For the most part, yes. There are some exceptions, both individuals (soldiers who love the power, let alone actual sadists who love the suffering) as well as wars (ISIS come to mind...). But for the most part, yes, war is old men talking and young men dying. 😭
The first world war was the most unnecessary because the whole thing started on a idea of creating a new currency that he thought all of Europe might find useful they have one currency there's less likely to be a problem and bearing in mind that at the time they're still existed among Europe and it's nobles the idea of the emperor being basically the one king supposedly to rule them all at least it has been for so many centuries before. The Kaiser was bringing this up at a time in which countries like France were doing very well even if other countries were doing far less well than they and they didn't like the idea that the Kaiser was suggesting they should be all under his rule, this might have more to do with the fact that by the time the 20th century rolled around things had politically speaking had changed, but it also didn't help that there were plenty of countries that did not want to be a part of the equivalent of what today we call the European union... The problem was his ideas were way too ahead of his time and his now English cousins we're not interested in giving up any kind of power not even the idea of a centralized monetary system, do bear in mind that even when the EU became the European Union in the last what is it 40 years maybe less and they came up with the idea of making a central currency England and a few other countries were not for it but they didn't go to war over it, why you might ask, because first they made a European Union literally they made a council of Europe, a United Europe if you want to call it that and only after discussing and making pictures of what the currency might look like I mean this took years did it finally come to fruition only because they first did the joining together of the individual countries and only after the idea again was floated to make a common currency... And even after the currency was made it was still used alongside of the local currency of whatever country you happen to be in because each country wasn't sure whether it was to their benefit or not and this way they'd have a chance to see if it was also anybody coming from another wouldn't have to exchange they have one common currency that they could use while on vacation and this slowly slowly idea actually worked. And there's the difference between what caused the first world war, and why that same idea didn't cause a another identical one is the idea was a good one but the problem was that instead of getting all his friends together as it were all his communal allies together all the countries he was going to have join his monetary system he didn't do that he just announced it as a thing that everybody would just jump on the bandwagon with he was going and then instead of going okay you're right it's too soon it's not it's not good you know we'll just put table it let's talk about working mutually side by side to come up with ways that we can make our individual countries stronger by an alliance with each other... But instead of doing that he thought he could just roll over everybody else and that's where the thing became the Hindenburg of wars (or probably more appropriately the Titanic of wars) a disaster of mega size proportions.
It's called acting - really good acting, when the actor totally inhabits the part, a rare talent to take you away back to the moment of conception and to feel the common humanity, and weep 😢
#GeroKron Good to know there's at least Two + people who appreciate a world without greed and fighting. Me and you, and all the others that must be around somewhère. This evening I watched the 2 Cello guys playing a concert in Italy in 2017. I listened to them play Imagine by John Lennon, which was a bit spooky, as I had listened to him earlier in the day giving an interview just a few hours before his death . I love those words, "Imagine all the People living for today". The Cello guys had thousands of adoring fans smiling and singing along in such joy and it struck me that the whole audience had fulfilled the Hope's of John Lennon through music that night. It's possible, it's all possible.
The emphasis he placed on having the letter kept and copied is striking. He really wanted this information to get out, the knowledge that peace was very much possible out there, even for a short while. It's probably the reason why this account still exists today.
@Hexen_Wulf from what I've studied of WW1, the British government back then seemed to respect the (European) opposition more during WW1 than later conflicts. Their behaviour towards African and West-Asian nations made up in racism for their naked respect of the white nations and negative Propaganda seemed to not be as emphasised during WW1, especially with the censoring of letters sent from the lines. I feel like they would have glorified the Honourable King's subjects as being civilised and good soldiers, showing respect to their fellow men.
I am astonished by how completely Peter Capaldi inhabited this long-dead human being. He restores a kind of life to the words, and there’s an element of interpretation to it, of course, but he’s found the most core, human elements of that time and that moment and brought them out for all of us to hear.
Weird that you are astonished. He is an actor and this is what he does for a living. I was incredibly moved by the letter and him reading it but he is an actor as are everyone they invite to read letters for the simple fact that this is what actors do.
"War is always the same. It is young men dying in the fullness of their promise. It is trying to kill a man that you do not know enough to hate. Therefore, to know war, is to know that there is still madness in the world." President Lyndon B. Johnson - 1966
@@rayjennings3637 yeah and also as if LBJ is the only one to blame for the war, ppl for some reason avoid giving JFK any blame cuz he's so beloved (mostly cuz he died so young, even though he was a very shit president and person). A president can still question war and its ethics even if he's playing his part in it. As if Churchill isn't allowed to criticise the manner of war and death because he's part of the war. Is there anyone more qualified to ask these questions than the person held responsible for the deaths and sending young men out there to die.
He's not just reading a Letter, he makes the story alive - what a wonderful actor. I've seen many episodes of letters live, but not even Benedict Cumberbatch comes close to this. Thank you Mr. Capaldi!
Thanks for the info it as much as The letter brought a tear to my eye,,,,,I like to imagine he might of travelled in Europe years later and maybe came across one of the German. Soldiers
Thank you for this. I honestly thought the bitter 'punchline' at the end was going to be realising that the guy who wrote this died on boxing day when the fighting resumed, so to hear he survived is nice, even though I know that plenty of others wouldn't have done.
@@MrDannyDetail many did die soon after. i heard a story of a soldier who participated in the truce dying a month later while trying to save a stranded soldier.
Thank you. I needed to hear that. I only just found out my paternal Grandfather survived the British Navy during The Great War. He survived, moved to Canada, married a woman from his home Island in Scotland and had five children. We will not see their like again. - Cathy (&, Steve), Ottawa/Bytown/Pimisi
I was sitting in my hotel, waiting for the shuttle to the airport, and now I’m wiping the tears from my face. What a beautiful, heartfelt performance, how true! And how foolish we human beings are, to have learned nothing from war, the most stupid of human endeavors!
I had to sit quietly and wait when this finished. I felt unable to continue with my life for just a few minutes. Thank you Peter Capaldi. And thank you Captain Armes
I couldn't think of anyone better reading this letter than Peter Capaldi. I can't help but conjuring up his last adventure as the Doctor in "Twice Upon A Time" where this well known incident, The Christmas Truce, is an essential part of the story. As though he jumped out of his TARDIS one last time right after that to come to the present and bring this letter to life. "Never be cruel ... hate is always foolish, and love is always wise ... be kind!"
