Comparison Between Hulse And The Times

Only five months into World War I, on December 24 1914, an usual sound was heard throughout the war-trodden trenches of Belgium and France. The sound of silence. Although the war had only begun a few months before, the soldiers had already seen their fill of death, and many were weary of the horrific events in what seemed to be a futile war. Both British and German soldiers used their mutual religious holiday to hold a temporary cease-fire as a reprieve from the war. One of the common misconceptions of the truce was its very existence, as there were some troops reporting normal wartime activity throughout the Christmas season. With each soldier’s experience differing, letters written by Captain Edward Hulse, other letters sent in to The Times
The conditions of the trenches were de-moralizing for the soldiers, with deep mud and little protection from the elements, so the soldiers used the truce to build up their defenses and ensure their comfort for the next few months. The one aspect of the soldiers time that contrasted in its mentioning between Hulse and the Times was the repairs of the barbed wire in no-man’s-land. While Hulse reported using the time offered by the truce to repair the wire entanglements, with not one German firing upon them , the Times on the other hand, had letters written by soldiers stating that that was the only activity the Germans refused to allow them to
Each letter is structured to formulate one story, however the soldiers do not come from the same battalion, nor were they situated in the same area along the Front. Although the burial session was an important and common feature throughout all areas that witnessed the truce, “the number of soldiers detailing the burial sessions rivals the proportion of troops recalling stories of talking and trading with the Germans” . As a member of the London Rifle Brigade was quoted in the Times, “Cigarettes, cigars, addresses, etc., were exchanged, and every one, friend and foe, were real good pals.” This is the same with Hulse, as George Paynter another captain of the Scots Guards, gave a scarf, and received in return warm woolly gloves. This was also a theme in Sainsbury’s ad as the English soldier gives his one bar of chocolate to the German soldier, leaving himself with only a cracker to eat, helping their slogan ‘Christmas is for Sharing’. The length of the truce also varied based on the soldier’s experience and the construction of the truce. Hulse continuously told the Germans that the truce had come to an end, yet they refused to commence firing, in fact when Hulse returned to the trenches on New Years Eve, he stated that “the 158th German regiment have not yet fired a shot since Christmas” . On the other hand, one excerpt in the Times stated that they “mutually agreed not to reopen hositilities