Christmas in war

Helmeted and bewhiskered GI Santa Claus handing out presents to wounded American soldiers on Christmas day in 90 degree weather outside field hospital during World War Two in Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands Twenty Fifth December 1943

I didn’t know Santa Claus fought at Guadalcanal, but there is photographic proof brought to you by LIFE Magazine. As we celebrate Christmas today, our veterans here can attest to giving a thought and prayer to those who can’t be at home this year. Some are deployed to the latest war zone in the Middle East or Africa. Some are stateside, but their duties see them wearing a uniform today that makes their CONUS assignment seem just as far away.

I was in basic training over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. As I mentioned last month, we did get Thanksgiving off by the graciousness of the San Antonio locals who brought us into their homes to share with us. Christmas was a different affair. While it was a non-training day, only those who were in the last week of training actually got to leave the dorms (barracks to those of you that didn’t choose the superior branch of the armed forces). I was two days away from graduating, so I got base liberty, while those in earlier weeks of training just got some movies played in the day room.

My brother, mom, and my maternal grandparents (Grandpa being a WWII Army vet of the North African and Italian Campaigns) were there to watch me graduate. They got to come on base to celebrate Christmas. Being a federal holiday, there were only two things open; the gas station/shopette and the bowling alley. Somewhere there’s a picture of a very slender young Mason in dress blues eating shopette nachos out of the trunk of Grandpa’s Lincoln Continental). They also brought me lefse (a Norwegian thin potato-based flatbread kind of like crepe).

How did other troops celebrate the birth of Jesus through history? Let’s start with the LIFE piece we got our title picture from;

 

The Allies’ first land campaign in the Pacific during World War II took place at Guadalcanal. The siege, led by U.S. Marines but involving every branch of the military, began on Aug. 7, 1942 and continued for about six months, until Japanese forces abandoned the island on Feb. 3, 1943.

Guadalcanal was an important early win for the Allies in World War II, but victory came at a high cost; 1,592 Americans were killed in action, another 4,183 were wounded and many more suffered from tropical diseases. On the Japanese side the toll was even greater, with 14,800 killed in action.

In Guadancanal, war was indeed hell. It’s something to keep in mind when viewing these photos of the joyful Christmas celebrations that the troops were able to muster on that remote and battle-torn island.

The pictures shot by LIFE staff photographer Ralph Morse ran in LIFE’s issue of March 1, 1943, when the campaign was over. The photos were part of a much larger story that was built around an excerpt from a book that would become a classic of war reporting, Guadalcanal Diary.

The Guadalcanal Christmas featured touches that American soldiers would have found familiar. A chaplain led midnight mass, a choir performed songs, and the troops were served a holiday meal that included turkey and pie.

Of course there were differences too. Santa was walking around in shorts because they were in the tropics and it was 90 degrees out. He wore a military helmet instead of a red stocking cap. The presents he distributed were provided by the Red Cross. The only family these soldiers could be with was the found family they had made with each other.

And if the energy in the photos is any indication, they were grateful for all of it.

I’m sure they were happy for any level of normalcy after the horrors of Guadalcanal. There’s several more pictures if you click through the link. Thanks to the Gun Bunny for this link.

KoB also sent us this Fold3 article discussing Christmases during the Civil War;

In 1862, with the Civil War raging, military hospitals in and around Washington, D.C., were filled with some 40,000 sick and wounded Union soldiers. As Christmas approached, a small group of women had a big idea. They decided to bring a little holiday cheer to the soldiers by providing a Christmas feast. They solicited donations, and the response was overwhelming. Carloads of poultry, cash, and all the trimmings poured in from every part of the Union. On Christmas Day, hospitals were adorned with pine boughs, and tables were spread with an elaborate dinner. At the end of the day, holiday cheer prevailed, and the soldiers convalescing in Washington received the perfect antidote for homesickness – a delicious feast and expressions of kindness from a grateful nation.

The woman who originated the idea of a Christmas feast was Elizabeth Watton Smith, the wife of Caleb B. Smith, who served as Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of the Interior. She quickly realized that each of the 38 hospitals (23 in Washington, 10 in Alexandria, and 5 in Georgetown) would need an organizing committee. The women went to work soliciting donations. President Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln stepped up to give, donating $650 (about $20,000 in today’s dollars) for turkeys and chickens. Ordinary citizens participated, too, raising money in unique ways to contribute to the Soldier’s Christmas fund. Cities like Pittsburgh sent poultry, and Philadelphia contributed $2,500 towards the event.

As preparations were underway, one of the largest and deadliest battles of the war was being fought some 50 miles away. The Battle of Fredericksburg led to a stream of new casualties in the Washington area hospitals, including at least 30 officers admitted to Seminary Hospital in Georgetown.

One of those soldiers was Lt. Colin L. Downs, who served in the 2nd Maine, Company E. He was severely wounded at Fredericksburg and transported to Seminary Hospital, where doctors operated to amputate his arm. Lt. Downs bravely refused an opiate to dull the pain.

