from bullets. In the rain it was the worst possible site and just collected water.

  I don’t think I have ever felt so despondent. After a ration of rum Hewer and I got out of the quarry on to a high slab of stone where we felt safe from being drowned and huddled together to keep as warm as possible. Both of us felt we were bound to die of exposure. What an Xmas Eve. (Pte Francis Blunt)

  Christmas Day itself proved little better:

  Xmas Day dawned at last and with the daylight things looked better. Hewer and I stretched ourselves to confirm that we were still alive and our limbs in working order. The lads moved about and soon some sort of order came. Rations were almost non-existent. We only had one cup of tea all day. At midday we packed up and moved about half a mile further on. At night we went out on outpost duty on a hill called ‘White Scar Hill’. Another awful night. Rained continuously. Mud stuck half way up our puttees. When you sat down you could not get up without assistance. What an Xmas Day! How we shall all remember it. (Pte Francis Blunt)

  Elsewhere troops in the front line were engaged in consolidating positions recently won from the Turks:

  On the 23rd we gave the Turks such a bad time that they absolutely cleared off and allowed us to move forward to a new position without resistance. This meant that we were hard at work on the 24th and 25th consolidating the new line. We spent the whole of the night of the 24th building sangers, wiring etc and did the same on Christmas night. These had to be built owing to the fact that in that part of the line it is impossible to dig trenches owing to the rocks.

  We should not have minded a bit had it been fine, but it started to rain on the 23rd and continued steadily till the 26th. We all got wet through of course on the first day and had to remain wet till the sun came out again to dry us. When I woke on Christmas morning I found that I was lying in 6” of water and we spent the whole day trying to get warm. In spite of the weather we managed quite a good dinner which made us quite cheery. We got a fresh meat ration of Australian Rabbits which made an excellent stew – then we followed this up with plum pudding and cheese. The plum pudding was a great stroke of luck. Colonel Clutterbuck sent us two from Cairo and the Coys drew for them. I was lucky enough to draw the largest so we had quite a good share each. We also had a ripping cake which Colonel Waddy sent us from India and we ate this sitting round the fire after we had finished work at night.

  The parcel mail was the cause of great excitement. There were quite a lot of parcels from home but not the ones intended for Christmas. Those received should have arrived weeks ago. I was lucky enough to receive two from Port Said containing chocolates etc. I ordered them ages ago and had quite given them up for lost and it was a great stroke of luck getting them on Christmas day.

  Our Regt was relieved from the line on Boxing Day and I can assure you we were glad enough to march back especially as it was a nice fine sunny day. It is only when you are absolutely wet through and chilled to the bone that you realise what a godsend the sun is.10 (Capt James Mackie, 2/4th Somerset Light Infantry)

  On the day the Somersets were relieved, three Turkish divisions launched a determined assault down the line of the Nablus road towards Jerusalem. After heavy fighting their advance was halted and soon afterwards they were put into full retreat. By the end of December the Turks were pushed back into difficult rocky country well north of Jerusalem.

  For those wounded during the drive to Jerusalem or suffering from sickness, the various hospitals and field ambulances tried their best to provide a memorable Christmas. However, the procuring of large stocks of fresh meat was often a difficult task as members of the 1/2nd East Anglian Field Ambulance based at Ludd, north of Ramleh, discovered:

  December 23 1917: A committee consisting of Robert [Mason], 3 N.C.O.s and myself was appointed by the C.O. to see what could be done. We drew up a list of things, which we would try to get from the Canteen, and we decided to try to get enough chick
ens for all the men. Well, the Canteen is 30 miles away and 80–100 chickens would be required. I need hardly say more. Robert consulted the Administrative Commandant of the place, a Maj Ellery, and he arranged that we should get the chickens through the native ‘mukta’. I don’t know how to spell that word but it sounds something like that. The town is divided into districts and over each district is a mukta whose business seems to be to know exactly what every man in his district has . . .

