The Kent Herald

Wednesday, January 27th 1915: German Band Plays English National Anthem: Pte H Dixon, of the Royal Warwickshire Regt, in the course of a letter home says: "Our trenches are only about 80 to 100 yards from those of the Germans and every morning we can see them fling the water out so their trenches must be worse than ours. We had a surprise on Christmas Eve. The Germans shouted to to stop firing. We had been at it all day and night, and they said they wanted to have a quiet Christmas. Some of our fellows went halfway and made a kind of truce and sniping did not take place on Christmas or Boxing Day. At 2am on Christmas morning a German band played a couple of German tunes and then "Home, Sweet Home" very touchingly which made some fellows think a bit. After they played "God Save The King" and we all cheered. At daylight on Christmas Day we went halfway and met the Germans and exchanged cigars and cigarettes with one another. They seemed a poor lot of boys and men of 40 with beards. One fellow had been employed as a waiter at the Grand Hotel Eastbourne for ten years and said he wished he was back again. They have got the idea that they are winning so one of our fellows gave them the latest paper which will open their eyes.

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