Letters From The Front. An ofrcer in the R.F.A. writes on Decem- ber 27:- On Christmas Eve things were very much as usal; It was a glorious afternoon and several aeroplanes werc up which wore duly shot at by the Germans. I went down to pass the timo of day with an Infantry' regimncat down the road. The battery was firing, but it was on a particular placc which I could not: observe, About 6 o'clock things went positively dead; there. was not a sound. Even our own pet sniper-went off duty. As a rule le is relieved at 7.15. and sends what the telephonistS call " a good- night kiss" at 9.15. We rat round a fire a1l evening, and about I -o'clock a very excited Infantry officer came along and told us that all fighting was oft, and the men were fraternizing in between the trenchcs. We had xeen liglit8 flashing on the parapets earlier in ihe evening and there, had been a good deal of noiso going on. Shouts from the Germains :-" You English, why don't you come out ? " and our bright knaves had replied with yells of " Waiter," but that had all been a good deal earlier. I walked down to t,he trenches with thc 'mann; we did- not worry about' sneaking down a communication trench, we just walked a4cross a couple 'of fields, jumped over the parapet of our fire trench, and went out beyond our own barbed wire. By 'tat time'all. the men were back in their trenches, and there was nothing much * doing. They had lights on the parapets, and there was still a certeiii amount of noise, but no .shooting. It had been agreed, beItween the soldiers on both sides that there should be no firing until midnight Christmas Day. We went back to bed about 12.30 a.m., and stood to arms- as usual on Christmas morning. I had a look round, and as nothing seemed to be doing went along to see some other people; they confirmed tho newz of the truce. It was all arranged privately, and started by one of our fellows -going -across I I think he was rather brave to be the ffist to do it. I arranged tn go dowvn to their trenches tter breakfast, na they have a place where they are only about. 70 to 80 yar4s a p art. Then the colonel and - came- out to see the fun. They arrived about 11 o'clock., and I was en my way back.B You can hardlly imagine it; the only seatries were two unarmed ones to keep our men from straying out beyond the barbed wire'! All our fellows were digging in tho open and theirs were doing the same. The only thing forbidden was to' make any improVement to the bori:id wir Further, they agreed that if by any mischaneo a single shot were fired it was not to be taken as an act of war, and in apology wvould be nc- wepted; also that flring would not. be opened without due warning on both sides. OFEclEnri FEN-DLY M,urrnG. Finally we all walked out and one of their officers tnme to meet us. We all saluted, shook hands, and exchanged cigarettes. Unfortunately they under- stood no French or English and we could not muster a word of German betveen us.' You will rather gather that conversation languished. Finally they got a man out of the trenches wiho hnd lived for somo years in America, and he acted' as interpreter. The officers were little more than boys, and one of tlien hnd already been wounded. They were intensely polite aeud there %vis aniy arnount of clicking 'of hcels. The soldiers all seemed rather young, but they did not eppear 'very despondent or utiderfed. Or.e manu in- formed us' that they had been told that Russia had been defeated, and that the war would be over in three weeks. . Another begged an officer ont our side to send his photograph to. his sister,- who lives in Liverpool. I know that is true, because the officer . showved me the photo. Seems a strange idea to take a sto6ck of one's photos' on active service, buit there you arc! Ono thing Ne did notice was that sonic of tlen Were sby ot uniforms, but that may have been merely owvinlg to the fact that they vere in the trenches and trying to save their uniforms. Tho Ger- mans were el,1 for the trile lasting for '-8 hours, but -wve stuck out for midniglht on: Christntas-. -. I ' Tlie we bad lunch-t)heasant anti partridge, plum p4dding, and dtd do fete iras, washed dovrn by rum end. hot witerr. eaten in a house which really as a. " homse-itasting,t. ti b'rne. The, uper floor has simply .ne, and certaihly 'haf one 'wall' of th(l roorn 'tXey live in.' 'The pictures you see give a fair idea of what tb? places are like. anda I 'suppose there is a risk in inhabiting them. They all have "'funk holes" dug close at hand, and.if.Johnson gets busY every one clears out. After lunch 1 went back to the observa- tion post. The road along -there is honestly, as a rule, .nther infested vith bullets; it seemed so Ftrange to "walk along it and never lhear the whisper of one. brouglht the aergeant-maior out in theaIternoon, ' aa wo walked along the front of our trenches for n6arly two miles I The sergeant-najor bas not got over it yet; his remarks were, " It is 'ardly. credible" and "I nover would 'ave believed it." AN EXCCHANGE OF CIGARS. 