KS2 Assembly - Christmas Truce 1914

This assembly framework is one of a set of KS2 assemblies from BBC Teach.

A short story (approx. 6 mins duration), available here, is used as part of this assembly. A boy reads the diary entries written by his great-great-grandfather from the trenches of the Western Front at Christmas 1914.

By Christmas 1914, soldiers from the Allied and German armies had dug-in along a trench system reaching from Switzerland to the North Sea. On Christmas Eve the guns fell silent. The following morning - Christmas Day - troops on both sides climbed from their trenches and met together in No-Man’s-Land, between the battle lines. They shared drinks, played football, embraced, exchanged presents and sang carols. This spontaneous truce was observed in several places along the Western Front, but by no means everywhere. The following day - Boxing Day - the fighting began once again.

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