@@stephjovi I assume before because this was recorded in March 2016 and "Twice Upon A Time" was first broadcast in December 2017, so he probably got the script not after he read the letter.
Read it to yourself in private two or three times before performing to keep the tears at bay. You've already cried them. But the weight won't leave your voice. ❤
My grandfather, a veteran of WWI, often talked about The Christmas Truce. I still run across people who don't believe it happened. It didn't happen along the whole line. It didn't change the course of the war. And yet, there, in the middle of the horror of that war, there was a small miracle, a small bit of grace, a small reason to truly have faith in humanity.
High sounding pretty empty words considering Europe during his days was busy warring with each other at the drop of a hat and spreading imperialism and colonialism all over the world pillaging, plundering, murdering along the way.
This is the famous Christmas Truce of 1914. Captain Armes was a member of the1st Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment. This happened in the Rue du Bois sector, near Armentieres.
I was unaware of the location. There's a song which I presume is from the period titled "Madamoiselle from Armentieres" which my grandfather used to sing (badly) to himself.
@@englishsteve1465 I learnt this song at junior school (NOT the rude version! 😬) 🎶Mademoiselle from Armentieres, parlez-vous?🎶 I'll be humming it all day now 🌞 Beautiful read by Peter Capaldi.
That's why I actually hate this story. These men had no ill will to each other. They were going to go back to trying to kill each other the next day because their countries told them to.
I have always enjoyed watching Capaldi weave his web. He has a way of speaking to you that makes you believe you are listening to a real person, not an actor pretending to be a person. He doesn't need to lay it on thick, but lets it fall from his lips in an almost casual and sometimes off-hand way, just as anyone in our everyday lives would. I believe that's the mark of a good actor, not just an ability to speak the lines, but to inhabit a character enough that he's no longer just a character.
Reminded me of the saying about jazz - it's not just about the notes you play but also the ones you _don't_ He's a master at pausing in the right places, and the suggestion of words potentially felt but left unsaid (/unwritten in this instance)
My Grandfather was in WW1 and he talked to my Dad about this happening, as it happened in a number of places on the front lines, he said they sang Xmas songs and shared food and cigarettes and showed photos of their loved ones. My grandfather sent his medals back to to the AIF Australian imperial force, he volunteered because they didn’t know what they were getting into, him and his brother both survived by saving each other a couple of times.
My grandfather was on the Somme for nearly 3 years. He never talked about WW1. When my mother passed away, I found his medals, still in the original box, the ribbons never put onto the medals. I can’t begin to imagine what he went through.
As a German, I noticed the way he said "Volkslied" and it's quite adorable. Such a great delivery of a letter from a truly heartwarming moment in history. Then again, Peter can literally read anything and I will sit here, listening. But this was really astonishing! Thanks for sharing
I bet he practiced that word 50 times beforehand as well, volksleed, volksleed, volksleed. Then a tiny bit of adrenalin and nerves and the reflex kicks in...volklide...doh
@@msms7434 Still happens to me despite my German GF's best intentions. I'll be happily 'ee'-ing along and then eventually I'll read something aloud and my brain & mouth will cruelly betray me spouting 'ei', or vice versa, before you know it. It's such a simple mistake yet it still catches me out. It's really quite annoying.
it's the first account I've read where someone English tried to speak German. So that was nice to hear. It's always the Germans managing to speak English which is rather embarrassing. We haven't improved on languages now!
@Katherine T Owen And you haven't improved on your accent recognition. Capaldi is clearly Scottish, not English. Which is an embarrassment for you, seeing as you're lecturing.
This. This is the sign of not just a good actor but someone who can immerse themselves. He was reading his own letter. He was telling his own story. You are there with him. Peter makes you a part of what was happening; what Cpt Armes was trying to describe to his wife. I think it also says a lot about the relationship Cpt Armes has with his wife that he can go so in depth with what was occurring. Maybe many husbands simply said “All is good. Can’t wait to be home again.” These deep relationships between husband and wife, child and parent, are what give us a better insight to the hardships and struggles of conflict.
One german soldier thought "wouldn't it be great if", and managed to get everyone around him to join that thought. Just one single guy. Creating or starting something truely legendary.
"Pope Benedict XV, on 7 December 1914, had begged for an official truce between the warring governments.[5] He asked "that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang", which was refused by both sides.[6][7]" Wikipedia. Happily, the people overode the decision of the governments
In the midst of a hideous war the madmen running my country are waging on Ukraine, I'm sitting here, listening to Peter read this brilliant story of peace and humanity, and bawling my eyes out. Hits so much harder.
It is hard to watch the Ukrainians suffer so much, but it is also hard to watch the oppressed Russians who are trapped. We have many Russians coming here, many are settling in California.They seem content to be free of Putin's insanity.
But notice that the madman running your country would not be there if not for the western support to make Ukrainians cannonfoder Tools to weaken the Russian military. A war being fought by the west with Ukrainian blood
I can remember my Grandmother telling me with tears in her eyes about her two brothers . Who after returning from the First world war both emigrated . Her eldest brother William said he could no longer live in England after seeing what he saw and knowing why he was there . He left for Australia she never saw him again nor her other brother Tom who went to Canada . Thanks Nan
The clever part of Letters Live is getting the right reader for the right letter and in Peter Capaldi not only does he read it, he encompasses, he becomes Capt. Armes. A brilliant actor.
I can remember the hushed reverence of sitting down with my grandparents in front of a black and white TV on a dark November evening to watch the Festival of Remembrance. I never met my grandfathers older brother but in reverse order he finished up pursuing his specialism as a signaller with the Royal Engineers, he was pulled out of a Rifles Battalion before the majority of its men were killed on the First day of the Somme, the sap in which he was operating a wireless near Ypres in 1915 was hit by a shell. Having apparently been with his battalion at the 2nd Battle of Ypres, my Great uncle may have experienced gas. Along with his battalion, it seems that he must have witnessed the Christmas Truce. Shortly before my Grandfather died, he said “Here, you’d better have this” and he gave me his brothers Christmas greeting from the trenches in 1915, improvised and duplicated out of a page from an army signallers notepad. Between the two of us, my grandfather and I have kept that humble scrap of paper for 108 years. Peace to us all and goodwill among men this Christmas 2023.
