Silent Nights: The Survival of Christmas Traditions during WWI and WWII

Article written by Amynte Eygun, MA.

Westmount, Quebec – 24 December 2024: In a special pre-Christmas post, RMR Museum Assistant Curator, Amynte Eygun, has written about the survival of Christmas traditions during the two world wars.

“The season of Peace and Goodwill is again upon us, and still, ‘man’s inhumanity to man’ is what most strikes us.” – The Iodine Chronicle, December 1915

When the world is at war, life’s pleasures and celebrations are usually put aside for the good of the war effort. December 1914 marked the first holiday season overshadowed by the atrocities of the war and for many individuals serving overseas, this was the first Christmas spent away from home, their families and their usual comforts. While Canadians fought overseas, their families patiently waited for any news from their loved ones and hoped that war would be kind to the young soldiers during the Christmas season. Many of us are familiar with the 1914 “Christmas Truce”; an unofficial ceasefire between December 24th and 26th where Allied soldiers and German soldiers put down their weapons and sang christmas carols, played some soccer, buried their casualties and repaired their trenches and dugouts. While this phenomenon did occur, it was not as widespread as modern day war tales claim.

The Christmas truce involved the British Expeditionary Forces and German forces, and did not occur all over the Western Front. In the rest of war-torn Europe, fighting continued and the number of casualties continued to climb. On Christmas Eve 1914, men of the BEF overheard German soldiers in the opposite trench singing carols and lighting lanterns. They began shouting messages back and forth and on Christmas Day, the enemies met in no man’s land to exchange rudimentary gifts, play soccer and sing carols and patriotic songs. By the next day, the men returned to their respective sides to begin fighting as they were. As far as we know, Canadian soldiers were not involved with this famous truce, however they celebrated Christmas to the best of their abilities in other ways. How did they make sure that Christmas kept its magic even in the most dire of circumstances? Christmas cards were the main way that officers, soldiers and family back home celebrated the holiday, but we also see kindness and Christmas spirit being shared through campaigns and projects such as Princess Mary’s Christmas Gift Box program.

Christmas Cards

The use of Christmas cards during the First World War and into the Second World War demonstrated the strong christian and familial values that soldiers thought were worth protecting even during wartime. Cards were usually sent from officers to the troops, wishing them a happy Christmas and fruitful new year. The cards would usually be military themed, with the regiment’s crest, detailed with the regiment’s colours and sometimes with regiment-themed Christmas scenes. Cards would also be sent back home from soldiers to their families, and vice versa. The tradition of giving Christmas cards to the troops served to give the men hope, to encourage them, and to show them that there were people who thought of them and wished them well from home. It is important to notice the humanity behind the simple gesture of Christmas cards, humanity that these men had not seen for months.

The RMR Museum has an extensive collection of Christmas cards spanning both World Wars, and it is interesting to see the care put into these festive gifts and the quality of the cards. Many of them are printed on thick cardstock, the RMR’s crest embossed into the paper. There is usually a little fabric bow in the RMR’s colours holding the card together, and on the inside a pre-printed holiday message and sometimes a RMR themed Christmas image. Some cards in the collection include hand-written notes from the sender, once again demonstrating the care put into the tradition of exchanging cards.

Princess Mary Gift Boxes

While the world watched as young men sacrificed their lives for world peace, there were individuals like 17-year-old Princess Mary, who decided to try and spread joy and love to the troops. Born in 1897, the Princess Royal was the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, sister to Prince Albert, the future King George VI and aunt to Queen Elizabeth II. She was passionate about charity work from a young age, working as a nurse during the First World War and being dedicated to the Girl Guides Association until her death. Her entire adult life was engulfed by the horrors of war, being 17 when the First World War began and 42 when the Second World War shook Europe. She knew from a young age the importance of charity, especially coming from the all-important royal family. In October of 1914, she proposed the idea to give all active Allied servicemembers a small token of appreciation, a Christmas gift. She put out a call to the British public to help raise funds to ensure everyone got a gift.

Originally, the boxes were to be sent to “all those fighting on land and on the high seas.” In November 1914, this was changed to “all those wearing the King’s uniform.” This would quadruple the amount of eligible receivers, making this project much larger than anticipated. By Christmas 1914, over 400,000 boxes were delivered to individuals on the battlefield, at sea, and in hospitals. Because of the growing number of eligible receivers, by 1920, over 2.5 million boxes were distributed. The official list of eligible individuals was the following:

A: The navy and all troops serving at the front.
B: All British, colonial, and Indian troops serving outside the British Isles but not at the front.
C: All troops in the British Isles.

1. The Navy (Minesweepers and Dockyard officials)
2. Troops at the front (France), including Indian troops
3. Men on leave and wounded Members of the French mission
4. Nurses at the front
5. Widows and parents Prisoners of war and entered men

The contents of the boxes changed depending on who was receiving it. The most common was the smoker’s gift, which included 20 cigarettes wrapped in yellow monogrammed paper, 1 ounce of pipe tobacco, a pipe, a bullet pencil, a Christmas card, a photo of Princess Mary, and occasionally a flint and tinder rope lighter. Smoking was important on the battlefields during both World Wars, serving as a morale booster, a distraction, a reminder of home, and even as currency between soldiers.

The second most common Christmas box was the non-smoker’s gift, which included a khaki writing case with envelopes, paper and a pencil, acid tablets that doubled as sour lemon sweets, a Christmas card, and a photo of the Princess. For every 28 smoker’s gift boxes delivered, there was 1 non-smoker’s box, proving how central smoking and tobacco were to the lifestyle of soldiers.

In 1914, India was under British colonial rule, called the British Raj. Because of this, there were many Indian soldiers fighting for the Allied war effort. These soldiers were included in the list of gift receivers, and their main gift from the Princess was a box of spices. They would also receive a card and a photo of the princess in their gifts.

The final important group of people who were eligible for the gifts were nurses on the front lines, and they would get chocolates, a Christmas card, and a photo of the princess.

The Princess Mary Gift Boxes phenomenon was quite impressive for the time. The organization and planning involved to ensure that all in the King’s uniform received a gift was a massive project. It also shows the humanity behind the war and the importance of tradition that would not be forgotten even in the most dire of times.