Sponsored by World of Tanks! New players: Download the game and use the code ARMISTICE for free goodies! cpm.wargaming.net/ivmqe6kc/?pub_id=christmas2 PLUS! In the spirit of the Christmas Truce, World of Tanks has prepared a gift box for EVERY PLAYER. Redeem the bonus code: HULSE14
Then there be no war... However this of course only applies if it happens on both sides. If not the enemy just rolls in, conquers you and you may find yourself in another uncomfortable situation. I'd rather ask what if the ranks on all sides joined together and rose up against their superiors in the Aftermath of Christmas 1914. On the German side a mutiny by sailors of the Imperial Navy ignited the fuse leading to the Collapse of the Empire and the abdication of the Kaiser in 1918. One can only speculate about the consequences if it already happened back in 1914 on all sides.
The question was asked during the Cold War where a real war in all likelyhood meant mutual nuclear annhiliation. Such questins only come up when there won't be any winners.
My grandfather was a german soldier during WW2. I used to go to hi's cabin and just listen to some stories one's in a while. He was at our house during christmast, right before he died in 2015. He stod up and told a story about hi's christmas 1944. He was in one of the trenches with hi's best friends. One of them called Alfred had just got a package from home. He opened it and it was a big Schwartzwaldcake. They became so happy that they started to sing. They should not have done that tho, since the russian artillery fired a shot on their position a moment later. The whole cake was filled with sand and mud, from the explosion. They quickly blew the sand of the cake and started eating, because they didn't want it to become more destroyed. At that moment the other guys in the trench started singing silent night. This was the best christmast he had ever had, he told us.
Wow, beautiful story! It's so heartwarming to see that everyone has humanity in them, regardless of the conditions they're living in, and your grandfather seemed to have that! Thank you so much for sharing, and I hope he's in a better place now.
Here is a good one and, it is true: My Grandpa was stationed with the Wehrmacht garrison in captured Norway for most of the war. But as casualties rose in the east he also sent there. His comrades felled like sentenced to death. One of his brothers died on the first day of Operation Barbarossa. My Grandpas name was Werner. He was there for only a Week. He only told this story ones to me. He was lying in a trench under heavy machine gun fire but saw a young German sergeant laying in the open field behind a fallen tree. He ran out into the open and pulled the wounded sergeant back in the trench. In the last second, he was hit in his leg by a "DumDum-Round". Wich almost blew his leg off. He was brought to a hospital in his hometown where he stayed until it was captured by French units and he went into a pow camp in France. He had received an Iron Cross for saving the German Sergeant. My Grandpa died at the age of 103 and lived a happy life. In one holiday we met another German family and the topic was brought up. It was a young couple with a son and an Old man. I started telling the story when suddenly the old man started crying and said: "Werner".
My great grandfather had a reputation for crashing. During an attempted boarding of the H.M.S Vindictive he was giving aerial support in a biplane, he was shot down by a flak gun but survived, swimming to a British Marine Frigate. A frigate captured in a counter attack. He was captured and held for the rest of the war by a German Officer he became friends with. He was doing the same in the North-Africa Campaign (the one we lost) and was captured when he blew up a tank but was shot down by a German AA tank (typical) he was put in an Axis P.O.W camp. He was part of a prison break out after spending half a year there, during the beginning of the riot he wrenched a pistol off of a guard (we still have it it's in my Grandma's living room) and shot the man. Eventually he was sent back to Britain and aided in the taking of the Rhineland... when he was shit down again. This time he wasn't captured but helped out an American Division. He aided them with talking to some Germans in a concentration camp (as he could speak fluent French, Italian and German as well as his Native English tongue). He found the Officer who captured him decades before. He asked him why he was there with his family and he replied "The Nazis sent every Jew to a camp or to Heaven." We are still friends with the German family and his daughter Guisla. My great-grandfather is now dead. He passed before I was born and his wife passed three years ago.
Omg ! Wow ich bin nach meinem Uhr Opa bennant Max und er war auch im 2. Weltkrieg, mein Vater hat eine Kamer wo er so viel zeugs verstaut hat und auch so viel von der alten Zeit ! Ich will mir mal zeit nehmen und gucken ob es was noch gibt! Und mein Vater hatte mal ein paar Dokumente über den Rommel Feldzug, das hat er dann einem Geschichts Professor gegeben ich guck mal ob ich noch Briefe und Dokumente finde !
_December 1915, French trenches_ "So...weather's pretty terrible, huh?" "Yeah. Almost as bad as that artillery barrage we got last night." "Dude, how many times do I have to say I'm sorry?"
So, I followed your advice, and did some digging. Turns out my great uncle died at the Somme. His last letter was sent on the same day he died, and it ends in Welsh. I’ve translated it: “I’m being told we’re going over the top tonight. All going well, I’ll send another letter next week. Your dearest husband, William.” He died the same day, helping an injured German to the allied trench to give him medical aid. They were hit by an artillery shell. Both died.
I did some digging after I saw this. My great grandfather was one of the few surviving British pilots during WW1 and was ordered to aid in the a naval battle to take back the H.M.S Vindictive from the Germans he would crash and swim to a marine ship. A ship overrun and boarded by Germans. He was captured by a German Officer. He continued to be a pilot in WW2 after he was returned to Britain. He again crashed during the Battle for the Rhine and came across an American Division. Staying with them for months until the Americans received an order to look for him. He came across a German concentration camp and found the Officer who captured him decades before. He asked why he was there in German (he specialized in languages) the Officer replied telling him that the Nazis sent all Jews they found to Heaven or camp. My family still is on good terms with the Officers family. My great grandfather died of age before I was born and his wife who I knew only as "Nan-Nan" three years ago
Guess that phrase... "What if there was a war and nobody went'? has more truth to it than you might think. If the soldiers don't fight, nothing happens.... Unfortunately, moments like that are precious and rare...
