Captain William Greshley of the Anzacs, the common army that Australia and New Zealand set to fight in the First World War looked out over the trenches on Christmas Eve 1914 and was surprised to see a German soldier walking toward his position carrying a white flag and no weapon. The battlefield was strangely quiet on this Christmas Eve and Greshley didn’t know if it could be a trap or not, so he ordered two of his men to keep their rifles trained on the German until he got closer.
Captain Greshley spoke German fluently, a reminder of his boy hood in Germany before he had been sent to New Zealand to live with his aunt and uncle, who were farmers, so he asked the German officer what his business was. The German replied that he was one of several officers in charge of the German positions opposite Greshley’s, and that his fellow officers and he had thought that it would be in the spirit of the holiday if the men on both sides in that area of the front could lay down their arms for a little while and celebrate Christmas together without animosity and the duties of war.
Greshley’s fellow officers advised caution but were willing to give it a try, so the Germans in that area were invited to the Anzac trenches, provided they left their rifles behind. Soon the men from both sides, who only hours before had been shooting at each other were celebrating the birth of Jesus and singing Christmas carols, some in English and some in German.
As all of this was happening, the German officer who had originally approached the Anzac trenches asked Captain Greshley how it was that he could speak such good German. Greshley related how he had been born in German and sent to New Zealand to his aunt and uncle’s farm after both his parents had died close together, leaving him an orphan.
The German officer became a bit unsettled at this point and asked Greshley if he had any brothers or sisters. Greshley replied that he indeed had a younger brother, but since he had been an infant when their parents died, he wasn’t sent to New Zealand. Greshley had never heard anything from or about his brother since.
The German was now visibly unsettled and with a shaky voice asked Greshley if his German name was Wilhelm Greisler. Greshley replied that indeed it was and how could the German have known that?
With tears streaming down his face the German officer replied, "Because I am your brother Max."