This is why I respect Peter for his craft. He really became John Armes, being overwhelmed, emotional and telling it as if he was there. That moment when he shows no remorse as he says they will go back to killing each other because the war goes on is just chilling but so real. He perfectly shows the duality of people fighting in wars. 🙌
The words of Cornel Armes have a distance of a semi-formal report. This man was an officer. He was proficient at summarizing the horrors of the day in a matter-of-fact perfunctory way. He's telling his wife the story in a way that will help him to somehow keep an emotional distance when the bullets start to fly at midnight. The emotional cue points that the performance picks up on... goosebumps. - Cathy (&, accidently, Steve), Ottawa/Bytown/Pimisi
It's a horrible reality because could you see something similar happend today in Ukraine....a brother people locked in vicious struggle against eachother for at most a Pyrrhic victory.
@@benbunyip Well, you probably live in a country that if your ancestors had not fought to preserve themselves then you may live in a very different country or maybe not exist at all? The egg is well and truly scrambled my friend and you can't unscramble an egg.
Oit of all of the Letter Live Readings, THIS is the best one read. Mr Capaldi made this letter TRULY come alive. I was mesmer. No one could have read this letter like he did. My heart hurts for those soldiers who befriended and were enemies at the same time. War can be meaningful both positively and negatively. Simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming.
This reminded me of a story I read about a German & American soldier who wound up in a ditch together while trying to avoid being killed by an American fighter aircraft that was strafing troops some weeks after the Normandy landings during the liberation of France. They shared photos of their families back home etcetera. It didn't give much detail beyond that, so I don't know how it played out. I believe this was in a book titled "Eisenhower & His Men" by author Stephen Ambrose. It's just so strange how war can bring out the best & worst of human behavior.
This is absolutely incredible. Imagine what Miracles will happen when more men choose to act from a state of Love and Kindness instead of fear and hate. God bless each of these men and their families and God bless us all. 💖🙏💖
Oh my name is Francis Tolliver, in Liverpool I dwell. Each Christmas come since world war one, I've learned its lessons well. That the ones who call the shots won't be among the dead and lame and on each end of the rifle we're the same. Christmas in the Trenches John McCutcheon
I tired so hard not to cry. There’s something so human in wanting to reach out and be friendly. Peter Capaldi is so good, he sounds like he’s about to cry at any moment, you can feel the emotions.
It’s immensely saddening that such a truce during wartime was possible yet it could not continue…makes one consider why such a disregard for humanity had to continue afterwards There was an extraordinary opportunity wasted then
There was nothing those soldiers could have done short of convincing the entire military to go on strike and this was a world war, that would have been a death sentence for their country.
What a wonderfull reading... 1914 was the last chance for something like this. By Xmas 1915 both armies are suffered a year of hell: too many dead friends and pain at the hands of the other side.
Plus, the brass was aware of the possibility by then, and made sure to shell the living crap out of the opposing trenches on Christmas Eve, to counteract any thoughts of good cheer or brotherly love. No matter how noble and pure one's objectives, war is an ignoble and filthy means.
Hard to believe a letter from that time was written word for word, so believable that it was said with feeling and delivered so expertly by a true professional actor. I never liked any Dr Who, though I caught pieces of that work, but know of Mr Capaldi's other work and this surely is one of his best.
The christmas truce is both beautiful and tragic. Because by that time the next year, this was just not possible. Everyone had just lost too much. Everyone was too jaded. Peace was a lie. The war would never end. One of the songs that they sang was Auld Lang Syne. Coz it was popular on both sides and in both languages. But in just a few years, that was long since forgotten. Rather they sang "we're here because we're here because we're here" to the same tune. No one knew why they fought. Why they died. Just that they would. It is one of the most important moments in human history in my opinion because its the calm before the storm. Its the long breath before the trumpet blows. People can be incredible. People mostly are genuinely good. But war takes and takes, and the good people are the ones who lose the most
Well read sir! You have done honour to the author. I hope you have spread the message of the futility of war - or this; don't hurt other people - to just one more person. The tragedy is this: politicians will always trade lives.
Violets, April 1915 Violets from Plug Street Wood, Sweet, I send you oversea. (It is strange they should be blue, Blue, when his soaked blood was red; For they grew around his head. It is strange they should be blue.) Violets from Plug Street Wood - Think what they have meant to me! Life and Hope and Love and You. (And you did not see them grow Where his mangled body lay, Hiding horror from the day. Sweetest it was better so.) Violets from oversea, To your dear, far, forgetting land; These I send in memory, Knowing You will understand. Roland Leighton, 1895-1915
What a brilliant actor Peter Capaldi is. He absolutely commanded that stage and added so much humanity to the letter. We could almost believe it was him writing and living that experience. I was reminded of "Twice Upon a Time" and held the picture of the Christmas battlefield scene in my head as I listened.
I think that this is one of the most important and moving letters of the 20th Century. I had heard of this moment in time many years ago. But, to hear the account from someone actually there. Simply incredible!
There are few things in this world more incredible than this letter and the story behind it. One of those things that are more incredible is Peter Capaldi reading this letter.
I've always heard of this day, but to hear it in the words of someone whom was there leaves me speechless. Peter Capaldi was certainly the right person to read this one.
My father fought in the Somme and Paschendaele. When I was a child I asked him what he thought of the German soldiers,expecting him to say they were brutes,and to my surprise he replied "They were just like us".
I love Peter, and he did a beautiful job reading this. When he played the Doctor on Dr. Who, one of the episodes was about this very thing. It was one of my favorite episodes.
This must probably be my most favourite video on this channel. It's striking, emotional, beautiful and so fragile. And Peter completely brings this letter to life.
I used to have a dvd which told this story! It was a beautiful fictionalized version, and there were 3 army camps (German, English, Scottish). At the end they gave us some true facts about the event. I think what was most astonishing was the fact that this happened in multiple locations!
Such a beautiful letter of love and respect. This story is immortalized in the Sainsbury Christmas advert of 2014. You can look it up above. I've spent countless hours in our National War Museum in Ottawa, Canada. Young men so full of promise go to fight for their respective countries, not knowing what they are getting into. I am so glad this letter survived, so the story could be shared with us, so many years later.