My grandfather was a Canadian veteran of WWII. He survived pneumonia and then an accident while stationed in France as part of a convoy. He wrote letters to my grandma, his future wife, every single day. Sometimes twice a day. We still have these letters and my mother is currently putting them on the computer. He would suffer a broken leg and months in a hospital in Europe before going home to Canada. He married my grandmother instantly on December 24th. The injury from the war was something he hid his entire life until a stroke in his 80s that put stress on it. He had his leg amputated at that time and lived in a motorized wheelchair until he passed away at age 93. Between the war and his death he built up several businesses including a campground in British Columbia. He was a man who loved ice cream and peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. He never finished high school yet his wartime letters were romantic and full of love. He may have passed away several years ago but his memory will always live on with my mother and all of his children and grand children. Letters are a great way to preserve the memories of soldiers. They're wonderful to read.
Me: I caught something in my eye... Anonymous: What did you catch? Me: TEARS!!! (also I highly doubt I can find any letters from the trenches since I am a half norwegian and half... Tanzanian... MOM!!!)
"A month later, he was dead." Sends chills when you hear it. The pain it must've caused to the family is really disheartening. He basically said "You worry too much" before be died. RIP John McLean 😔
LoZ Collector The same frenchmen, Louis Barthas, pointed his rifle at some obnoxious liutenant that was threatening him with court martial for retreating. Made him finally shut up.
"Yesterday there was a fierce and terrible onslaught... of Christmas packages into our trenches." Join us and World of Tanks Military Specialist Richard Cutland to listen to WW1 soldiers' Christmas letters home! This episode is our last for the year - we're leaving on holiday break! We'll see you again on January 9 with a full week of Extra Sci Fi, Extra Credits, and Extra History. Cheers!
Coming from a military family, with men who served in the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, and even most recently the Coast Guard, this really hits home. Spending birthdays without fathers or uncles or cousins because they have a duty to fulfill was as hard on young minds as it is on the men and women who serve in such fashion. To such end, and to those who serve, you have my thanks, and my heartfelt condolences that we must ask you to be away from those you love at such a time. May peace smile upon you in a new year.
And like that soldier who says that individual soldiers have no true quarrels, only our commanders, we still stupidly divide the world in ways where war occurs and shots ring out, many of them, civilians with no evidence against them of doing a horrid thing.
After looking around through our storage of old letters (my mother's side of our family was practically always deployed somewhere), we found a letter detailing how my great great great grandfather had traded weaponry with an opposing soldier on the other side of no mans land. The best part of it being how they agreed to never fire a shot on a soldier using one of there guns. Sadly they were both dead in less that three weeks (damned artillery) but I love the idea all the same.
This shows how festivals can bring people together and this gave me a hope that i did not experience in a long time on Christmas. I WISH ALL OF YOU MARRY CHRISTMAS AND A MEANINGFUL LIFE AHEAD!! --- a humble viewer
I am currently deployed to a country called Bahrain. I’m an avid watcher of this show you guys do here and in turn now watch extra credits. Thank you guys for this video. I’d say the hardest part for me is that it just doesn’t feel like Christmas. You end up missing the little things and even though I was lucky enough to speak to my family this year. It just doesn’t really feel the way it used too and that might be the hardest part for me. That and knowing my being gone has taken something from their Christmas as well. Thank you guys very much for this video. It’s exactly what I needed to give me a taste of Christmas. Even for just 9 minutes
The story of Jack Davey and his fiancée Kitty is one of the most beautiful, touching, and heartbreaking stories I’ve ever heard. Heightened all the more by the fantastic artwork. Though I am a stranger to war, I’m no stranger to war stories, but that one hit me hard. Thanks for all you do guys.
I listened to your words, and I would ask my family for letters. But the only family members I have touched by war, were my grandparents. Who both unfortunately passed this year. Spend as much time as you can with your family. Merry Christmas
I remember a tale from my granpa: he was a tankchief in Africa during WWII (Italian Armour division). On christmas his friend (a paratrooper) menage to find (or probably steal from some English supply convoy) some scramble eggs. He cook it and run to bring to my grampa under artillery fire. My grampa say that the eggs was dirty with sand due to the explosion but they eat it anyway and celebrate some sort of chrismas, they was really hungry.
His map reading skills must been horrible...went for the army ended up in the Navy lol. And the cook is an important post- probably everyone on his ship remembers him. From a grandson of a ship's cook.
My grandpa was in the navy and was a captain just as while his cousin was the Captain of the USS Arizona. Franklin Van Valkenburgh, my grandpas cousin, died in Pearl Harbor a hero (he lived in Milwaukee and newspapers wrote about his death).
Liebster Hannelore, Excuse me for not writing for such a long time. You must have been very worried, but I am still alive and unharmed. Just could not write, too busy. For the past couple of weeks the British have been attacking us with all they have. They are very brave soldiers, but they act suicidal running with their bayonets straight into the crossfire of our machineguns. And not once, but again and again untill even the hardest professional NCO's among us felt sick by all this slaughter. They also have been bombarding us hard with their artillery. Aim is good, but our shelters and dug outs are better. Hans got a piece of shrapnell through his left arm. Lucky bastard will spend at least 6 weeks at home with your sister. Our yong Leutnant was not so fortunate. Good kid, a boy as brave as a lion and with a heart of gold. We all miss him and what we got in his place xxxxxxxxxxxxx (censored). Send love and kisses from daddy to Fritz and little Hermina. Yours; Reinhardt (Oberfeldwebel/ Sgt. Major Waldmann)
The censors for once weren't just being obnoxious...I can imagine what Reinhardt and his mates thought about the replacement, and the Germans are very good and very creative with swearing.
