A WORLD War One nurse’s album which reveals information about the 1914 Christmas Day truce was found in a box of old books.
Voluntary Aid nurse Maude Alice Lineham’s album contains thoughts, poems and drawings from 90 servicemen from numerous regiments of the British Army.
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She encouraged soldiers to provide first-hand accounts of their experiences.
Her book details the famous football match in No Man’s Land and describes the “laughing and talking of men whom only a few hours earlier were trying to kill each other”.
One of the major accounts in the album, found at a bungalow in Derby, is that of Scottish soldier John J Ferguson from the Seaforth Highlanders.
John was wounded at Messines, Belgium, on December 26, 1914.
His account highlights the truce of Christmas Day 1914 and the famous football match in the break of fighting.
Another page of the album contains a fragment of white German surrender flag taken from Sgt Jones of the 1/5 Kings Liverpool Regiment.
There is also a description of the sinking of hospital ship Anglia on November 17, 1915, which later was declared as a war grave.
Maude worked in Derby’s Spondon House Hospital, Derbyshire Royal Infirmary and Leicester Royal Infirmary during the war.
John J Ferguson wrote: “It was almost dark and being only 100 yards from the German trenches it was almost possible to listen to the conversations … very little sniping had been done by either side, we thought they were exceptionally quiet.
“We gave them three cheers when they sang ‘God Save The King’ in English.
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“We shook hands, wished each other a Merry Xmas and were soon talking like old pals, standing in front of their wire entanglements and surrounded by Germans.
“They kept their word and neither of us fired for two days. It was like being in a different world. Here we were, Christmas Day in the trenches and able to walk about with our heads up.
“Some of our men even left the trench to play football – a party from our ‘B’ went over and were photographed with the Germans.
“We had made friends with the enemy and all day kept calling and joking across the trenches.”
John was killed in April 1917 and is buried at the Roclincourt Military Cemetery and the Arras Memorial in northern France.
I spent £1 on a lucky find at a car boot sale and made £280 in seconds – here’s how
AN avid secondhand shopper shared the lucky find he had at a local car boot sale.
The thrifting enthusiast was able to turn a £1 purchase into a £279 profit, The Sun reported in September.
In a post on the Facebook group Car boot treasure, finds & best buys, he shared a picture of his purchases.
The car boot sale frequenter picked up to jewellery items that turned out to be worth a lot more than their budget price tag.
He purchased a thin gold chain with a small diamond-like opal pendant on the end.
The second item was a thicker gold charm bracelet chain with diamond-like details throughout.
Each chunky jewel had been cut into a different shape, including squares, circles, love hearts, and opals.
The shopper explained that each of his “lucky finds” only set him back 50p.
The 75-year-old vendor from Derby, who is unrelated to Maude, said: “I came across it in a box of old books when we were clearing her bungalow.
“Maude’s album is particularly delightful as it is so complete and she showed such diligence in making sure the young men in her charge recorded something, either by the written word or a beautiful picture.
“I was so impressed by how articulate and talented they all were.”
The album is estimated to bring £600 when it comes up for sale at Hansons Auctioneers in Derbyshire.
Matt Crowson, Head of Militaria at Hansons Auctioneers, said: “The festive truce is world-famous and, thanks to the discovery of this unique album, we have a news, detailed version of the event.
“This moving account underlines the futility of war.”
Maude, an accomplished pianist, lived with her sister in Derby after the war and died in 1965.
The sale takes place on November 13.
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