Diaries detail light-hearted banter in the trenches
British and German soldiers indulged in light-hearted banter across the trenches by impersonating each other's accents, according to recently discovered First World War diaries The immaculate handwritten diaries were written in pencil by Sapper John T French, who kept a daily log of his experiences on the front line between 1915 and 1917. He wrote how the opposing trenches were sometimes so close the two sides would call a temporary truce to exchange the insults across No-man's-land. In one ''rather curious'' incident, a British soldier stood above the parapet to shout ''come on over Fritz'' in a comedy German accent. A German then called back – in a glass-cut English voice – ''No blooming fear''. ''This went on for half an hour and then heads were down and the war went on the same as usual. Instant death for the first man who put his head above the parapet", he wrote. Three days later he wrote: ''Up in orders today that any German looking over the parapet is to be shot and any man found talking to them is to be placed under arrest. ''This is the result of the affair a few mornings ago.'' snip http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/britainatwar/6454533/Diaries-detail-light-hearted-banter-between-fighting-troops-during-First-World-War.html
British and German soldiers indulged in light-hearted banter across the trenches by impersonating each other's accents, according to recently discovered First World War diaries The immaculate handwritten diaries were written in pencil by Sapper John T French, who kept a daily log of his experiences on the front line between 1915 and 1917. He wrote how the opposing trenches were sometimes so close the two sides would call a temporary truce to exchange the insults across No-man's-land. In one ''rather curious'' incident, a British soldier stood above the parapet to shout ''come on over Fritz'' in a comedy German accent. A German then called back – in a glass-cut English voice – ''No blooming fear''. ''This went on for half an hour and then heads were down and the war went on the same as usual. Instant death for the first man who put his head above the parapet", he wrote. Three days later he wrote: ''Up in orders today that any German looking over the parapet is to be shot and any man found talking to them is to be placed under arrest. ''This is the result of the affair a few mornings ago.'' snip http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/britainatwar/6454533/Diaries-detail-light-hearted-banter-between-fighting-troops-during-First-World-War.html