I have often wondered, if all the soldiers in the trenches, on both sides, had said "we will not do this", could that war have ended then. Sadly, we'll never know. Beautiful words, beautifully read by a master wordsmith.
@@floradiamonds There is a book called "The Thin Yellow Line" by William Moore about the hundreds of British soldiers who were shot by their own comrades for cowardice and desertion during the first World War. Shell-shocked and confused men, ordered to be executed by superiors who did not understand how much warfare has suddenly changed and just how traumatising the mass-destruction the Great War has wrought for these poor men. It's a heartbreaking read.
Beyond wonderful. A perfectly shattering reading of a profoundly beautiful letter, by a tremendous actor. Bravo! A happy holiday season to all, around the world, whoever you may be, whatever faith you follow. The answer to conflict is respect, which if unregulated, will invariably lead to love of your fellow humans.
Although I have watched this quite a few times before, it’s rendered even more poignant in light of recent events in the Ukraine. I fear that we are sliding into global conflict again. This message of hope, this moment of utter humanity amongst carnage and the almost stunned disbelief of the writer who witnessed it and the realisation that the enemy were people no different than himself is a message that’s every bit as important now as when it was written over 100 years ago….
Thank you UA-cam algorithm for delivering this and it's channel to me. This channel supplies beautiful content that I do not mind spending almost hours getting lost in. Cheers!!
This always makes me so sad. It just shows that with the right mindset, we can all just get along and sort things out without killing eachother. Yet still we go to war and still we kill.
What an enthralling, moving reading. I doubt a better reader than Peter Capaldi could have been found. And what a letter. A first hand description of the Christmas Truce of 1914, not knowing nearly four more years of slaughter were to come. I was particularly pleased to find that the writer survived what became known as The Great War for Civilisation. As I write this I think of my own Grandfather who also fought & survived that war from virtually the beginning as he was a Territorial Army infantryman before. #lest We Forget #NEVER Forget
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
This letter once again shows that soldiers don't make wars, they just die in them
💯
For the most part, yes. There are some exceptions, both individuals (soldiers who love the power, let alone actual sadists who love the suffering) as well as wars (ISIS come to mind...).
But for the most part, yes, war is old men talking and young men dying. 😭
The first world war was the most unnecessary because the whole thing started on a idea of creating a new currency that he thought all of Europe might find useful they have one currency there's less likely to be a problem and bearing in mind that at the time they're still existed among Europe and it's nobles the idea of the emperor being basically the one king supposedly to rule them all at least it has been for so many centuries before. The Kaiser was bringing this up at a time in which countries like France were doing very well even if other countries were doing far less well than they and they didn't like the idea that the Kaiser was suggesting they should be all under his rule, this might have more to do with the fact that by the time the 20th century rolled around things had politically speaking had changed, but it also didn't help that there were plenty of countries that did not want to be a part of the equivalent of what today we call the European union... The problem was his ideas were way too ahead of his time and his now English cousins we're not interested in giving up any kind of power not even the idea of a centralized monetary system, do bear in mind that even when the EU became the European Union in the last what is it 40 years maybe less and they came up with the idea of making a central currency England and a few other countries were not for it but they didn't go to war over it, why you might ask, because first they made a European Union literally they made a council of Europe, a United Europe if you want to call it that and only after discussing and making pictures of what the currency might look like I mean this took years did it finally come to fruition only because they first did the joining together of the individual countries and only after the idea again was floated to make a common currency... And even after the currency was made it was still used alongside of the local currency of whatever country you happen to be in because each country wasn't sure whether it was to their benefit or not and this way they'd have a chance to see if it was also anybody coming from another wouldn't have to exchange they have one common currency that they could use while on vacation and this slowly slowly idea actually worked. And there's the difference between what caused the first world war, and why that same idea didn't cause a another identical one is the idea was a good one but the problem was that instead of getting all his friends together as it were all his communal allies together all the countries he was going to have join his monetary system he didn't do that he just announced it as a thing that everybody would just jump on the bandwagon with he was going and then instead of going okay you're right it's too soon it's not it's not good you know we'll just put table it let's talk about working mutually side by side to come up with ways that we can make our individual countries stronger by an alliance with each other... But instead of doing that he thought he could just roll over everybody else and that's where the thing became the Hindenburg of wars (or probably more appropriately the Titanic of wars) a disaster of mega size proportions.
well that's true in SOME wars
Making war is the exclusive privilege of politicians and religious leaders. Some enjoy going along with it, most don't.
"He thanked me for the permission to bury his dead."
There are no words to describe the poignancy of that sentence.
much less the entire letter. 🥲
Capaldi isn't just reading this. He is feeling it right to his core.
It's called acting - really good acting, when the actor totally inhabits the part, a rare talent to take you away back to the moment of conception and to feel the common humanity, and weep 😢
And so am I
After every war, soldiers return & tell us 'never again'
& every time we forget.
"I wonder who'll start shooting." God that line just breaks my heart.
Let´s not forget how valuable it is what we have today. Greetings from Germany.
#GeroKron Good to know there's at least Two + people who appreciate a world without greed and fighting. Me and you, and all the others that must be around somewhère. This evening I watched the 2 Cello guys playing a concert in Italy in 2017. I listened to them play Imagine by John Lennon, which was a bit spooky, as I had listened to him earlier in the day giving an interview just a few hours before his death . I love those words, "Imagine all the People living for today". The Cello guys had thousands of adoring fans smiling and singing along in such joy and it struck me that the whole audience had fulfilled the Hope's of John Lennon through music that night. It's possible, it's all possible.
I think a lot of people have been thinking about that the past two weeks.
I'll drink to that, cheers mate.
Hello from the UK.
24/3/2022
Though selfish, petty men seek to drive us apart, I remain European. Greetings from a greatly diminished England.
The emphasis he placed on having the letter kept and copied is striking. He really wanted this information to get out, the knowledge that peace was very much possible out there, even for a short while. It's probably the reason why this account still exists today.
I'm surprised the letter made it out and that they didn't censor it or destroy it.
@@Hexen_Wulf I was just going to say that. Thank God it did.
Captain Ames papers and photos are available in the National Archives UK.
@Hexen_Wulf from what I've studied of WW1, the British government back then seemed to respect the (European) opposition more during WW1 than later conflicts. Their behaviour towards African and West-Asian nations made up in racism for their naked respect of the white nations and negative Propaganda seemed to not be as emphasised during WW1, especially with the censoring of letters sent from the lines. I feel like they would have glorified the Honourable King's subjects as being civilised and good soldiers, showing respect to their fellow men.
