The two songs below were inspired by true events that actually happened during World War I.

The first song is by Joe Henry and Garth Brooks, the second by John McCutcheon.

Belleau Wood
 
Oh, the snowflakes fell in silence
Over Belleau Wood that night
For a Christmas truce had been declared
By both sides of the fight
As we lay there in our trenches
The silence broke in two
By a German soldier singing
A song that we all knew.
 
Though I did not know the language
The song was “Silent Night”
Then I heard my buddy whisper,
“All is calm, all is bright”
Then the fear and doubt surrounded me
‘Cause I’d die if I was wrong
But I stood up in my trench
And began to sing along
 
Then across the frozen battlefield
Another’s voice joined in
Until one by one each man became
A singer of the hymn
 
Then I thought that I was dreaming
For right there in my sight
Stood the German soldier
‘Neath the falling flakes of white
And he raised his hands and smiled at me
As if he hoped to say
Here’s hoping we both live
To see us find a better way
 
Then the devil’s clock struck midnight
And the skies lit up again
And the battlefield where heaven stood
Was blown to Hell again
 
But for just one fleeting moment
The answer seemed so clear
Heaven’s not beyond the clouds
It’s for us to find it here.

Christmas in the Trenches
 
My name is Francis Tolliver, I come from Liverpool.
Two years ago the war was waiting for me after school.
To Belgium and to Flanders, to Germany to here
I fought for King and country I love dear.
‘Twas Christmas in the trenches, where the frost so bitter hung,
The frozen fields of France were still, no Christmas song was sung
Our families back in England were toasting us that day
Their brave and glorious lads so far away.
 
I was lying with my messmate on the cold and rocky ground
When across the lines of battle came a most peculiar sound
Says I, “Now listen up, me boys!” each soldier strained to hear
“He’s singing bloody well, you know!” my partner says to me
Soon, one by one, each German voice joined in harmony
The cannons rested silent, the gas clouds rolled no more
As Christmas brought us respite from the war.
 
As soon as they were finished and a reverent pause was spent
“God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” struck up some lads from Kent
The next they sang was “Stille Nacht”. “’Tis ‘Silent Night’,” says I
And in two tongues one song filled up that sky
“There’s someone coming towards us!” the front line cried
All sights were fixed on one long figure trudging from their side
His truce flag, like a Christmas star, shown on that plain: so bright
As he, bravely, strode unarmed into the night
 
Soon one by one on ether side walked into No Man’s Land
With neither gun nor bayonet we met there hand to hand
We shared some secret brandy and we wished each other well
And in a flare-lit soccer game we gave ‘em hell
We traded chocolates, cigarettes, and photographs from home
These sons and fathers far away from families of their own
Young Sanders played his squeezebox and they had a violin
This curious and unlikely band of men
 
Soon daylight stole upon us and France was France once more
With sad farewells we each prepared to settle back to war
But the question haunted every heart that lived that wondrous night
“Whose family have I fixed within my sights?”
‘Twas Christmas in the trenches where the frost, so bitter hung
The frozen fields of France were warmed as songs of peace sung
For the walls they’d kept between us to exact the work of war
Had been crumbled and were gone for evermore
 
My name is Francis Tolliver, in Liverpool I dwell
Each Christmas come since World War I, I’ve learned its lessons well
That the ones who call the shots won’t be among the dead and lame
And on each end of the rifle we’re the same.
 
 
 
 

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