  We then proceeded round this man’s district. He would knock at the door, which was generally half open. The door would then be carefully closed and he would shout while a woman screamed from within. A certain amount of wrangling would then ensue, and after 5–10 minutes a fluttering of wings would be heard and then a small child would emerge with a chicken held by the legs . . . The mukta was accompanied by a clerk who wrote down the name of the vendor and the price – the money was to be paid by the Administrative Committee the next morning. After buying about 12–20 Robert and I got tired of it and withdrew, sending the Sgt-Maj and a Sgt to take our place. We got over 30 chickens that afternoon altogether and we had to make an enclosure for them – this we did by digging a big square hole in the ground and covering it with a tarpaulin. (Maj E.B. Hinde)

  Such efforts were well received by the patients, not only helping them to forget for a while their wounds or illness, but for some a wish to join in with the festive entertainments gave renewed strength and worked towards speeding their recovery. This may have been particularly true of those who tried to remain with their unit rather than be evacuated for medical care:

  Xmas Day: Awoke feeling ever so much better but I don’t suppose that I shall be able to get up. A communion service is held at 7am taken by a minister, who is a corporal in 423 (S) Bty. Then breakfast at 8am consisting of coffee and Quaker oatcakes, then tea, bread and butter, ham and eggs. A church parade at 10am where a few more carols were sung. Dinner was served up at 1 o’clock. All the officers were down and a large marquee had been erected with seats and tables for everybody and a platform at one end. The OC made a very nice speech in which he said that he hoped that we should all be together next year in the event of the war extending so long and if anything did separate us it would be that we were each at our respective homes. A few toasts were drunk and then dinner. First course was roast beef, potatoes, beans etc, then real plum duff with sauce and after that beer, spirits, mineral water, nuts, oranges, sweets, cigars and cigarettes.

  I have some real good pals in this bivvi and they looked after me a treat. I had everything brought that I wanted and nearly everybody in the battery came to see how I was getting on, and sympathysed with me. I was close to the marquee and could hear all that was going on. After dinner I got up and dressed. I assured the medical orderly that I felt pretty fair, and I went to tea, which consisted of tea, bread, butter and jam. The bread we get is good white bread and the butter was the ordinary Danish. I wish that everybody in England had such a feed as we had. The officers are quite good and the Quarter Master is one of the best. As I have said on many occasions this battery is next to none. I daresay that every day we live better than thousands do in England. The only thing to spoil the days proceedings was that we had occasional heavy showers, and in the evening vivid lightning and thunder, but this didn’t prevent us enjoying ourselves. At 7.30 we had a real fine concert given by officers and men of the battery. At the interval we have refreshments in the shape of beer etc, biscuits and cheese (not army biscuits). I was present at the concert so I did not do bad after all. I still kept fairly well. I might say that this is the same position as we occupied previous to the battle for Gaza, so roughly speaking we are about 80 miles behind the firing line. We haven’t fired a shot for seven weeks. There was nothing to spoil our Christmas only orders to move and these never came. We often thought about those at home and wondered what kind of a time they were having. If everybody did as well as we did they wouldn’t do bad. It was a great improvement on last Christmas which I spent in Salonika, and I hope to further improve next year by all of us being at home. (Gnr Ernest Hinchcliffe, RGA)

  Jerusalem was not the only famous city of the Middle East to be captured by British forces during 1917, as on 11 March, troops under Maj-Gen Maude had entered Baghdad in Mesopotamia. The capture of this fabled city was a great morale boost to the Allied cause, being the first major victory, in any theatre of war, after the very tough and generally inconclusive fighting of 1916. In just three months Maude had steadily advanced his force up the line of the Tigris, prising the Turks out of a number of tough positions and taking Kut-al-Amara on 24 February. Although offensive operations continued after the fall of Baghdad, there was to be no decisive end to the campaign in 1917. Indeed, the gloss was rather taken off the year’s successes by the death of Maude from cholera on 18 November. Operations were then halted for the winter by his successor, Lt Gen Sir William Marshall, leaving most of the troops to celebrate a quiet Christmas in tented camps as the Turks tried to reorganise their forces for the defence of Mosul in northern Mesopotamia:

  Just a line while I have the opportunity and before I freeze to death. Alas the cold weather and winds are on us morn and night with heat in between. Yesterday I had two and a half inches of ice in my bucket and a bitter wind . . .