Ok. Can we just say how this man spent about, i dunno, less than a quarter of his description of missing Christmas talking about how he personally felt, and used his time to give praise and wellwishing to his own wife, military spouses, and the men and women both serving and trying to make those serving feel a little more at home? Mad respect.
I think I commented something similar on the first episode, but the Christmas Truce just shows that war itself can be so pointless. I don't cry often, but when I do, it just so happens to be from a story from the Christmas Truce. I hope this story is told for the rest of time, it's such an important lesson that I feel like it's fading away with time.
That quote in 5:38 is one of the greatest and most honest quote I've ever heard. We need to find a way to stop this madness of war and finally live as human beings not as cattle waiting to die in a slaughter house.
My grandfather was drafted for WWI, and was obliged to show up July 4, 1917. He served through the following Christmas, and all the next year as well. When the war ended on Nov. 11, 1918, he thought it was possible he could be home for Christmas 1918. He was not. He wasn't discharged until the following July 4, completing exactly 2 years of service. He had some memoirs that he wrote, and I later read, but I don't know what became of them.
and so the regular soldiers must fight on during christmas because of the senior officers, ''how dare the regular soldiers not kill eachother during christmas,'' they thought while they ate their luxurious christmas dinners in the chateaus far behind the front.
Always a pleasure to hear from Mr. Cutland, and to learn from his insights and wisdom. Also make me glad to see how far the EH series has come from the early hugely excited days of the Punic wars
One of my favorite videos. Watched this constantly during 2018 Christmas. This video+Red Dead Redemption 2+ Breath of the Wild made my December/January. Thank you guys!
Yay Wargaming, bought Richard a proper Microphone. Merry Christmas everyone and especially to those serving overseas and those with loveones away on tour.
Thank you for the message and the wisdom. It certainly helps me being half a world away from my family during these holiday seasons and knowing that I’m not the only one to go through the holidays while on deployment.
This is splendid advice. I had the opportunity to read my grandfather's letters for the first time just last month. He served aboard a hospital ship in the pacific theatre in WWII. I never met him. He died at age 35, when my mother was only 14.
Joyeux Noël (I suppose it's called merry Christmas in the US?). A 2005 French/German/British cooperation. Starring Benno Fürmann, Danny Boon, Diane Krüger, Daniel Brühl etc. It's quite impressive and touching.
because it truly shows that as people we are all the same, compassionate caring living beings. And that war is just another way of dividing us. Its truly amazing to think that back in the days of war and bloody violence that the Christmas spirit was more celebrated than it is today.
We have a bunch of letters from two of my great-uncles though one died very quickly after being deployed in 1916. The other was there from the start of the war but got wounded at some point and went to the hospital. The letters are all in german though. They were german nationals living in Switzerland.
Thank you for reminding me of both of my grandfathers, neither of whom I ever had the chance to meet, who fought on opposing sides in that very war. The story of Jack Davy especially reminded me of my Scottish grandfather who was part of the artillery and lost a leg on that front. Either way, I wish all of you happy holidays from Germany.
U.s. Navy sailor, here. This summer marks my 10th year in the service, at my 10 and a half year mark I'll be spending Christmas deployed. Due to opsec I cannot say but I am thankful that it will Mark only my second Holiday away from the states. I'm really appreciative that your host and narrator didn't try and go on didn't try and go on the monologue based on assumptions about what this is like. The fact that you cared enough to hand the mic over to an experienced Soldier who's had first-hand account of how depressing this is, really makes me appreciate your channel and product all the more. Furthermore the 1914 Christmas Truce is quite possibly my favorite story of History thank you for covering it so well
Les we forget. My family is Hungarian and I have yet to know of weather one of my ancestors were in a conflict such as World War I. This day marked a flame of hope in the darkness of war.
Thank you for this episode. I also would like to thank Richard for his holiday sacrifices. The more I look about this time the more I am struck with anger and sadness. To see that humanity could still be alive, and yet hear that the hatred is what caused the war to continue. I hope this light still shines in history. To remind us that we are all human first and soldiers second. Happy holidays.
if only the leader look at the brightside there will be war end......but for sure who ever experience what happen that night ....the joy and xperience they die peacefull...RIP thank you for all your services and a great history
Just graduated from MCRD Parris Island, I spent Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and my birthday in boot camp. It's not easy but you find ways to keep yourself busy (or the drill instructors did for us most of the time); definitely wasn't as bad as it would be on a deployment, but it's just another part of the military life.
The fact that literal enemy soldiers in trench warfare - one of the most brutal, disgusting and horrifying methods of combat ever concieved - can lower their weapons and just enjoy a somewhat chill Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day over No Man's Land just means we have no excuse not to have been able to enjoy the holiday season during the pandemic. To others reading this, I hope you've also had a Merry Christmas and, just maybe, a Happy New Year!
I can't imagine the pain of having to spend Christmas thousands of miles from home year after year in a ditch. God bless all our men and women who can't be home for the holiday, and merry Christmas
"...he smash his rifle into the tree stump.'' "Dude, what the hell?!'' "I'm sorry!'' "What do you mean?! If we fail because you destroyed your rifle, the kaiser is killing you!""
