Christmas on the front, Vaucelles, France, 1916. A watercolor of the village gate. A separate photograph shows two German soldiers posing before the gate.
Weihnachten im Felde, Vaucelles 1916.Christmas at the front, Vaucelles, 1916.Reverse:Penciled note: 'Entrance gate of the village Vaucelles December 18, 1916 – France-' [NOTE: The reverse of the postcard may end with "Frankreich", but Vaucelles, France is near Caen, on the coast. Vaucelles, Belgium is southwest of Dinant on the French border. The blue would presumably be the Meuse in that case.] (translation courtesy Thomas Faust, ebay's Urfaust.
"Now winter, throwing aside his sleep and drowse, came out fierce and determined: first there was a heavy snow, then the steel-blue sky of a hard frost. To our pleasure, we were back in a camp in the woods by Elverdighe to celebrate Christmas. The snow was crystal-clean, the trees filigreed and golden. It was a place that retained its boorish loneliness, though hundreds invaded it: its odd buildings had the suggestion of Teniers."
Edmund Blunden, English writer, recipient of the Military Cross, second lieutenant and adjutant in the Royal Sussex Regiment, writing of Christmas day, 1916. Generations of David Teniers were painters: the Elder, the Younger, David Teniers III, and David Teniers IV. Blunden may be thinking of David Teniers the Younger, who is represented be a number of paintings at the National Gallery in London. Elverdighe is a village in Ypres, Belgium.
Undertones of War by Edmund Blunden, page 152, copyright © the Estate of Edmund Blunden, 1928, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: November 1928
1916-12-25, 1916, December, Christmas, Ypres