One of the most well read letters ever done. Peter has absolutely added the gravitas that this letter deserves
I am astonished by how completely Peter Capaldi inhabited this long-dead human being. He restores a kind of life to the words, and there’s an element of interpretation to it, of course, but he’s found the most core, human elements of that time and that moment and brought them out for all of us to hear.
They really messed up with making his Doctor Who into a Leftist weirdo.
Weird that you are astonished. He is an actor and this is what he does for a living. I was incredibly moved by the letter and him reading it but he is an actor as are everyone they invite to read letters for the simple fact that this is what actors do.
Well said
He kind of 'went there' in Twice Upon Time. So he has something with this moment in time.
"War is always the same. It is young men dying in the fullness of their promise. It is trying to kill a man that you do not know enough to hate. Therefore, to know war, is to know that there is still madness in the world."
President Lyndon B. Johnson - 1966
LBJ, the guy who killed thousands of American troops so he wouldn't be the president who "lost Vietnam." {smh}
@@Caseytify Very true but forgetting the speaker for one moment, the words are still something that deserve thinking about.
..
Ironic
@@rayjennings3637 yeah and also as if LBJ is the only one to blame for the war, ppl for some reason avoid giving JFK any blame cuz he's so beloved (mostly cuz he died so young, even though he was a very shit president and person). A president can still question war and its ethics even if he's playing his part in it. As if Churchill isn't allowed to criticise the manner of war and death because he's part of the war. Is there anyone more qualified to ask these questions than the person held responsible for the deaths and sending young men out there to die.
He's not just reading a Letter, he makes the story alive - what a wonderful actor. I've seen many episodes of letters live, but not even Benedict Cumberbatch comes close to this. Thank you Mr. Capaldi!
Have ya heard his reading the story about the flock of seagulls in a hotel room? Might wanna check that one out.
Thankfully John Armes survived the First World War and lived to be 72 years of age.
Thanks for the info it as much as The letter brought a tear to my eye,,,,,I like to imagine he might of travelled in Europe years later and maybe came across one of the German. Soldiers
Thank you for that, I was desperate to know
Thank you for this. I honestly thought the bitter 'punchline' at the end was going to be realising that the guy who wrote this died on boxing day when the fighting resumed, so to hear he survived is nice, even though I know that plenty of others wouldn't have done.
@@MrDannyDetail many did die soon after. i heard a story of a soldier who participated in the truce dying a month later while trying to save a stranded soldier.
Thank you. I needed to hear that. I only just found out my paternal Grandfather survived the British Navy during The Great War. He survived, moved to Canada, married a woman from his home Island in Scotland and had five children. We will not see their like again.
- Cathy (&, Steve), Ottawa/Bytown/Pimisi
I was sitting in my hotel, waiting for the shuttle to the airport, and now I’m wiping the tears from my face. What a beautiful, heartfelt performance, how true! And how foolish we human beings are, to have learned nothing from war, the most stupid of human endeavors!
I had to sit quietly and wait when this finished. I felt unable to continue with my life for just a few minutes. Thank you Peter Capaldi. And thank you Captain Armes
I couldn't think of anyone better reading this letter than Peter Capaldi. I can't help but conjuring up his last adventure as the Doctor in "Twice Upon A Time" where this well known incident, The Christmas Truce, is an essential part of the story. As though he jumped out of his TARDIS one last time right after that to come to the present and bring this letter to life.
"Never be cruel ... hate is always foolish, and love is always wise ... be kind!"
That particular episode was repeated here in Australia last week (Dec 2021). Definately read with feeling...
Same
Exactly my feeling!
Exactly. I wonder if he recorded this before or after filming or even reading the script for twice upon a time
@@stephjovi I assume before because this was recorded in March 2016 and "Twice Upon A Time" was first broadcast in December 2017, so he probably got the script not after he read the letter.
I don't think I could have gotten through that letter without crying. I'm crying now.
I think he was getting a little choked up. I know I am.
Read it to yourself in private two or three times before performing to keep the tears at bay. You've already cried them. But the weight won't leave your voice. ❤
That serves to prove that you are indeed human ☮
My grandfather, a veteran of WWI, often talked about The Christmas Truce. I still run across people who don't believe it happened. It didn't happen along the whole line. It didn't change the course of the war. And yet, there, in the middle of the horror of that war, there was a small miracle, a small bit of grace, a small reason to truly have faith in humanity.
All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers. --- François Fénelon
that's a lovely quote, one I haven't heard before. thanks for sharing.
Perfect!👍🏻
This is quite beautiful aye
High sounding pretty empty words considering Europe during his days was busy warring with each other at the drop of a hat and spreading imperialism and colonialism all over the world pillaging, plundering, murdering along the way.
Many drops of water make the sea, and many people make the sea of humanity.
This is the famous Christmas Truce of 1914. Captain Armes was a member of the1st Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment. This happened in the Rue du Bois sector, near Armentieres.
Thank you.
I was unaware of the location. There's a song which I presume is from the period titled "Madamoiselle from Armentieres" which my grandfather used to sing (badly) to himself.
@@englishsteve1465 My dad (served in WW2) used to sing that - rather rude words if I recall correctly!
@@englishsteve1465 I learnt this song at junior school (NOT the rude version! 😬)
🎶Mademoiselle from Armentieres, parlez-vous?🎶
I'll be humming it all day now 🌞
Beautiful read by Peter Capaldi.
@@annehunter9732 lol yeah, I expect there's two versions of it, one being "written" by the troops in the field.
When he said "the War will start again", I burst into tears. When do we learn? When can we just simply stop?
It's very simple. When someone robs you, attacks your family, rapes your children; don't fight back. Then it's all very peaceful...
@@Caseytify Not a single war has been started that way. Not one.
That's why I actually hate this story. These men had no ill will to each other. They were going to go back to trying to kill each other the next day because their countries told them to.
Sadly, it's not up to the men forced to fight it...
This is all I could think too. It's heartbreaking how so many people have died in war, totally unessecarily.
Immensely impressive reading by Capaldi, very natural but engaging. Masterclass in conveying enormity without hamming it up.
