Postcard of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Kaiser Franz Joseph, in the Secessionist style. Kaiser Wilhelm is wearing the uniform and shako of the Death's Head Hussars.
Völkerkrieg (people's war)1914; In Treue FestPeople's WarFirm in Loyalty
"We're in the trenches, and Christmas Eve was hardly worth the bother. We had a biscuit and a cup of tea! What a feast! One of my pals sang Minuit! Chrétiens for us. It didn't lack a certain grandeur in the midst of intense gunfire. I'm in a hurry to return home. You miss me so much and so do the children. Here we're getting by, cold and wretched. Fortunately, our captain is looking after us well."
Corporal Louis Bénard of the 272nd Infantry Regiment writing in the Argonne on Christmas Eve, 1914. 'Minuit! Chrétiens' (Cantique de Noël) was composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 and translated into English by John Sullivan Dwight as 'O Holy Night'.
They Shall Not Pass: The French Army on the Western Front 1914-1918 by Ian Sumner, page 44, copyright © Ian Sumner 2012, publisher: Pen and Sword, publication date: 2012
1914-12-24, 1914, December, Christmas Eve
