TOW #7 - "The Most Extraordinary Scenes"

(taken from Letters of Note)

This letter from Captain Jake 'Jack' Armes to his wife describes his experience as a soldier in World War I on Christmas Eve in 1914. The title of this letter comes from his own words when he says that he was a spectator of one of "the most extraordinary scenes." The Germans and British were shooting at each other, but once seven o'clock hit, the Germans stopped fighting. Long story short, the British and Germans met in the middle and declared peace that lasted into Christmas Day, engaging in carol-singing, prisoner swaps, and football games. This really interested me because I am a big history buff and I remember learning about this in ninth grade. All you hear about wars are the terrible tragedies, so it is so fascinating to find out about these little stories. The captain does a really great job of explaining the events really well, and he does this by using imagery. This is captured when he utters, "It was a curious scene, a lovely moonlit night, the German trenches with small lights on them, and the men on both sides gathered in groups on the parapets" (Armes 22). His main purpose was to try and capture this beautiful moment that was probably never going to happen again, and report it to his wife. He wanted to make her understand how amazing of a scene it was, and I definitely think he achieved. Captain Armes references the troubles of the war before Christmas Eve in 1914, so that she could compare, and one thing that helped was his vivid description of the current situation. His audience is obvious because it was written to his wife, but I also think it could be directed towards every military wife or person who stays home during wartime in general. At home, you hear about the horrible war stories and the death tolls, but this brought hope and an incredibly interesting spin on what could happen in such a horrible situation.