Christmas at Templeux-la-Fosse, France, 25 December 1917
You wouldn’t think it possible to have a Merry Xmas in a place like this, would you? Well forget it...Thanks to a good lot of fellows du vin and the Almighty spreading a fog over the landscape we had Peace, Goodwill and a good time.
Captain Reginald Harriman Heywood, 4th Infantry Brigade Headquarters, 25 December 1917
The 25 December 1917 dawned at Templeux-la-Fosse, France as another wintry day. It was a day that was reportedly not so cold as the day before according to the unit war diary of the 4th Infantry Brigade Headquarters. The dawn of the new day brought with it melting snow and sleet but not the frozen snow or rain of Christmas Eve. Furthermore, all units were reported to have a good Christmas dinner accompanied by beer or wine.
It is debatable as to whether Captain Reginald Harriman Heywood, a veterinarian surgeon from Malvern, was in good spirits when he awoke at 6am that morning to the strains of the 15th Battalion Band playing Christmas carols. He notes that the band continued to play until the instruments had frozen. This image of Christmas was clearly not something that he was used to. His diary entry for the day begins with:
This day last year I was at Sorrento, Vic, and if I remember right it was 100 in the shade.
Heywood had been transferred to the 4th Infantry Brigade Headquarters about two months earlier and understandably, like many others, had thoughts of home that morning. This sentiment does not last long however. He writes of how the first item on the agenda for the festive morning was attending Holy Communion at a nearby hut. The sound of 9.2 inch breech loading Howitzer guns being fired was heard during the service and no doubt reminded him that he was on active service.
Prior to Christmas dinner the message went out that there was extra wine available from the canteen. Heywood surmises that this message was distributed by wireless as within the space of three minutes, "the sky line was dotted with figures coming from all directions and all converging on the canteen." Details of the menu for Christmas dinner are not given but the day before, Heywood had mentioned that 25 turkeys had arrived at the canteen where they "went off like chats in a candle."
Heywood turns the bulk of his account of Christmas Day 1917 to the stories that were told in place of the intended toasts. He points out that these reminiscent stories were told by one individual and extended from the landing at Gallipoli through to the present. Those who were listening were "sore with laughter". Although he attempts to record some of the stories in his diary, the bulk of these are only memorable to those who were that day as Heywood openly admits, "You can guess that it is not possible to reproduce his stories".
Despite the cold and miserable conditions of a French winter, Heywood writes of how much he enjoyed the day and that despite where they were they still managed "Peace, Goodwill and a good time".
Captain Heywood’s diaries have been digitised as part of the Memorial’s Anzac Connections project and are available online. This project aims to digitise and make available online the personal diaries and letters that were written by Australians during the First World War so that their stories and experiences can be read by all. These are being progressively released to the Memorial’s website with a total of approximately 200 collections already available.