WW1 Christmas Pics December 26, 2017
Author: Beach Combing | in : Contemporary , trackback
There follow some WW1 Christmas pictures from the British press. Most soldiers, naturally, served in the ‘holidays’. Here is a British sailor on HMS Jupiter
The gifts are given out in the trenches
This being Britain there were lots of silly Christmas parties with the awkward but ritualistic mixing of the classes. Rather you than me.
One aspect of the war is that the Allies had to be celebrated. This might mean publishing a cookbook of Italian and French recipes; or see the flags in the tree above. Or it might mean here that some very wealthy British women dressed up as Serbian peasants.
YMCA party here. These are soldiers from all different fronts and many different nationalities thrown together temporarily for the festivities.
Of course there were the funnies… You always get a sense that the British press really savours portraying the German royal family.
Surely the reader is being told here: we will try not to talk about the war, you are sick of it
Victoria Station was one of the mustering points of soldiers as they were sent home or at least to London digs: this one above is particularly good at trying to include many different uniforms and nationalities
Here’s the Victoria refreshment bar in a sketch and below in a photograph
But all good things end: back to the trenches after Christmas: magnificent photograph
And then it was all over. French infantry looking at the icicles in late November 1918, knowing that he will be home for Christmas
Find this quite strange, even sinister: obviously not the intention!
Floodmouse, 30 Dec 2017 writes in: The picture captioned “We Kick the Worst Side of the War Out of Our Christian Number” – isn’t that a bit racy for 1914? I spent 10 minutes trying to figure out what the gender message is. It reminds me a lot of that slogan from the 1960s, “Make love, not war,” only this non-feminist lady is clearly not a pacifist. (Love the shoes, though. Nothing is more hilarious than learning to throw a good kick in high heels.)
Beach replies: I find the decade 1900-1920 is sometimes pretty racy. Just so there are no doubts here is the original.