Soldiers like Lt. Downs prepared to spend a lonely Christmas in Washington. The Ladies of Washington (as they had become known) had other plans. On Christmas Day, soldiers awoke to evergreen garlands and the aroma of turkey, chicken, vegetables, rice, plum pudding, and pies wafting through the air. Patients at several hospitals, including Armory Hospital, were thrilled to meet President Lincoln, who visited nearly every soldier, shaking hands and speaking words of kindness and encouragement.

A feeling of goodwill prevailed among all, and for thousands of soldiers, both stomachs and hearts were full. The Washington Chronicle declared, “Washington has seen this year probably the most remarkable celebration of Christmas Day that ever occurred in the history of the world.”

World War I’s Christmas Truce is probably the best known story of a Christmas in war. The conflict had started only a few months prior to the 1914 Christmastide, but had already devolved into the stalemate of trench warfare that would last just shy of another four year (and at the costs of millions of lives). If you’re a fan of Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton (who mostly do songs about military history, so you should like them), they came out with a song about the day’s events a couple years back. While the video itself isn’t the most historically accurate, the lyrics capture the event and the spirit of the day.

The British Imperial War Museum has a podcast (and transcript for those who’d rather read) that features the voices of the men that were there. Ex-PH2 had linked to this article back in 2018.

British and German officers meeting on 25 Dec 1914

At Christmas 1914, an event occurred that was not repeated again during the First World War. An unofficial, spontaneous truce took place along some parts of the Western Front. It often started with a ceasefire as Christmas Day approached. German Army officer Walther Stennes recalled how, initially, this caused some concern.

On Christmas Eve at noon, fire ceased completely – on both fronts. Of course it was unusual that the opposite side also ceased fire. Then my officer controlling the sentries came in and said ‘Do you expect a surprise attack? Because it’s very unusual the situation.’ I said, ‘No I don’t think so. But anyhow everyone is awake, no one is sleeping and the sentries are still on duty. So I think it’s alright.’

British private Marmaduke Walkinton explained how the close proximity of the enemy led to increased communication between the two sides.

We were in the front line; we were about 300 yards from the Germans. And we had, I think on Christmas Eve, we’d been singing carols and this that and the other, and the Germans had been doing the same. And we’d been shouting to each other, sometimes rude remarks more often just joking remarks. Anyway, eventually a German said, ‘Tomorrow you no shoot, we no shoot.’ And the morning came and we didn’t shoot and they didn’t shoot. So then we began to pop our heads over the side and jump down quickly in case they shot but they didn’t shoot. And then we saw a German standing up, waving his arms and we didn’t shoot and so on, and so it gradually grew.

This happened all along the trenches in multiple spots, spontaneously and all independently of each other. This happened after Pope Benedict XV had on 7 December asked all belligerent nations to agree to a truce on Christmas, so “that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang.” Of course, the countries that had fallen into brutal conflict for reasons that are still not fully rationalized denied the Pope’s request. The men in those cold, wet, disease and rodent infested trenches were more willing to engage in a daily truce.

The Christmas Truce as it came to be known was noteworthy for just that reason. It wasn’t by command from any of the high ranking military or national authorities. It was a truce of the men on the ground. That’s what makes it such a magical moment. Men who the previous day had been all too willing to kill each other, and who would continue doing so the next day, took a day off from war. The participants in the Truce came out of their trenches, shook hands, played football, shared chocolate, tobacco, and sung songs together. This happened not just on the Western Front, but in the East as well between Austo-Hungarian troops and Russians.

Christmas 1915, the Truce would again be observed, but in far fewer locations and by far fewer men. The same commanders that had no trouble ordering hundreds of thousands of men into certain death gave orders that a repeat of the Truce of 1914 was not to happen. High commands on both sides of the war ordered their men not to fraternize with the enemy, specifically in response to the 1914 Truce. By Christmas 1916, there was no good will between the men of the two sides. Battles like Verdun and the 1st Somme had seen hundreds of thousands of lives lost and roughly a million more wounded had ensured that this war was going to end bitterly.

Here’s Military Times’ details of the 1914 Christmas Truce and the aftermath. 

This will be the third Christmas since I lost my dad, but he was in Vietnam for Christmas 1969. As a clerk typist in Saigon, he had it easier than many other soldiers in-country. He used to tell the story that he missed the Bob Hope show that year. He was given the choice of seeing the USO show or calling home. He took the latter, and waited in line for hours to do so.

In 1972, Operation Linebacker II saw a massive Christmastime bombing campaign by the US Air Force. We have at least one veteran among our ranks who spent those weeks lying on his stomach passing gas (apologies to Boomer, but that’s the literal job description).

Here’s my Valor Friday from a few years back in which I looked at those who received the Medal of Honor for Christmas Day actions. 

Category: War Stories, We Remember, WWI, WWII