Christmas Truce Exhibition

[Baconwallah]

I have just returned from two days in Ieper with Gen Riley and four Saxon military historians.

We had a good meeting with the three local mayors and finalised the plans. The exhibition, with artefacts, documents and photos from both Wales and Saxony, will start on 2 August in the Saxon Army Museum in Wolkenstein. From there it will be taken to the Great War Centre at Ploegsteert (20 October) and the Town Halls of Armentières (26 November) and finally Frelinghien (13 December). From 5 January 2015 the exhibition will be held in Bodelwyddan Castle and probably other places in Wales (Cardiff is interested).

In Frelinghien trenches are being dug for re-enactments of the Truce while the Truce Memorial is being improved by extensive but unobtrusive landscaping. There will be a football match between teams of the Royal Welsh and the Marienberger Jaeger from Dresden, as in 2008 when we unveiled our memorial. I am also planning to have the grandsons of the 1914 officers, Maj Stockwell and Oberstleutnant Freiherr von Sinner, meet in the former No Man's Land again to exchange cigars and plum pudding as they did in 2008 (and their grandfathers did in 1914).

We hope that many Forum members will be able to attend the opening in Frelinghien.

John

[dcdl12976]

John I would love to be there on this historical re-enaction and I wish you all the best for it mate

[Aled Roberts]

Sounds very productive John.

What type of artefacts are planned?

[Baconwallah]

What type of artefacts are planned?

Uniforms and equipment of 1914, gifts (caps, badges, buttons and so on) received in No Man's Land, Christmas cards describing the occasion, Princess Mary's and the Kaiser's gifts to the troops, that sort of thing. We plan to fill two large rooms, no more as the whole lot has to be transportable (with limited means).

John

[Baconwallah]

There will be a guide book for sale with photographs of all exhibits and descriptions in English, French, German and Welsh.

We also plan to make the photographs available for downloading on the Forum, but behind a pay-wall to generate some income for the RWF Museum. Bob is working on that.

John

[Clive Hughes]

Is Wrexham interested? They ought to be!

Clive

[Baconwallah]

They were, but it now seems they're not. Neither is Birmingham.

John

[Baconwallah]

Dates have now been confirmed.

The exhibition at Frelinghien, where 2 RWF had its truce, will open on Sat 13 Dec. The meeting of the Welsh and German company commanders in No Man's Land will be repeated on the same spot by their grandsons, Major Miles Stockwell and Oberstleutnant Joachim Freiherr von Sinner. The commemorative football match between a team of the Royal Welsh and a German Army team will also be played that day.

John

[ap1]

Thats pretty impressive John. Stockwell….I'm surprised there's never been a book just about him?. He seemed to be so pivotal in the early years of the war. Or has there been one that i've missed?

[Jerry B]

Thats pretty impressive John. Stockwell….I'm surprised there's never been a book just about him?. He seemed to be so pivotal in the early years of the war. Or has there been one that i've missed?

This one perhaps?

http://rwf-forum.co.uk/vBulletin/sho...ghie-Stockwell