By December 1914, the Western Front had stabilised after four months of movement and slaughter. As the armies settled down, thoughts turned to Christmas. Facing each other in the line at the village of Frelinghein on the French-Belgian border were two regiments, one Welsh, one Saxon. This is the story of how those two very different groups of people were brought together for a brief moment of comradeship in the midst of war; and what happened afterwards, both in 1914 and then a year later.

The speaker, Lieutenant General Jonathon Riley CB DSO PhD MA, was appointed Director General and Master of the Royal Armouries in 2009 after a distinguished military career. He saw active service in the Royal Welch Fusiliers in Northern Ireland, Central America, the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan, where he was Deputy Commander of NATO ISAF 2007-2008. He holds degrees from University College London, University of Leeds and Cranfield University and is Visiting Fellow at University of Birmingham and a Visiting Professor at King’s College, London.

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