Christmas Every Day

A card from the “Fighting First”, aka the “Big Red One”, the American First Army of World War II.

It was hard to be jolly in the trenches of the Western Front in 1916 but this artist from the 3rd Canadian Pioneers, an engineering unit, tried.

American soldiers in World War I were called “doughboys”, for reasons that are still obscure. Here one of the lads holds an artillery shell while wishing you a Merry Christmas.

The collaborationist French government based in Vichy was led by World War I hero, Marshal Philippe Pétain. Here children are encouraged to produce patriotic art work as a Christmas “surprise” for their beloved dictator.

The German Schnellboot, a fast torpedo boat capable of handling heavy seas in the English Channel and Baltic, were designated “E-boats” by the Allies. 

Here’s the sort of Christmas card the crew of “Das Boot” would have been sending out.

So, you’ve conquered and looted France and now 2 ½ years later it’s Christmas. You need to go to a church service to remind you of a real German Christmas. “Heimatsehnsucht” is German for homesickness.

So, you’ve conquered the Caucasus. What to do but dream of Christmas at home?

So, you’ve conquered western Russia. What’s a lonely Luftwaffe pilot to do for Christmas? Send a picture of a Heinkel He 111 buzzing the desolate landscape, of course.

So, you’ve just conquered France. What’s a lonely soldier to do for Christmas? Why, cozy up with his Wehrmacht buddies, listen to carols from home on the radio and gaze at the map of the land you’re occupying.