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Last allied witness of WWI Christmas truce dies
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| ogvh5150 |
Last allied witness of WWI Christmas truce dies
By Peter GraffMon Nov 21,11:59 AM ET
The last known surviving allied veteran of the Christmas Truce that saw German and British soldiers shake hands between the trenches in World War One died Monday at 109, his parish priest said.
Alfred Anderson was the oldest man in Scotland and the last known surviving Scottish veteran of the war.
"I remember the silence, the eerie sound of silence," he was quoted as saying in the Observer newspaper last year, describing the day-long Christmas Truce of 1914, which began spontaneously when German soldiers sang carols in the trenches, and British soldiers responded in English.
"All I'd heard for two months in the trenches was the hissing, cracking and whining of bullets in flight, machinegun fire and distant German voices. But there was a dead silence that morning across the land as far as you could see.
"We shouted 'Merry Christmas' even though nobody felt merry. The silence ended early in the afternoon and the killing started again."
Troops in the trenches swapped cigarettes, uniform buttons and addresses and even played football in one of the most extraordinary episodes of the war.
Parish priest Neil Gardner of Anderson's Alyth Parish Church in Scotland said he had died in his sleep and was survived by a large family, including 18 great grandchildren and two great great grandchildren.
"He was a wonderful old man: he was gracious, gentle, he had a great sense of humor and a fine sense of wisdom from his experience spanning three centuries," said Gardner, who also served as chaplain to Anderson's regiment, the Black Watch.
Anderson also served briefly as a member of the household staff of Queen Elizabeth's uncle, Fergus Bowes-Lyon.
With Anderson's death, fewer than 10 British veterans of the war remain alive, of whom only three or four were veterans of trench warfare on the Western Front.
Attention has turned to the last survivors in recent weeks, with filmmakers bringing out documentaries in time for this month's Armistice Day holiday, marking the day the guns fell silent on November 11, 1918. |
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| Jackson |
Wow, i watched the program in question. Anyone who has ever come under enemy fire and stands up and shoots back deserves a huge amount of respect.
RIP Sir, RIP :( |
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| Lover Boy |
| The end of an era, it's one for the history books now. It makes me want to meet as many WWII vets as possible so I can be a secondary source before they become part of history too. |
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| Dervish |
Yeah it's a shame (but remember thisman had a long, long life you can feel sad for him) and it shows you that we don't have forever to learn from peoplewho were there first hand.
We have to remember them, all of them. And like you say spend time learning there stories.
My grandad was in the navy during ww2 I asked him where he was on d-day:
"Strawberries and ice cream" he said
*I'm thinking ok..... no more whisky for grandad (a bottle a week at 90..)*
But then he went on to explain that on d-day he was on a luxury boat full of WRENS (girls) going up and down the Thames on d-day!
He wasn't a officer or anything just right place right time. He got promoted a few times but got demoted twice for "Smacking the smarmy english bastards." and his brother used to go on the beaches before the landings slitting throats.
But the same guy still at 90 felt sorry for killing a seal way back then with a rifle. If you listen to them you can get some amazing stories. He had tons of other stories, more "warlike" ones, but thouse are the ones which I'll remember him by. |
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| Michael19 |
WW1 was such a pointless war aswell. Which makes it even worse. Didnt have many war vieteran in Ireland as being in british army for WW1 was seen as a very honourable thing.
In WW1 there was no real enemy or evil to fight, it was just for the crack more then anything. |
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| Ek0nomik |
| quote: | Originally posted by Michael19
WW1 was such a pointless war aswell. Which makes it even worse. Didnt have many war vieteran in Ireland as being in british army for WW1 was seen as a very honourable thing.
In WW1 there was no real enemy or evil to fight, it was just for the crack more then anything. |
Uhm...
Someone get this guy a history class. |
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| Michael19 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Ek0nomik
Uhm...
Someone get this guy a history class. |
Fire away, hit me with the massive importance of the first world war. |
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| Lepanto |
| quote: | Originally posted by Michael19
Fire away, hit me with the massive importance of the first world war. |
how about some English lessons to boot? |
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| Dervish |
| Excelent way to add to the discussion; whinge about spelling and try to refute something in a derisory way with out any evidence. |
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