  As you know, our successful operations are over for the present or at least there is a slight lull. There are going to be lots of sports down the line at Baghdad this Xmas. I am one of the Regt team for the football tournament and we are doing four to five hours training per day. We are also sending four boxers and hope to leave this awful spot in the wilderness on 20th. There will be a certain percentage from each Corps down there.11 (Capt Conrad Price, 2nd Norfolks)

  Baghdad was also a focus for the troops’ attention as mail from home passed through the city on its way to be distributed amongst the various units:

  We have heard that the long over due mail was to reach Baghdad on the 22nd so we hope to get the letters, at all events, just about Xmas, even if we have to wait a bit for the parcels. It has been dreadful going for over three weeks without news of you. I wonder if this is the ‘Xmas mail’ or if that is not due to come till February, as usual. I wonder too if an intermediate mail has been sunk.12 (Capt Charles Baxter, 6th South Lancashires)

  Luckily, Baxter and his comrades did not have too much longer to wait for their mail:

  On the evening of the 26th the Christmas mail did eventually arrive. It was about a month’s mail too, so I got an enormous haul. Eight letters from you and three from Eric and a few others . . .

  Thank you very much too for the photographs of the garden in winter and summer, which arrived in the third letter. The Yucca must be perfectly lovely when it is in full bloom. I suppose the colour of the flowers is white, isn’t it? The sight of the snow makes one feel positively cold! It is very nice to see all the trees and lawns and everything again, as I have seen very little of that sort of thing since leaving England.13 (Capt Charles Baxter)

  Such comments show the great importance of letters and other reminders of home, especially to troops serving in such an alien environment as Mesopotamia. Additionally the mail brought gifts from home and these, along with items from Expeditionary Force canteens and company stores, helped cheer the men’s desert Christmas:

  Christmas Day – Tuesday: Come off guard at 6am and have a holiday spending the time between meals at football. We do pretty well for food issue rations being for breakfast small rashers of bacon, portion of tinned kippers and ¼ tin of machonicie. Lunch rice and fruit, dinner stew and about 1oz of pudding which had been sent from Blighty by some fund in Acton.

  Beside this I had bought from the Company Stores 1 tin of salmon, 2 tins of Sardines, 1 tin of Cocoa and 3 packets of biscuits, we also had rum issue at night. So we had a fairly good time. (L/Cpl W.C. Gale, 2nd Norfolks)

  Even those not able to get down to Baghdad for the sports, or on some other pretext, were able to tell their families at home that they had spent a good Chr
istmas, albeit under campaigning conditions:

  Ours was not so bad at all in fact I think it was as nice as it could possibly have been under the circumstances.

  The weather, which is the main thing, was perfect. Sunshine and no wind, and the hottest day we have had for a long time, and of course that made all the difference.

  The C.O., Tiny and Birch came round in the morning, and Charlton made a speech to my company (which as you know, is over a mile away out in the blue). He did not speak for very long, but just told them what fine fellows they were, as indeed they are, and reminded them of Xmas in the past, when he or Birch commanded the company and wished them a merry Xmas and many merrier ones in England in the future. Then I called for three cheers for the C.O. and dismissed the parade and entertained our three guests for quite a long time.

  A two days sports programme had been arranged. It was to be more or less of a comic show, with none of the usual items. However the first event – the only event of the morning – was a serious thing. It was a three miles cross country race, competed for by companies and everybody was all out to win it. I was delighted with the result, as my company won it, more or less in a walkover, somewhat to everybody else’s surprise, though not to my own. We got five places out of the first ten men in, which was far better than even I had expected.

  In the afternoon too, we were very successful, but there was nothing that I cared about winning so much as the race of the morning.

  The men didn’t do so badly in the food line . . . Every man had a parcel and about 6 oz of plum pudding from the ‘Ladies of India’ and we officers all contributed towards providing them with a bottle each of Japanese beer – a somewhat expensive but very satisfactory item. The Government as usual, did not provide a single thing in the way of extra food. Perhaps however it was all snaffled by the S & T.