Quote:
Originally posted by centurion
In Europe in the 18th century and the very early 19th it was not unusual for combatants to knock off from hostilities during holidyays and attend social events together (Christmas 1914 was a distant echo of this). There is an example (7 years War I think) of a besieging force achieving a breach in a fortified town just before a holiday. Warlike activities were suspended and a stage built in the breach. A ball was held - both sides attending. The stage was then dismantled and the next day the storming party went in. In the diary of the Broitish Seaman John Wetheral (who was a POW in France in the early 19th Century) there is an account of British POWs ( other ranks and officers) held near Calais being allowed out on parole at Christmas and allowed to take the ferry packet (still running in wartime!) home to England so long as they reported back at the prison after the holiday. It was basically Napoleon who introduced much more of a total war ethos and such civilised behavious soon lapsed.
|
The holiday effect took place in Korea and music was played across no mans land and the shooting died down and a friend of mine who was a sniper with the PPCLI related this story to me/..
Christmas eve with the music going some Chinese snipers snuck out into no mans land across from the Canadian lines..
They brought parcels of rice and little Chinese flags and left them out in the open..
Figguring a trap,but bored,daring and curious a Canadian sniper team snuck out and carefully retrieved the little packages..They were not impeded or shot at and all was quiet..
Once back safely back at their line and knowing full well the Chinese were watching they snuck back out with some rations and some hastily dug up goodies and snuck back out and left them where the Chinese snipers had left the rice..
American troops on the flanks were watching this and when the Canadians snuck back to their lines and watched while the Chinese sniper team crawled out to retrieve their Christmas gifts..
When they got to the pile of goodies the Canadian snipers took them out..
My friend said that it was instant bedlam..
Chinese ,North Korean opened up on the Canadian lines as well as the American troops on the flanks who were pissed at the Canadians for stiring up the Chinese and the unsportsman like ethics of the Canadians//
Any of the ex PPCLI reading this may know the story .
.