Quinn

Christmas Eve in 1914, stars were gleaming, gleaming bright And all along the Western front guns were lying still and quiet Men lay dozing in the trenches, in the cold and in the dark As far away behind the lines a village dog began tae bark Some lay thinking of their families, some sang songs to others quiet Playing brag and rolling fags to pass away the Christmas night As we watched the German trenches, something moved in no man's land Through the dark there came a soldier carrying a white flag in his hand Then from both sides men came running, crossing into no man's land Through the barbed wire, mud and shell-holes, shyly stood there shaking hands Fritz he brought cigars and brandy, Tommy brought corned beef and fags And as they stood there quietly talking, the moon shone down on no man's land Then Christmas Day we all played football in the mud of no man's land Tommy brought some Christmas pudding, Fritz brought out a German band And when they beat us at the football we shared all our grub and drink Then Fritz showed me a tattered photo of a brown-haired girl back in Berlin <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">For four days after no side fired, not one shot disturbed the night <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">For old Fritz and Tommy Atkins, they'd both lost their will to fight <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">So they withdrew us from the trenches, sent us back behind the lines <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">They brought fresh troops to take our places and told the guns, Prepare to fire <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">The next night in 1914, flak was beaming, beaming bright <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">The orders came, Prepare offensive! Over the top we go tonight <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">And men stood waiting in the trenches, gazed out across our football park <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">As all along the Western front the Christmas guns began tae bark <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">© Words & music - Mike Harding
 * <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Christmas Truce **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Christmas 1914 **

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