My mom was in Afghanistan in 2012, i was 7 and really missed her. I remember her and i were skyping one morning before i want to school when her camp started to get bombed or somthing like that, she quickly said "i love you" and hung up. That whole day i was horrified of what might have happened. Luckily she was ok. But because of the constant bombing and fighting she came home with ptsd, she has never been the same and tends to rage alot. And by that i mean she throws stuff, slams doors multiple times, breaks cups, screams, and destroys her room. I dont feel safe at home anymore, and my sever depression doesnt help either. But even though she scares me when she rages, i still love her, because she takes care of me. Ive been really sick for the past 3 days (100.8 fever) but she still took care of me. I know shes not gonna be the mom i remember from all those years ago, but things change, that doesnt mean i hate her. I just hate the way she acts and how the army treats her. The reason shes like this is because of mefloquine. Search it up, this stuff destroyed her brain stem and gave her Central vertigo along with these anger issues. The government is ignoring all of this though. So yeah. Sorry i know this was long lol
I turned 21 when I was in Iraq that was back December 26th 2010. being over seas deployed during Christmas and your birthday is something you have to be there to understand.
My great great grand father was an English footman in the war, and he was captured in 1916 and was released in 1919 after the treaty of Versailles. My other great great grandfather was a US Naval Officer in the war as well!
That was a touching video the Christmas 🎄 Truce of World War 1 was a truly wonderful time for those soldiers to be alive. I'm glad that I seen this video again.
I really like this series! It gives a light about how both sides of the war where people with feelings and emotions... I hope people do send some more mail in (My parents weren't in the war so I wouldn't be able to)
Sponsored by World of Tanks! New players: Download the game and use the code ARMISTICE for free goodies! cpm.wargaming.net/ivmqe6kc/?pub_id=christmas2
PLUS! In the spirit of the Christmas Truce, World of Tanks has prepared a gift box for EVERY PLAYER. Redeem the bonus code: HULSE14
Merry Chrismas from South Korea! Chrismas started just an hour and a quarter ago!
Literally everything you guys do is amazing
Extra Credits You're the best. Have a happy chrismas
Merry Christmas guys. Extra history is the best.
Thank you for posting every day and spreading Christmas cheer, you all are amazing.
“Salami impaled to his stomach”
Damn that’s brutal
Many were lost to the Salami offensive. But it was nothing in comparison to the Bologna massacre.
Top 10 anime deaths
Don't even forget the pastrie invasion, my closest friend was decapitated by pound cake.
the most brutal weapons used during the Kaiserschlacht... Salami
Sckooty plays same I lost my closest friend to ice cream
Proof that this was a war no one wanted
wrong. the people in charge wanted war. only the ones who have to fight didn't.
@@CaiJadE Both the czar and the kaiser tried to prevent war
@@CaiJadE more like the serbs. just them.
John Blunt makes blunt swords
@@nilswettlin2012 and theenglish weren't going to join until germany attacked a country with no stakes in this war
"What in the Lord's name would happen if the soldiers refused to kill each other?"
War is a racket.
A question that was asked again in a way in the 80's.
"What if there is a war and no one goes to fight it?"
Then there be no war... However this of course only applies if it happens on both sides. If not the enemy just rolls in, conquers you and you may find yourself in another uncomfortable situation.
I'd rather ask what if the ranks on all sides joined together and rose up against their superiors in the Aftermath of Christmas 1914. On the German side a mutiny by sailors of the Imperial Navy ignited the fuse leading to the Collapse of the Empire and the abdication of the Kaiser in 1918. One can only speculate about the consequences if it already happened back in 1914 on all sides.
The question was asked during the Cold War where a real war in all likelyhood meant mutual nuclear annhiliation. Such questins only come up when there won't be any winners.
I take it you've read the book? It's a truly enlightening read.
Those in charge would execute those that refused to fight until everyone else toed the line
My grandfather was a german soldier during WW2. I used to go to hi's cabin and just listen to some stories one's in a while. He was at our house during christmast, right before he died in 2015. He stod up and told a story about hi's christmas 1944. He was in one of the trenches with hi's best friends. One of them called Alfred had just got a package from home. He opened it and it was a big Schwartzwaldcake. They became so happy that they started to sing.
They should not have done that tho, since the russian artillery fired a shot on their position a moment later. The whole cake was filled with sand and mud, from the explosion. They quickly blew the sand of the cake and started eating, because they didn't want it to become more destroyed. At that moment the other guys in the trench started singing silent night.
This was the best christmast he had ever had, he told us.
Wow, beautiful story! It's so heartwarming to see that everyone has humanity in them, regardless of the conditions they're living in, and your grandfather seemed to have that! Thank you so much for sharing, and I hope he's in a better place now.
my regards good sir to your grandfather
Nazi
Skeet Gielen Rude sir... Rude...
Sorry🤐😫
Here is a good one and, it is true:
My Grandpa was stationed with the Wehrmacht garrison in captured Norway for most of the war. But as casualties rose in the east he also sent there. His comrades felled like sentenced to death. One of his brothers died on the first day of Operation Barbarossa. My Grandpas name was Werner. He was there for only a Week. He only told this story ones to me. He was lying in a trench under heavy machine gun fire but saw a young German sergeant laying in the open field behind a fallen tree. He ran out into the open and pulled the wounded sergeant back in the trench. In the last second, he was hit in his leg by a "DumDum-Round". Wich almost blew his leg off. He was brought to a hospital in his hometown where he stayed until it was captured by French units and he went into a pow camp in France. He had received an Iron Cross for saving the German Sergeant. My Grandpa died at the age of 103 and lived a happy life. In one holiday we met another German family and the topic was brought up. It was a young couple with a son and an Old man. I started telling the story when suddenly the old man started crying and said: "Werner".
Maximilian that’s an amazing story. What a small world.
I actually tear up reading this.
