24-25 December 1914: The Christmas truce—impromptu, unofficial, sporadic, & quite possibly the most fondly remembered episode of the whole awful war.
Lest we forget.
Commentary: The photograph below illustrates one of the difficulties of publishing "The Explorers' Club." The image is titled, or, if that seems too lordly, its file name is Christmas-1914-truce-2.jpg. Yet it is plainly not a photograph of the Christmas truce of 1914. The British or Imperial soldier with the bandage on his neck is wearing a Brodie helmet, which was not yet designed as of Christmas 1914 & was not used in combat 'til 1916. The German is wearing an iconic Stahlhelm, also not issued to front-line troops 'til '16.
I am reliant on my own judgment as to which images are suspect, the chief limit on my ability to fact-check being time. The aim of "The Explorers' Club" has ever been to inspire the audience's own explorations of the subjects addressed; spreading misinformation would be deleterious to this objective & if ever I have used a faulty or misleading image such use has been unintentional. I beg your patience & indulgence.
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