Chords for Christmas in the Trenches

_ _ _ _ _ [C#m] _ _ _
[E] _ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _ _
[E] My name [D#] is [C#] Francis Tolliver. _
_ [A] I [F#] come from [F#m] Liverpool. _ _
[B] Two years ago the war was waiting [A] for me after [E] school. _
_ To [D#] Belgium and [C#m] to [B] Flanders, [E] then to Germany, [F#m] _ to here, _
I [B] fought for king and country I loved [E] dear. _ _ _
It was Christmas [C#] in the trenches [B] _ [A] where a frost [F#m] so bitter hung.
_ [B] The frozen fields of France were still, [A] no Christmas [E] songs were sung.
_ Our [D#] families [C#] back in England _ [A] were toasting us [F#m] that day,
[B] their brave and glorious sons so [E] far away. _ _ _
_ I was lying [B] _ [C#] with my mess-mates [A] on the cold [F#m] and rocky ground,
_ [B] when across the lines of battle [A] came a most peculiar [E] sound.
[B] _ Now listen [D#] up, [C#] my lads, as I [A] and each [E] soldier's trained [F#m] to hear,
_ [B] as one young German voice sang out so _ _ clear. _
_ _ He's singing _ bloody well, you know, [A] my comrade said [E] to me.
_ _ Then [D#m] one by one [C#] each German voice [A] was joined in [B] harmony. _
_ The [D#] cannons, they [C#] were silent [A] and the gas clouds [F#m] rolled no more,
[B] as Christmas brought us _ rest from the war. _ _ _
_ _ [E] _ _ _ _ _ [F#m] _
_ _ _ [E] _ _ _ _ [B] _
_ _ [E] Well, as soon as [B] they [C#] had finished _ [A] and a reverend [F#m] pause was spent,
_ _ [B] God rest you merry _ gentlemen, [E] struck up some lads from Kent.
_ _ The next they sang [C#] was [C#m] Stille Nacht, _ [A] that's silent [F#m] night, says I,
_ _ [B] and in two tongues one song filled up [E] that sky. _ _ _
_ _ [B] There's someone coming towards us, _ [A] our front line [E] sentry cried.
_ _ All sights were [B] trained [C#] on one lone figure [A] _ trudging [B] from their side.
_ [E] His truce [D#] flag like [C#] a Christmas star [A] shone on that [F#m] plain so bright,
_ _ [B] as he bravely strolled unarmed into the night.
_ _ [E] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [F#m] _
_ _ _ [E] _ _ _ _ [B] _
_ _ [E] Then one [B] by one [C#] from either side [A] walked into no [F#m] man's land.
_ [B] With neither gun nor bayonet [A] we met there hand [E] to hand.
_ We shared [B] some [C#] secret brandy [A] and we wished [F#m] each other well,
_ [B] and in a flare-lit soccer game we gave [E] them [B] hell.
_ [E] _ _
_ [B] We traded chocolates, cigarettes _ [A] and photographs _ [E] from home.
_ These sons and [C#] fathers far away [A] from families [B] of their own,
_ [E] young [B] Saunders played [C#] his [B] squeeze box [A] and they had a [F#m] violin, _ _
_ [B] this curious and unlikely band [E] of men. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [F#m] _ _
_ _ [E] _ _ _ _ [B] _ _
_ [E] Soon daylight [D#] stole [C#m] upon [B] us [A] and France was France [F#m] once more.
_ [B] With sad farewell we each began [A] to settle back to [E] war.
But the question [C#] haunted every [B] heart who [A] lived that [F#m] wondrous night, _
_ [B] whose family have I fixed within [E] my sights.
[B] _ _ [E] _ _
It was Christmas [D#m] in [C#m] the trenches _ where [A] a frost so [F#m] bitter hung, _
[C#m] _ [B] the frozen fields of France were warmed [A] as songs of peace were [E] sung.
But the walls they'd [C#] raised between [B]
us, though [A] exact the work of [F#m] war,
had [B] been tumbled _ and were gone _ _ [E] forevermore.
[B] _ _ [E] _ _
My name [D#] is [C#] Francis [B] Tolliver, _ [A] in [G#] Liverpool [F#m] I dwell.
_ _ [B] Each Christmas come since World War One [A] I've [G#m] learned its lessons [E] well.
_ That the ones who [B] call the [C#] shots won't be [A] among [E] the dead [F#m] and lame,
_ and on [F#] each hand [B] of the rifles [E] we're the same. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [B] _
_ _ _ [E] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [B] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [N] _