My great grandfather had a reputation for crashing. During an attempted boarding of the H.M.S Vindictive he was giving aerial support in a biplane, he was shot down by a flak gun but survived, swimming to a British Marine Frigate. A frigate captured in a counter attack. He was captured and held for the rest of the war by a German Officer he became friends with. He was doing the same in the North-Africa Campaign (the one we lost) and was captured when he blew up a tank but was shot down by a German AA tank (typical) he was put in an Axis P.O.W camp. He was part of a prison break out after spending half a year there, during the beginning of the riot he wrenched a pistol off of a guard (we still have it it's in my Grandma's living room) and shot the man. Eventually he was sent back to Britain and aided in the taking of the Rhineland... when he was shit down again. This time he wasn't captured but helped out an American Division. He aided them with talking to some Germans in a concentration camp (as he could speak fluent French, Italian and German as well as his Native English tongue). He found the Officer who captured him decades before. He asked him why he was there with his family and he replied "The Nazis sent every Jew to a camp or to Heaven." We are still friends with the German family and his daughter Guisla. My great-grandfather is now dead. He passed before I was born and his wife passed three years ago.
Omg ! Wow ich bin nach meinem Uhr Opa bennant Max und er war auch im 2. Weltkrieg, mein Vater hat eine Kamer wo er so viel zeugs verstaut hat und auch so viel von der alten Zeit ! Ich will mir mal zeit nehmen und gucken ob es was noch gibt! Und mein Vater hatte mal ein paar Dokumente über den Rommel Feldzug, das hat er dann einem Geschichts Professor gegeben ich guck mal ob ich noch Briefe und Dokumente finde !
thats incredible!!
_December 1915, French trenches_
"So...weather's pretty terrible, huh?"
"Yeah. Almost as bad as that artillery barrage we got last night."
"Dude, how many times do I have to say I'm sorry?"
Timothy McLean oh I get it XD
Omg xd😂😂😂😂
Timothy McLean I don't get it
I...don't get it either is it just the guy accidently fires it at the enemies and now the enemies fired back?
Seriously is it that hard to understand???
So, I followed your advice, and did some digging. Turns out my great uncle died at the Somme. His last letter was sent on the same day he died, and it ends in Welsh. I’ve translated it:
“I’m being told we’re going over the top tonight. All going well, I’ll send another letter next week. Your dearest husband, William.”
He died the same day, helping an injured German to the allied trench to give him medical aid. They were hit by an artillery shell. Both died.
Ab Owain Mapping those stories always are the most gruesome. To see letters from men going over the top and then after that letter died.
I did some digging after I saw this. My great grandfather was one of the few surviving British pilots during WW1 and was ordered to aid in the a naval battle to take back the H.M.S Vindictive from the Germans he would crash and swim to a marine ship. A ship overrun and boarded by Germans. He was captured by a German Officer. He continued to be a pilot in WW2 after he was returned to Britain. He again crashed during the Battle for the Rhine and came across an American Division. Staying with them for months until the Americans received an order to look for him. He came across a German concentration camp and found the Officer who captured him decades before. He asked why he was there in German (he specialized in languages) the Officer replied telling him that the Nazis sent all Jews they found to Heaven or camp. My family still is on good terms with the Officers family. My great grandfather died of age before I was born and his wife who I knew only as "Nan-Nan" three years ago
I'm not crying!... YOU'RE CRYING!
I'm speachless.
Who put all these onions here?
Guess that phrase... "What if there was a war and nobody went'? has more truth to it than you might think.
If the soldiers don't fight, nothing happens....
Unfortunately, moments like that are precious and rare...
My grandfather was a Canadian veteran of WWII. He survived pneumonia and then an accident while stationed in France as part of a convoy. He wrote letters to my grandma, his future wife, every single day. Sometimes twice a day. We still have these letters and my mother is currently putting them on the computer. He would suffer a broken leg and months in a hospital in Europe before going home to Canada. He married my grandmother instantly on December 24th. The injury from the war was something he hid his entire life until a stroke in his 80s that put stress on it. He had his leg amputated at that time and lived in a motorized wheelchair until he passed away at age 93.
Between the war and his death he built up several businesses including a campground in British Columbia. He was a man who loved ice cream and peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. He never finished high school yet his wartime letters were romantic and full of love. He may have passed away several years ago but his memory will always live on with my mother and all of his children and grand children. Letters are a great way to preserve the memories of soldiers. They're wonderful to read.
just more proof of the bad-assery of canadian soldiers haha
Okay no crying this time, stay strong...
😭🤧
theokchannel Bravo 👏
I cry every time i hear it
*comforts you with a hug*
DOES ANYONE HAVE A FUCKING TISSUE?!
I - i got something in my eye not tears 😭
Me: I caught something in my eye...
Anonymous: What did you catch?
Me: TEARS!!!
(also I highly doubt I can find any letters from the trenches since I am a half norwegian and half... Tanzanian... MOM!!!)
"A month later, he was dead." Sends chills when you hear it. The pain it must've caused to the family is really disheartening. He basically said "You worry too much" before be died. RIP John McLean 😔
That letter from the soldier who lost his leg made me tear up
LoZ Collector The same frenchmen, Louis Barthas, pointed his rifle at some obnoxious liutenant that was threatening him with court martial for retreating. Made him finally shut up.
"Yesterday there was a fierce and terrible onslaught... of Christmas packages into our trenches." Join us and World of Tanks Military Specialist Richard Cutland to listen to WW1 soldiers' Christmas letters home!
This episode is our last for the year - we're leaving on holiday break! We'll see you again on January 9 with a full week of Extra Sci Fi, Extra Credits, and Extra History. Cheers!
Sounds like a bloodbath
Extra Credits hi
Merry Christmas guys :) and enjoy your holidays, I can't wait for you to get back ^^
Lord Tachanka I AM AT YOUR COMMAND!!
let's hope that we can have only peaceful Christmases for the rest of eternity
Coming from a military family, with men who served in the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, and even most recently the Coast Guard, this really hits home. Spending birthdays without fathers or uncles or cousins because they have a duty to fulfill was as hard on young minds as it is on the men and women who serve in such fashion. To such end, and to those who serve, you have my thanks, and my heartfelt condolences that we must ask you to be away from those you love at such a time. May peace smile upon you in a new year.