(They could have given it to Bill Shatner.....)
I have always enjoyed watching Capaldi weave his web. He has a way of speaking to you that makes you believe you are listening to a real person, not an actor pretending to be a person. He doesn't need to lay it on thick, but lets it fall from his lips in an almost casual and sometimes off-hand way, just as anyone in our everyday lives would. I believe that's the mark of a good actor, not just an ability to speak the lines, but to inhabit a character enough that he's no longer just a character.
Reminded me of the saying about jazz - it's not just about the notes you play but also the ones you _don't_
He's a master at pausing in the right places, and the suggestion of words potentially felt but left unsaid (/unwritten in this instance)
My Grandfather was in WW1 and he talked to my Dad about this happening, as it happened in a number of places on the front lines, he said they sang Xmas songs and shared food and cigarettes and showed photos of their loved ones. My grandfather sent his medals back to to the AIF Australian imperial force, he volunteered because they didn’t know what they were getting into, him and his brother both survived by saving each other a couple of times.
My grandfather was on the Somme for nearly 3 years. He never talked about WW1. When my mother passed away, I found his medals, still in the original box, the ribbons never put onto the medals. I can’t begin to imagine what he went through.
As a German, I noticed the way he said "Volkslied" and it's quite adorable.
Such a great delivery of a letter from a truly heartwarming moment in history.
Then again, Peter can literally read anything and I will sit here, listening. But this was really astonishing! Thanks for sharing
I bet he practiced that word 50 times beforehand as well, volksleed, volksleed, volksleed. Then a tiny bit of adrenalin and nerves and the reflex kicks in...volklide...doh
@@msms7434 Still happens to me despite my German GF's best intentions. I'll be happily 'ee'-ing along and then eventually I'll read something aloud and my brain & mouth will cruelly betray me spouting 'ei', or vice versa, before you know it. It's such a simple mistake yet it still catches me out. It's really quite annoying.
Such a poignant mispronunciation in this context: turning a "folk song" into the "people's sorrow/regret"
it's the first account I've read where someone English tried to speak German. So that was nice to hear. It's always the Germans managing to speak English which is rather embarrassing. We haven't improved on languages now!
@Katherine T Owen
And you haven't improved on your accent recognition. Capaldi is clearly Scottish, not English. Which is an embarrassment for you, seeing as you're lecturing.
This.
This is the sign of not just a good actor but someone who can immerse themselves.
He was reading his own letter. He was telling his own story.
You are there with him. Peter makes you a part of what was happening; what Cpt Armes was trying to describe to his wife.
I think it also says a lot about the relationship Cpt Armes has with his wife that he can go so in depth with what was occurring. Maybe many husbands simply said “All is good. Can’t wait to be home again.”
These deep relationships between husband and wife, child and parent, are what give us a better insight to the hardships and struggles of conflict.
One german soldier thought "wouldn't it be great if", and managed to get everyone around him to join that thought.
Just one single guy. Creating or starting something truely legendary.
truly
"Pope Benedict XV, on 7 December 1914, had begged for an official truce between the warring governments.[5] He asked "that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang", which was refused by both sides.[6][7]" Wikipedia.
Happily, the people overode the decision of the governments
@@KatherineTOwen being in the thick of it tends to change one's perspective.
Not surprisingly, this war is infamous for that simple fact.
In the midst of a hideous war the madmen running my country are waging on Ukraine, I'm sitting here, listening to Peter read this brilliant story of peace and humanity, and bawling my eyes out. Hits so much harder.
It is hard to watch the Ukrainians suffer so much, but it is also hard to watch the oppressed Russians who are trapped. We have many Russians coming here, many are settling in California.They seem content to be free of Putin's insanity.
But notice that the madman running your country would not be there if not for the western support to make Ukrainians cannonfoder
Tools to weaken the Russian military. A war being fought by the west with Ukrainian blood
Peace be with you
@@FacheChanteDeux Try BIDENS INSANITY !!!!
@@FacheChanteDeux sorry , Not insanity....PURE EVIL GREED
I can remember my Grandmother telling me with tears in her eyes about her two brothers . Who after returning from the First world war both emigrated . Her eldest brother William said he could no longer live in England after seeing what he saw and knowing why he was there . He left for Australia she never saw him again nor her other brother Tom who went to Canada . Thanks Nan
Heard this story before but never heard it read. Peter Capaldi delivered it so poignantly. He is incredible actor… incredible story
The clever part of Letters Live is getting the right reader for the right letter and in Peter Capaldi not only does he read it, he encompasses, he becomes Capt. Armes. A brilliant actor.
Right you are! Exactly what I thought.
And THIS is how history should be taught. I would have remembered this in a way rote memorization could never have accomplished.
I can remember the hushed reverence of sitting down with my grandparents in front of a black and white TV on a dark November evening to watch the Festival of Remembrance. I never met my grandfathers older brother but in reverse order he finished up pursuing his specialism as a signaller with the Royal Engineers, he was pulled out of a Rifles Battalion before the majority of its men were killed on the First day of the Somme, the sap in which he was operating a wireless near Ypres in 1915 was hit by a shell. Having apparently been with his battalion at the 2nd Battle of Ypres, my Great uncle may have experienced gas. Along with his battalion, it seems that he must have witnessed the Christmas Truce.
Shortly before my Grandfather died, he said “Here, you’d better have this” and he gave me his brothers Christmas greeting from the trenches in 1915, improvised and duplicated out of a page from an army signallers notepad. Between the two of us, my grandfather and I have kept that humble scrap of paper for 108 years. Peace to us all and goodwill among men this Christmas 2023.
This is why I respect Peter for his craft. He really became John Armes, being overwhelmed, emotional and telling it as if he was there. That moment when he shows no remorse as he says they will go back to killing each other because the war goes on is just chilling but so real.
He perfectly shows the duality of people fighting in wars. 🙌
Yeah, no remorse - but resignation. Heavy, heavy resignation. (That's how I interpreted it, anyway.)
It's not like he's reading someone else's letter, it's like he's giving a verbal report of something he personally experienced...
Such a fantastic actor to be able to do it
The words of Cornel Armes have a distance of a semi-formal report. This man was an officer. He was proficient at summarizing the horrors of the day in a matter-of-fact perfunctory way. He's telling his wife the story in a way that will help him to somehow keep an emotional distance when the bullets start to fly at midnight.