'The tbiree wcounts which we prinit below form interesting corroborative evidence of the letter printed above. A- major in the Leicestershire Regiment writes on Christmas' Day Even out here there is a time of peaco and good will I've just spent an hour talking to the German offcers and-men, who have drawn a line half-way between our left trenches and theirs and have all met our men and officers there. We exchanged cigars, cigarettes, and papers. They are jolly, cheery fcUows for the most - part, and it seems so silly under the circumstances to be fighting them. Firing has practically stopped, .nd it is-only when our men start repairing wire en- talnglements that they send along some wamzaing shots. Last night a select band-of officers and men sang carols to them a-id they did ditto. A'major in the R.A.M.C. writes on Clhrist- unas Day I this5 his been a strange Christmas I All has bem peaceful except for some occasional sniping on our right, but - none - on our ffont. Tho most extra. 060dna:r scenes took place between -tho trenches. In front of our bit our mon and the Germans got out of. their trenches' and mixed together talking, ex- changing cigarettes, &c. Some of our people actually 'Wnt into their trenches and stayed there for some time, being entertained by the enemy ! All joined togEthetr in 'a' sing-song, each side tatking' it in turn to-sing a-song, and finally they ended up with " God Save the King " in which the Saxons sang most heartily 1 1 This is absolutely true. One of our 'men was given a bottle of wine in which to drink the King's health. The Begiuent actually had a football match -with the Saaxons, who - beat them 3-21 ! It These people said tley would not shoot our men, but warned them against those on their' (Saxons') left. Some men of one of our regiments opposite them went out of their trenches just as the others bad done, but the enemy-nowv thought to be Vrusslans:-told them to go back and flred-on them before'thev had regained their trenches. The Saxons and our people opposite them.have arranged a sing- , son8 for to-night, having mutually. agreed' not to reopen'hostilties before midnight. A REllARKABLE PHOTOGRAPE. A mnmber of tho London. Rifle Brigade 'rites:- / WV had:iathir an interesting tifne'in the trenches otn Christmas Eve and Chuistmas Day. Ve were in comne places less than 100 yards from the Germans, and held conversations wvith them across. It was agreed in our part of the 9ring line thait there should be no flrin6 and no thought oi war on Christmas Eve and Day, so they ranig aud played to us sgverar of their own tunes and sonie of ours, s-uch as " Rome, Sweet Ilome," "Tipperary," &ci, while we did the sanme for them. The regiment on oiurleb .all got out of their trenchesm and every timle a flare went up they simply stood therec cheered, aiid waved their hatst and not:, shob was fired on them. The singing and playing coh- tinued all 'night, and the next day (Christmas) our fellows paid a visit to the German trenches, and they did likewise. Cigarcttes, cigars, addresses, &c., wvere exchanged, and- every one, friend and foe, were real good pals. One of tho German offcers took a Photo of English and German soldiers arm-in-arm with ox- changed cap,s and helmets. On Christmas Eve the Germans burned coloured lightas nd candles along the top of their trenches, and on Christmas Day a football match was played betw6ein them and us in front of the trench. They even allowed s. to bury all our dead yivng im frout, and some of them, with hats in hapld, brought in one of our dead officers from behind their trench, so that we could buiy him deceitly. They were reaUy magni- ficent in the whole thing and jolly good sorts. I have now a very different opinion of the Germian. Both sides have startcd the firing, and are already enemies again. Strange it all seems, doesn't it? A GERMAN OFFICER'S FUNERAI.L A Cambridgo graduate serving in the City of London Royal Fusiliers at Malta writes:- I have been watcling the funeral of a German colonel, who died as a prisoner here. They gave him a military funeral. A long coluqmn of Maltese and of English soldiers, our oficers in full service dress, a military band, a Siring party, tho robed priests, and the dend German dfricer (he was an old man of 61 and had served 40 years in the Army) going to- his last rest on one of our gun-carriages draVed with a large German Standard I' With the slow- mareh, the military band playing a Funeral Mlarch, and all tle many troops, both in the procession, marching with reverled arns, or watching it standing to '" Atten- tIon "'or tlie "Saluto 4 }; we might- havo been bury- ilg our Commander-in-Chief instead of oue of the race we are tearing to pieces with all the explosives we can manufacture. *** The im will be glad to consider for publication letters received by relatives and friends from those serving with the 3?ilitary and Naval Forces.. When we. find it possible to publish letters or extracts these will be paid for. at special contributors' rates. - Photographs- taken at the Front are also aeceptable for the purpose of- The Times History of the War, and, if used, will bo paid for at the usual fee. - ,LETTERS RONTI E_- THE FRONT. s CHRISTMAS TRUCE. FOOTBALL WITH THE ENEliY.