What a horrible onslaught those soldiers suffered 100 years ago, may they have found peace...
Anyways happy holidays to everyone.
And like that soldier who says that individual soldiers have no true quarrels, only our commanders, we still stupidly divide the world in ways where war occurs and shots ring out, many of them, civilians with no evidence against them of doing a horrid thing.
Zexal42 I think they did on that Christmas Day, on that Christmas Day in 1914.
Zexal42 id try to negoiate peace and get hit in the head with a snipee bullet
these deaths were necessary , so that the other people could be in peace
After looking around through our storage of old letters (my mother's side of our family was practically always deployed somewhere), we found a letter detailing how my great great great grandfather had traded weaponry with an opposing soldier on the other side of no mans land. The best part of it being how they agreed to never fire a shot on a soldier using one of there guns. Sadly they were both dead in less that three weeks (damned artillery) but I love the idea all the same.
How would you know if someone on the other side died. Fake. Wym they "both" died. Who tf is both because you sound like a lier
This shows how festivals can bring people together and this gave me a hope that i did not experience in a long time on Christmas.
I WISH ALL OF YOU MARRY CHRISTMAS AND A MEANINGFUL LIFE AHEAD!!
--- a humble viewer
I am currently deployed to a country called Bahrain. I’m an avid watcher of this show you guys do here and in turn now watch extra credits. Thank you guys for this video. I’d say the hardest part for me is that it just doesn’t feel like Christmas. You end up missing the little things and even though I was lucky enough to speak to my family this year. It just doesn’t really feel the way it used too and that might be the hardest part for me. That and knowing my being gone has taken something from their Christmas as well.
Thank you guys very much for this video. It’s exactly what I needed to give me a taste of Christmas. Even for just 9 minutes
The story of Jack Davey and his fiancée Kitty is one of the most beautiful, touching, and heartbreaking stories I’ve ever heard. Heightened all the more by the fantastic artwork.
Though I am a stranger to war, I’m no stranger to war stories, but that one hit me hard.
Thanks for all you do guys.
You guys always know how to get into my heart and *riP IT TO SHREDS*
SaraBLQ and they only do it rarely
+SoaPuffball But damn, they do it good.
SaraBLQ *hEArT RippEd*
@FrogChip
Yea my heart is super buff wanna see his abs?
SaraBLQ fake
I listened to your words, and I would ask my family for letters. But the only family members I have touched by war, were my grandparents. Who both unfortunately passed this year. Spend as much time as you can with your family.
Merry Christmas
To be honest, that beginning letter was extremely disturbing when I was listening without watching.
Wow the worst one HAS to be the rasins
PFFFFT
@@bigfartsaresotastylet’s say the man was never seen again.
Getting mauled by christmas gift?
Seems legit.
Is it bad that I just imagine a German soldier clubbing a British soldier to death with a wrapped gift?
maybe
Maybe yes probably
Some German has a sense of humor.
@@charlesdark2861 yes
I remember a tale from my granpa: he was a tankchief in Africa during WWII (Italian Armour division). On christmas his friend (a paratrooper) menage to find (or probably steal from some English supply convoy) some scramble eggs. He cook it and run to bring to my grampa under artillery fire. My grampa say that the eggs was dirty with sand due to the explosion but they eat it anyway and celebrate some sort of chrismas, they was really hungry.
a bittersweet but necessary video
My grandfather on my mother's side actually ran away to join the army when he was 15 and he became a chef in the American navy in WWII
His map reading skills must been horrible...went for the army ended up in the Navy lol.
And the cook is an important post- probably everyone on his ship remembers him.
From a grandson of a ship's cook.
My grandpa was in the navy and was a captain just as while his cousin was the Captain of the USS Arizona. Franklin Van Valkenburgh, my grandpas cousin, died in Pearl Harbor a hero (he lived in Milwaukee and newspapers wrote about his death).
i bet his cooking was good
" I'd like to tell you more, but I can do that when I get home."
One month later he was dead.
That shit got to me man
Liebster Hannelore,
Excuse me for not writing for such a long time.
You must have been very worried, but I am still alive and unharmed.
Just could not write, too busy.
For the past couple of weeks the British have been attacking us with all they have.
They are very brave soldiers, but they act suicidal running with their bayonets straight into the crossfire of our machineguns. And not once, but again and again untill even the hardest professional NCO's among us felt sick by all this slaughter.
They also have been bombarding us hard with their artillery. Aim is good, but our shelters and dug outs are better. Hans got a piece of shrapnell through his left arm. Lucky bastard will spend at least 6 weeks at home with your sister. Our yong Leutnant was not so fortunate. Good kid, a boy as brave as a lion and with a heart of gold. We all miss him and what we got in his place xxxxxxxxxxxxx (censored).
Send love and kisses from daddy to Fritz and little Hermina.
Yours; Reinhardt
(Oberfeldwebel/ Sgt. Major Waldmann)
Wow, someone in your family had served?
Thank you Reinhardt, for serving, and I hope you and your family Rest In Peace.
@SteFanOk PLAY Likely something blacked out by military censors for containing sensitive information
The censors for once weren't just being obnoxious...I can imagine what Reinhardt and his mates thought about the replacement, and the Germans are very good and very creative with swearing.
Ok. Can we just say how this man spent about, i dunno, less than a quarter of his description of missing Christmas talking about how he personally felt, and used his time to give praise and wellwishing to his own wife, military spouses, and the men and women both serving and trying to make those serving feel a little more at home? Mad respect.
