1914 Christmas Truce
Birmingham Mail features the Carols on the Green WWI commemoration:
Bournville’s famous Carillon will ring out on Christmas Eve as part of a worldwide event to mark the centenary of the 1914 First World War truce.
Made up of 48 bells, the Bournville Carillon will take part in a global performance of Silent Night, sung in three languages by German and Allied soldiers during a break in fighting in the Great War.
Trevor Workman, Carillonneur to Bournville Village Trust, said: “The truce of 1914 was an amazing event in history and has been said by historians to have been the most extraordinary celebration of Christmas since the birth of Christ in Bethlehem.
“It is a great privilege to be able to participate in this worldwide commemoration as a tribute to those who lost their lives in World War 1.
“It is most fitting that the occasion of our annual ‘Carols on the Green’ should be the platform for this tribute as the vast international crowd will also be able to identify with the commemoration.”
Beginning in Belgium, the worldwide centennial commemoration will start with a performance on the Peace Carillon in Messines, the city that was at the heart of the truce.
The village’s bell performance will start as close to 6.15pm as possible to coincide with the timing of the Christmas truce in 1914.
Positioned above the tower of Bournville Junior and Infant School, the Bournville Carillon will ring Silent Night throughout the village.
The Bournville Carillon was erected in 1906 by George Cadbury.
The event will coincide with the annual Carols on the Green service, starting on the Village Green at 6pm
The service will be led by Rev Peter Babington, of St Francis Church.
