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| Bertie
Falstead England's Oldest Man Remembers The 1915 Christmas Truce...
He
was involved in the 1915 truce; Bertie recalls that: "we were
only 100 yards or so apart when Christmas morning came. A German began
singing All Through The Night, then more voices joined in and the British
troops responded with Good King Wencelas... the next morning, all the
soldiers were shouting to one another, "Hello Tommy, Hello Fritz"
... The Germans Bertie was later wounded at the Battle of the Somme. He has twice been presented to the Queen and received a certificate signed by President Chirac in November 1998, and was awarded France's highest award for gallantry in the field, the Legion d' Honneur. 
Bertie on the Western Front in 1915 |
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We
also have the memories of our local hero, Bertie Felstead of Gloucester.
started
it, coming out of their trenches and walking over to us. Nobody decided
for us - we just climbed over our parapet and went over to them, we thought
nobody would shoot at us if we all mingled together... There wouldn't
have been a war if it had been left to the public. We didn't want to fight
but we thought we were defending England."