I wish I had a bottle of coniac fly in my face
Be careful what you wish for. Glass shards are pretty painful.
Jakye the Dark One Cognac*
English in not my first language
Oh the horror
Excuse me but, is that an Astolfo image? And if so, can you show me the complete one in full definition?
I think I commented something similar on the first episode, but the Christmas Truce just shows that war itself can be so pointless. I don't cry often, but when I do, it just so happens to be from a story from the Christmas Truce. I hope this story is told for the rest of time, it's such an important lesson that I feel like it's fading away with time.
That quote in 5:38 is one of the greatest and most honest quote I've ever heard. We need to find a way to stop this madness of war and finally live as human beings not as cattle waiting to die in a slaughter house.
My grandfather was drafted for WWI, and was obliged to show up July 4, 1917. He served through the following Christmas, and all the next year as well. When the war ended on Nov. 11, 1918, he thought it was possible he could be home for Christmas 1918. He was not. He wasn't discharged until the following July 4, completing exactly 2 years of service. He had some memoirs that he wrote, and I later read, but I don't know what became of them.
Michael F I guess your grandfather was like 70 when he had a child. Cause my grandfather was born in 1922 and he is 96. Though sadly dead
Or Michael F is 40-50, his father was born in the 30s or 40s, and his grandfather was born in the 1890s or so.
Those who desire war will never experience it's horrors. Those who have experienced it's horrors will fight to never experience them again
2:30 trying not to tear up. Very heartbreaking, and thank you for such a sacrifice.
Merry Christmas from this veteran to those who serve.
and so the regular soldiers must fight on during christmas because of the senior officers, ''how dare the regular soldiers not kill eachother during christmas,'' they thought while they ate their luxurious christmas dinners in the chateaus far behind the front.
As always EC pulling in extra time to give us more fun historical facts.
Hope this channel stays online for good. It's awesome for the kids
You have a weird definition of "fun".
Timothy, *YOU* have a weird definition of fun.
@@timothymclean
I must have the same weird definition ha.
@@timothymclean No, listening to these people IS fun.
I'm watching this thing at 6am,
Pure interest
6:26 this part just made me cry man…
6:44 wow that took a dark turn, was hoping for a good ending
Always a pleasure to hear from Mr. Cutland, and to learn from his insights and wisdom. Also make me glad to see how far the EH series has come from the early hugely excited days of the Punic wars
I love watching the christmas truce videos, they always give me a good cry. Thank you for that.
yeah it brings back good old time
5:22 "Meanwhile, our big-shot leaders were in a Fürher"
Oops, sorry, wrong World War.
I have to give you guys the bad news T-T my great grand dad was one of the men firing those artillery shells, only found out today
Which side?
just doing his job man no worries
*Hears news* *Immediately thinks of this video*
It's okay, he was just doing his job. Like everybody else in that "Great" war.
Another video today, omg
Merry Christmas everybody.
One of my favorite videos. Watched this constantly during 2018 Christmas. This video+Red Dead Redemption 2+ Breath of the Wild made my December/January. Thank you guys!
Im deployed righr now, and though not at the front, the feeling is so relatable. Merry christmass everyone!
Yay Wargaming, bought Richard a proper Microphone.
Merry Christmas everyone and especially to those serving overseas and those with loveones away on tour.
Smooth as butter
Thank you for the message and the wisdom. It certainly helps me being half a world away from my family during these holiday seasons and knowing that I’m not the only one to go through the holidays while on deployment.
6:34 I wanted to hear more about the cat, dang it
This is splendid advice. I had the opportunity to read my grandfather's letters for the first time just last month. He served aboard a hospital ship in the pacific theatre in WWII. I never met him. He died at age 35, when my mother was only 14.
A movie needs to be made on this... idc if its not that good...
Joyeux Noël (I suppose it's called merry Christmas in the US?). A 2005 French/German/British cooperation. Starring Benno Fürmann, Danny Boon, Diane Krüger, Daniel Brühl etc.
It's quite impressive and touching.
Nicolas Schulien oh thanks!
you guys seem to have a good relationship with Wargamming. Merry Christmas guys and a happy new year.
Merry Christmas from the Philippines! (it just struck midnight of the 25th here)
Now its 1am in Philippines
Merry christmas from england, 5:47 here
now its 2am now in the Philippines
Paladin Colt sup mai boi
Paladin Colt now its 1 am in germany. Greetings
because it truly shows that as people we are all the same, compassionate caring living beings. And that war is just another way of dividing us. Its truly amazing to think that back in the days of war and bloody violence that the Christmas spirit was more celebrated than it is today.
We have a bunch of letters from two of my great-uncles though one died very quickly after being deployed in 1916. The other was there from the start of the war but got wounded at some point and went to the hospital.
The letters are all in german though. They were german nationals living in Switzerland.
My great great grandfather fought for Germany in WWI, I wonder what he experienced
👌
moral of the story: Artilery sucks
Artillerymen are pigs. World of Tanks players know this.
arrtilley fire without seeing what they are doing, because if they could see, they would not fire
LIES ARTILERY IS SUPER EFFECTIVE
Artillery is OP in War Thunder.
I was watching this and felt sad and emotional then a clash of clans ad game on and yelling Hog Rida! Man. What good timing.
Why does the extra bits of history have to be so much more heartbreaking than the actual history
Thank you for reminding me of both of my grandfathers, neither of whom I ever had the chance to meet, who fought on opposing sides in that very war. The story of Jack Davy especially reminded me of my Scottish grandfather who was part of the artillery and lost a leg on that front. Either way, I wish all of you happy holidays from Germany.