The emotional cue points that the performance picks up on... goosebumps.
- Cathy (&, accidently, Steve), Ottawa/Bytown/Pimisi
How mad can the world be that people treating each other humanely on Christmas Day can be an extraordinary event.
It's a horrible reality because could you see something similar happend today in Ukraine....a brother people locked in vicious struggle against eachother for at most a Pyrrhic victory.
CIA: enters the chat
I was not ready for this. I need to go out and do my groceries but Peter Capaldi has me blubbing. What an extraordinary account of such tragic event.
The "moment of sanity" must have been totally surreal surrounded in time and space with the madness of war.
If the powers that be called the whole thing off from there, that would’ve be been perfect. Why can’t we manage to do this.
@@benbunyip Well, you probably live in a country that if your ancestors had not fought to preserve themselves then you may live in a very different country or maybe not exist at all? The egg is well and truly scrambled my friend and you can't unscramble an egg.
That's so profound and moving.
If only we could tell his letters are being read out to millions a century later. What a catastrophe WW1 was
Oit of all of the Letter Live Readings, THIS is the best one read. Mr Capaldi made this letter TRULY come alive. I was mesmer. No one could have read this letter like he did.
My heart hurts for those soldiers who befriended and were enemies at the same time. War can be meaningful both positively and negatively. Simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming.
Peter really does care quite deeply about piece. It's there in his best Dr. Who monologues as well. What a tremendous force for good.
Capaldi and the Doctor are one person at this point. You see his disdain for war. Sad to loose that peace .😢
This reminded me of a story I read about a German & American soldier who wound up in a ditch together while trying to avoid being killed by an American fighter aircraft that was strafing troops some weeks after the Normandy landings during the liberation of France. They shared photos of their families back home etcetera. It didn't give much detail beyond that, so I don't know how it played out. I believe this was in a book titled "Eisenhower & His Men" by author Stephen Ambrose. It's just so strange how war can bring out the best & worst of human behavior.
any time this man comes on to read it is absolutely shakespearean
I have loved Mr. Capaldi all my life, it seems, but had not seen this before. He really took us there and made us see it, didn't he? Stunning. ❤
This event actually inspires the last episode of Doctor Who in Capaldi era. Amazing
Such a beautiful (and sad) letter and a wonderful performance by Peter Capaldi
And this is why Peter Capaldi is one of our greatest actors - Wonderful poise, delivery and reverence in his delivery 👌
This one got me teary eyed, what amazing delivery. What a moment of sanity in the insane throws of war.
Throes.?
This is absolutely incredible. Imagine what Miracles will happen when more men choose to act from a state of Love and Kindness instead of fear and hate. God bless each of these men and their families and God bless us all. 💖🙏💖
Oh my name is Francis Tolliver, in Liverpool I dwell. Each Christmas come since world war one, I've learned its lessons well. That the ones who call the shots won't be among the dead and lame and on each end of the rifle we're the same.
Christmas in the Trenches
John McCutcheon
I tired so hard not to cry. There’s something so human in wanting to reach out and be friendly. Peter Capaldi is so good, he sounds like he’s about to cry at any moment, you can feel the emotions.
It’s immensely saddening that such a truce during wartime was possible yet it could not continue…makes one consider why such a disregard for humanity had to continue afterwards
There was an extraordinary opportunity wasted then
There was nothing those soldiers could have done short of convincing the entire military to go on strike and this was a world war, that would have been a death sentence for their country.
What a beautiful and moving reading of such an emotional letter by Peter. We need these memories lest we forget…❤️
What a wonderfull reading...
1914 was the last chance for something like this. By Xmas 1915 both armies are suffered a year of hell: too many dead friends and pain at the hands of the other side.
Plus, the brass was aware of the possibility by then, and made sure to shell the living crap out of the opposing trenches on Christmas Eve, to counteract any thoughts of good cheer or brotherly love. No matter how noble and pure one's objectives, war is an ignoble and filthy means.
@@MrFelblood all true.
This could very well be one of the greatest moments in human history!
What a brilliant narrator 👏. Peter Capaldi brought this episode to life.
Hard to believe a letter from that time was written word for word, so believable that it was said with feeling and delivered so expertly by a true professional actor.
I never liked any Dr Who, though I caught pieces of that work, but know of Mr Capaldi's other work and this surely is one of his best.
imagine if men like Captain Armes were in charge of war efforts and not their commander's thousands of miles away.
The christmas truce is both beautiful and tragic. Because by that time the next year, this was just not possible. Everyone had just lost too much. Everyone was too jaded. Peace was a lie. The war would never end.
One of the songs that they sang was Auld Lang Syne. Coz it was popular on both sides and in both languages. But in just a few years, that was long since forgotten. Rather they sang "we're here because we're here because we're here" to the same tune. No one knew why they fought. Why they died. Just that they would.
It is one of the most important moments in human history in my opinion because its the calm before the storm. Its the long breath before the trumpet blows. People can be incredible. People mostly are genuinely good. But war takes and takes, and the good people are the ones who lose the most
I could listen to this man read literally anything and I would be absolutely enthralled. What a magnificent storyteller.
This story still brings tears to these old eyes😢😢
I could see it all in my mind, and through my tears.
I think you'll find he was a WW1 soldier. The letter is incredibly touching, though.
it does seem like that one commercial
It was more that the letter is dated December 1914. That seems a little early for WW2.
Perhaps that's why the video is titled "Peter Capaldi reads a letter from WW1 Captain Reginald John Armes to his wife".
@@XantiaD perhaps they edited the title after I commented more than a year ago? Lots of things are possible.
Well read sir! You have done honour to the author. I hope you have spread the message of the futility of war - or this; don't hurt other people - to just one more person. The tragedy is this: politicians will always trade lives.
Oh, he has, even in a long monologue about war as The Doctor in Doctor Who.
Sometimes remarkable things will be remembered for eternity. This letter and that time will be kept carefully.
Wow. Just Wow. Words cannot express what I am feeling after this reading.
Listening to this in tears. Why do we never remind ourselves that war is awful
And this happened right on my doorstep here in Ploegsteert (Plugstreet). Them boys, regardless of them being British or German, they get my respect.
Violets, April 1915
Violets from Plug Street Wood,
Sweet, I send you oversea.
