W. Britain 23088 "A Friendly Game" 1914 Christmas Truce Soccer Set #1 - No Man's Land Soccer Match

Though there was no official truce, roughly 100,000 British and German troops were involved in unofficial cessations of fighting along the length of the Western Front during Christmas of 1914. On Christmas Eve of 1914, German troops began decorating their trenches with candles and putting up Christmas Trees. When the German troops began singing Christmas carols, the British began singing carols of their own. On Christmas Day, many soldiers from trenches on both sides independently ventured into "no man's land' where they mingled and exchanged small gifts such as food, tobacco and alcohol. Troops from both sides were also friendly enough to play games of football (Soccer for Americans) with one another. First-hand accounts of these were recorded by several units.