0:28 So thats where sarcasm comes from
U.s. Navy sailor, here. This summer marks my 10th year in the service, at my 10 and a half year mark I'll be spending Christmas deployed. Due to opsec I cannot say but I am thankful that it will Mark only my second Holiday away from the states.
I'm really appreciative that your host and narrator didn't try and go on didn't try and go on the monologue based on assumptions about what this is like. The fact that you cared enough to hand the mic over to an experienced Soldier who's had first-hand account of how depressing this is, really makes me appreciate your channel and product all the more.
Furthermore the 1914 Christmas Truce is quite possibly my favorite story of History thank you for covering it so well
that was majestic stache.
More than anything else at all, these accounts of events in such dark times since past, actually give me the warmth of hope in humanity.
0:05 Oh the horrors of war
Lol
It’s heart warming to see that they didn’t want to fight and spent a few days with each other
Les we forget. My family is Hungarian and I have yet to know of weather one of my ancestors were in a conflict such as World War I. This day marked a flame of hope in the darkness of war.
Thank you for this episode. I also would like to thank Richard for his holiday sacrifices. The more I look about this time the more I am struck with anger and sadness. To see that humanity could still be alive, and yet hear that the hatred is what caused the war to continue. I hope this light still shines in history. To remind us that we are all human first and soldiers second. Happy holidays.
Merry Christmas my friends,
Let us all have beautifull holidays ! : )
It's one l in beautiful
if only the leader look at the brightside there will be war end......but for sure who ever experience what happen that night ....the joy and xperience they die peacefull...RIP
thank you for all your services and a great history
This is the holiday where borders are forgotten and humanity is put first.
God Jul!
Merry Christmas!
I can’t express how much you guys help me to appreciate world history. I love this channel
Merry Christmas/Hanukkah to you Extra Credits Crew!!! From Phillipines...
Pixlz_ATK me too
Merry Christmas from Canada!
Pixlz_ATK Same here fellow Filipino.
Hanukkah is over but thank you very much! Merry Christmas!
Same here its 1 am now in visayas
This is my favourite event in all of history, i still cry like a baby every time i hear about it. Thank you so much for covering it.
Oh boy! Do I love my favorite candy bar, CHOC. 4:34
Just graduated from MCRD Parris Island, I spent Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and my birthday in boot camp. It's not easy but you find ways to keep yourself busy (or the drill instructors did for us most of the time); definitely wasn't as bad as it would be on a deployment, but it's just another part of the military life.
Merry Christmas to the extra history team and fellow fans
Man these videos really get the waterworks flowing and I don't cry hardly ever anymore, so that's saying something.
The fact that literal enemy soldiers in trench warfare - one of the most brutal, disgusting and horrifying methods of combat ever concieved - can lower their weapons and just enjoy a somewhat chill Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day over No Man's Land just means we have no excuse not to have been able to enjoy the holiday season during the pandemic. To others reading this, I hope you've also had a Merry Christmas and, just maybe, a Happy New Year!
I can't imagine the pain of having to spend Christmas thousands of miles from home year after year in a ditch. God bless all our men and women who can't be home for the holiday, and merry Christmas
1:10 omg that is the most British accent I've ever heard in my life
Just goes to show that even in the bleakest of times in human history a glimmer of humanity will shine through.
Christmas rain
Lord Tachanka some stay dry while others feel the pain
I'm very lucky that the sent us home for Christmas while at bct. I missed thanksgiving. But I'm glad to see my family for Christmas.
"...he smash his rifle into the tree stump.''
"Dude, what the hell?!''
"I'm sorry!''
"What do you mean?! If we fail because you destroyed your rifle, the kaiser is killing you!""
This was heartbreaking. Merry Christmas everyone.
4:24 my heart
My mom was in Afghanistan in 2012, i was 7 and really missed her. I remember her and i were skyping one morning before i want to school when her camp started to get bombed or somthing like that, she quickly said "i love you" and hung up. That whole day i was horrified of what might have happened. Luckily she was ok. But because of the constant bombing and fighting she came home with ptsd, she has never been the same and tends to rage alot. And by that i mean she throws stuff, slams doors multiple times, breaks cups, screams, and destroys her room. I dont feel safe at home anymore, and my sever depression doesnt help either. But even though she scares me when she rages, i still love her, because she takes care of me. Ive been really sick for the past 3 days (100.8 fever) but she still took care of me. I know shes not gonna be the mom i remember from all those years ago, but things change, that doesnt mean i hate her. I just hate the way she acts and how the army treats her. The reason shes like this is because of mefloquine. Search it up, this stuff destroyed her brain stem and gave her Central vertigo along with these anger issues. The government is ignoring all of this though. So yeah. Sorry i know this was long lol
Frohe Weihnachten! Ich wünsche Euch Ein frohes Fest!
ahh shissie
Nice
You guys need more funding you truly deserve it for the work you make. The good you do. You guys are truly making a difference keep it up :D
5:30, oh god, the shadow on the right has a hole in his head
I turned 21 when I was in Iraq that was back December 26th 2010. being over seas deployed during Christmas and your birthday is something you have to be there to understand.
Merry Christmas Eve, Extra Credits!
My great great grand father was an English footman in the war, and he was captured in 1916 and was released in 1919 after the treaty of Versailles.
My other great great grandfather was a US Naval Officer in the war as well!
Thanks for the present EC! ;)
That was a touching video the Christmas 🎄 Truce of World War 1 was a truly wonderful time for those soldiers to be alive. I'm glad that I seen this video again.
I hope your channel get million more sub you guys deserve it. Thanks for showing us another side of war. Happy 🎄 🎄 Christmas.
I really like this series! It gives a light about how both sides of the war where people with feelings and emotions... I hope people do send some more mail in (My parents weren't in the war so I wouldn't be able to)