(It is strange they should be blue,
Blue, when his soaked blood was red;
For they grew around his head.
It is strange they should be blue.)
Violets from Plug Street Wood -
Think what they have meant to me!
Life and Hope and Love and You.
(And you did not see them grow
Where his mangled body lay,
Hiding horror from the day.
Sweetest it was better so.)
Violets from oversea,
To your dear, far, forgetting land;
These I send in memory,
Knowing You will understand.
Roland Leighton, 1895-1915
What a brilliant actor Peter Capaldi is. He absolutely commanded that stage and added so much humanity to the letter. We could almost believe it was him writing and living that experience. I was reminded of "Twice Upon a Time" and held the picture of the Christmas battlefield scene in my head as I listened.
Wonderfully read by the fabulous Peter Capaldi! ❤️
He is One of the Best actors. Ever.
Full. Stop.
Thanks, very good. ✌🏻👊🏼
I think that this is one of the most important and moving letters of the 20th Century. I had heard of this moment in time many years ago. But, to hear the account from someone actually there. Simply incredible!
The human spirit never ceases to amaze and shock, how beautiful.
The horror of this letter….. the horror of the stupidity of war and mankind in general. The power of hope….. breaks your heart.
There are few things in this world more incredible than this letter and the story behind it. One of those things that are more incredible is Peter Capaldi reading this letter.
It’s so insane that they could stop fighting like that & then go back to killing each other
war is insane
If they didn’t continue , they themselves would have been courts martial and executed ....
Yeah, this is why commanding armies from a distance is so absurd.
Some officers threatened to shoot their men if they didn’t fire their guns
@@PolGara0139 or they in turn would have been shot ...,
I've always heard of this day, but to hear it in the words of someone whom was there leaves me speechless. Peter Capaldi was certainly the right person to read this one.
Stunning performance - should be part of any and all history curriculums where WWI is the focus.
My father fought in the Somme and Paschendaele. When I was a child I asked him what he thought of the German soldiers,expecting him to say they were brutes,and to my surprise he replied "They were just like us".
I've read the letter, and about the letter, many times. Capaldi's rendition is superb.
I love Peter, and he did a beautiful job reading this. When he played the Doctor on Dr. Who, one of the episodes was about this very thing. It was one of my favorite episodes.
Thanks dank... beautiful
Cant even imagine what this officer went through and saw. Capaldi did a splendid job telling me. God Bless those brave soldiers!
This must probably be my most favourite video on this channel. It's striking, emotional, beautiful and so fragile. And Peter completely brings this letter to life.
As he read the letter in front of that large audience, you could hear a pin drop
Heartbreaking and lovely. Perfect delivery. I don't know how anyone can hear this without tearing up.
This reading never fails to bring tears to my eyes, Peter delivers it so amazingly. 😢
I used to have a dvd which told this story! It was a beautiful fictionalized version, and there were 3 army camps (German, English, Scottish). At the end they gave us some true facts about the event. I think what was most astonishing was the fact that this happened in multiple locations!
Was that the 2005 movie ("Joyeux Noel") or something else? :)
@@Wolf-ln1ml Yes that's the one! I loved that movie.
Perhaps it was this movie about the event: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Midnight_Clear
@@Genesh12 No, it was Joyeux Noel. BUT thanks... Now I have to watch this other movie! 😁
Made me cry. incredible story , well read.
This is absolutely beautiful, not ashamed to admit it made me cry.
Such a beautiful letter of love and respect. This story is immortalized in the Sainsbury Christmas advert of 2014. You can look it up above. I've spent countless hours in our National War Museum in Ottawa, Canada. Young men so full of promise go to fight for their respective countries, not knowing what they are getting into. I am so glad this letter survived, so the story could be shared with us, so many years later.
I have often wondered, if all the soldiers in the trenches, on both sides, had said "we will not do this", could that war have ended then. Sadly, we'll never know.
Beautiful words, beautifully read by a master wordsmith.
That's why war isn't a democracy. If it was, it would never be fought.
@@Hexen_Wulf I am aware of this, hence my comment. It's a collusion.
They would have been ordered to be shot by the men in the rear
@@lingeriedeparis7274 You think?
@@floradiamonds
There is a book called "The Thin Yellow Line" by William Moore about the hundreds of British soldiers who were shot by their own comrades for cowardice and desertion during the first World War. Shell-shocked and confused men, ordered to be executed by superiors who did not understand how much warfare has suddenly changed and just how traumatising the mass-destruction the Great War has wrought for these poor men.
It's a heartbreaking read.
Beyond wonderful. A perfectly shattering reading of a profoundly beautiful letter, by a tremendous actor. Bravo!
A happy holiday season to all, around the world, whoever you may be, whatever faith you follow.
The answer to conflict is respect, which if unregulated, will invariably lead to love of your fellow humans.
Bravo! So well performed & so humane!
Although I have watched this quite a few times before, it’s rendered even more poignant in light of recent events in the Ukraine. I fear that we are sliding into global conflict again. This message of hope, this moment of utter humanity amongst carnage and the almost stunned disbelief of the writer who witnessed it and the realisation that the enemy were people no different than himself is a message that’s every bit as important now as when it was written over 100 years ago….
Agreed! I’ve shared this on ALL my social media platforms, in hopes it can ease the burden of fear, we all currently share.
@@shawnblackhawk6718 doing the same.
Thank you UA-cam algorithm for delivering this and it's channel to me. This channel supplies beautiful content that I do not mind spending almost hours getting lost in. Cheers!!
Always remember that it's never the soldiers that want war.
That wasn't simply a letter from John Armes to his wife back home, it was a message to the future, to resound through the ages. It's truly haunting.
This always makes me so sad. It just shows that with the right mindset, we can all just get along and sort things out without killing eachother. Yet still we go to war and still we kill.
An incredible story indeed! The quietness of the audience says a great deal!
Danke brought me here
Happy Christmas everyone
What an enthralling, moving reading. I doubt a better reader than Peter Capaldi could have been found. And what a letter. A first hand description of the Christmas Truce of 1914, not knowing nearly four more years of slaughter were to come. I was particularly pleased to find that the writer survived what became known as The Great War for Civilisation.
As I write this I think of my own Grandfather who also fought & survived that war from virtually the beginning as he was a Territorial Army infantryman before.
#lest We Forget
#NEVER Forget