England v Germany: when rivals staged beautiful game on the Somme The cheery farmer living opposite helps maintain the dignity of the scene and at next year's centenary expects to see some form of re-enactment of the strangest game ever played. A truly beautiful game in one sense. In his handwritten diary, Captain Robert Hamilton of the Warwickshires heads the page for Friday, Dec 25, "unique in the world's history." The story is recounted in Meet at Dawn, Unarmed, co-authored by his grandson, Andrew. It tells how the two sides emerged from their respective trenches and milled around in No Man's Land, unsure how to react. Eventually they saw not the enemy but fellow men sharing the same hopes and fears as them. They helped each other to bury their dead, exchanged cigarettes and souvenirs such as uniform buttons and badges, and individuals toasted one another with mugs of rum. The most remarkable event of all confirms the universal appeal of football and its ability to transcend bitter rivalries and even war. According to the account of the cartoonist Captain Bruce Bairnsfather, Christmas morning with its cloudless sky and snow on the ground was perfect - "just the sort of day for Peace to be declared." He continued: "At about noon a football match was suggested, someone had evidently received a deflated football as a Christmas present." Later he said that "one of ours brought up a football and blew it up to kick about." The episode was confirmed by Lieutenant Kurt Zehmisch, of the 134th. A couple of English brought a football out of their trench and a vigorous football match began. This was all so marvellous and strange. The English officers thought so too; towards evening the officers asked whether a big football match could be held on the following day between the two positions. Zehmisch, however, was unable to agree definitely to a Boxing Day fixture because he was about to be relieved by another company. But he was heartened by what had happened, "so after all the Christmas festival, the festival of love, caused the hated enemies to be friends for a short time." The British also reflected on those extraordinary few hours. Corporal Samuel Judd said it had been "an enjoyable day" and others witnessed the bizarre sight of a Warwickshire machine-gunner cutting the hair of "a docile Boche who was patiently kneeling on the ground." Only football shots were fired on that section of the front that day but all too soon the realities of war re-emerged and Capt Hamilton noted that he took no chances and doubled his sentries as it drew to a close. It had brought an example of humanity and decency that was not to be repeated in such a form again over the next four years of slaughter. Footballers themselves were among those who gave their lives. Donald Bell was the first professional player to enlist in the British Army, eventually joining the Yorkshire Regiment. He was a schoolteacher in his native Harrogate and to supplement his salary was paid to play for Bradford Park Avenue having been an amateur with Crystal Palace and Newcastle United. On 5 July, 1916, at Horseshoe Trench on the Somme, Second Lieutenant Bell ran across open ground in leading a successful attack on a German machine gun post for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. In a similar action close by five days later he was killed, at the site of which there is a memorial to him known as Bell's Redoubt. He was 25 and is buried at Gordon Dump Cemetery near Albert. Three years ago the Professional Footballers" Association paid £252,000 for his VC at an auction. When the war broke out, the philanthropist Frederick Charrington led a public campaign to have professional football in Britain suspended and attempted to shame players and officials into action through public and private denouncement. In response, 16 players from Heart of Midlothian enlisted in a new volunteer battalion, joining en masse in November 1914 and inspiring supporters and players from other clubs to do the same. Seven of the Hearts players died in the war and have a memorial dedicated to them near the club's stadium. It is sacrifices such as theirs and that of Martyn Crookes's great uncle, killed in Flanders in 1915, that inspired the Manchester United fan to join the Western Front Association and make an annual pilgrimage to the battlefields and cemeteries. Of his latest visit to the Somme, coinciding with Remembrance Day, Crooke said: "You get a glimpse of what millions endured and died for. If I had a choice between coming back here to pay my respects or going to the World Cup next summer it would be no contest. I would happily forego a trip to Brazil. In comparison to what others did, not much of a sacrifice really.