Christmas 1940

The first full year of the Second World War was coming to a close, and had seen the Germans ascendent on all fronts, with the collapse of France in the summer followed by the Battle of Britain and the ongoing Blitz.

British soldiers sit down for a Christmas party in Birkenhead near their AA battery (Imperial War Museum)

1940 had been a year of vast changes in the nascent global war. Its first full year had seen the Fall of France in July, and since then the British had been subjected to a massive bombing campaign, first targeting military infrastructure and since moving to terror raids on population centers. King George VI made his annual speech from the Palace via the BBC, lamenting the losses sustained during the year but also emphasizing the defiance of Britain in the face of the German onslaught, as well as the sacrifices made by all during this time. With Children sent away from the cities and thousands of young men and women in the armed forces around the world, the King spoke of the hardships endured by all, but reminded his subjects that they were not alone, with their communities as well as their allies around the world standing together.

The war continued to rage around the world. In Greece, the Italians continued to be pushed back into Albania following the Greeks’ breaking of the Italian main line and pushing up along the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The situation continued to deteriorate for the Italians, with Mussolini left to contemplate requesting German assistance to stop the unfolding Balkan disaster.

British gun crewmen return to their barracks after hunting rabbits for Christmas Dinner on a local estate in England (Imperial War Museum)

In North Africa, the British continued their advance against the Italians, having pushed across the border into Italian Libya in the previous weeks. Operation Compass, a major British offensive, had commenced in early December, and was seeing all the gains the Italians had made in the aftermath of the collapse of France torn away, and Libya was now facing a full scale British invasion.

British tank crewmen enjoy their Christmas dinner in North Africa (Imperial War Museum)

Most of mainland Europe was now under German control. Millions of people were now living under a brutal authoritarian regime. Severe shortages were the norm, and the dangers posed by both the occupying German forces and the insurgencies resisting them made life a constant struggle for the civilians caught in the middle. The Nazis had been moving against Jews and others they considered “subhuman”, and Christmas was no reason for them to slow their slaughter. The Holiday Season brought only death to many on the continent.

Dutch soldiers attend a Christmas program in Britain, attended by Father Christmas (Imperial War Museum)

Many had also been displaced by the war, with the fall of their homelands leaving them to flee to Britain to continue the fight. French, Belgian, Dutch, Polish, Norwegian, Danish and Luxembourgish soldiers celebrated what was in most cases their first Christmas in exile. King Haakon VII of Norway made his first radio address to his subjugated people, extolling the Norwegians continuing the struggle from abroad and assuring them that liberation would come.

“When I send you all a greeting today for Christmas, it is with sadness and sorrow in my heart because my family and I cannot celebrate the Christmas season with you in our dear Fatherland. Heavy and threatening clouds hung over our land last Christmas, this year the clouds have been sinking down over the country, so it can be difficult to make use of the good old wish for a “merry” Christmas.”

— King Haakon VII of Norway

A similar message was broadcast by exiled Dutch Queen Wilhelmina, via Radio Orange to the peoples of the Netherlands.

The SS Irene serves as a “Weihnachtsschiff” or Christmas Ship, bringing gifts to German soldiers stationed in Norway (National Archives of Norway)

Many soldiers on the front of both sides were issued with additional rations, and small Christmas parties were held in many rear echelon stations. The men on the front in many cases found the time for a short respite for a small meal, although the rigors of battle of course took priority.

German soldiers from the Glen Mill POW Camp in Britain harvest vegetables for their Christmas dinner (Imperial War Museum)

For many, the holiday was to be spend in captivity. POWs had filled camps in Britian and Germany after the campaigns of the last summer. Many were relatively pleasant, with prisoners harvesting foodstuffs from their gardens to supplement their rations and Red Cross parcels. The upside to the general boredom of life in a prison camp was that unlike their comrades on the front soldiers were able to enjoy a day of Christmas festivities unhindered by most other duties. This of course stood in sharp contrast to the brutal conditions felt by those held in the concentration camps the Germans had constructed, where the hellish routines continued as normal.

German soldiers attend a Christmas party in a bunker (Siegfried Raap, via Wikimedia)

In Germany, the holiday was marked by the traditional festivities, with soldiers stationed on the homefront enjoying many of the same activities that their counterparts in Britain did, such as parties and holiday leave for a lucky few. The general mood was of celebrating what had been a great year for the Third Reich, with the fall of France leaving the country mostly secure from threats on land, and only occasional air raids by the RAF to harrass the urban population. The Nazi perversion of German Christmas traditions continued as well, as children hung swastikas on their trees and sung carols with references to God replaced by more “German” phrases. The Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda put on displays and radio programs for the civilians as well as the soldiers in the field to reinforce the regime’s official stance on the holiday. Families also sat down to listen to a Christmas program consisting of links to troops on various fronts greeting their families interspersed with holiday music.

Adolf Hitler attends a Christmas party in Metz, shortly after the Germans formally annexed it into the Reich (German Federal Archives)

On the political front, Hitler spend the holiday in Metz with an SS unit, commemorating the annexation of the Alsace-Lorraine region back into the German Reich after it was lost to France in the Great War, which had itself only lost it to Germany in 1871. He had also met with Vichy French officials in an attempt to secure a more active military involvement from the new French government, and weeks earlier had in conference begun planning in earnest his invasion of this Soviet Union, issuing his official directives to that effect.

A religious service is held in a London air raid shelter

For the civilians in Britain, no major raids hit British cities on Christmas Day, but massive attacks had taken place on Liverpool and Manchester in the week leading up to it. Both sides relaxed their aerial operations against one another today, but the Germans would soon resume their campaign, with a massive air raid on London planned for near just before the New Year.

The peoples of these cities were not to be intimidated, however, and traditional Christmas celebrations were held in air raid shelters as well as among the children in the countryside.