The special Christmas Concert, to be held at Great St Mary’s Church, Cambridge, next Monday (December 15), will replicate the musical exchange which is alleged to have taken place across the trenches in no-man’s land during Christmas 1914.
Choir Committee Chair, Lizzie Hart said: “Legend has it that the Germans sang ‘Stille Nacht’ across the trenches and the English replied with ‘While Shepherds Watched’. We want to re-create that poignant exchange and will add other songs that were sung in the trenches at the time.”
One of the songs featured was discovered after it had been written in a special autograph book, which belonged to a nurse at the 1st Great Eastern Hospital (now Addenbrooke’s) nearly 100 years ago. The author was Cadet John Sidney Smith whose life story has recently been tracked down by amateur detectives.
Lizzie said: “It was hard work and we had very little to go on. But after an extensive search of documents at Cambridge University, census records, registers of births, marriages and deaths and local history books, our research team finally found John Smith in Stroud in Gloucestershire. It’s fantastic news that we’ve also been able to trace some of his surviving relatives who are now coming to the concert!”
The special charity concert will raise money for CLIC Sargent, the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people.
If you would like to attend the concert at Great St Mary’s Church on 15th December at 7.30pm, tickets are available either by emailing karen.roberts@clicsargent.org.uk or telephone 0117 314 8643.
Tickets will be available on the night but purchase in advance is advised.
About childhood cancer
Every day 10 children and young people are told they have cancer, and diagnosis usually comes as a shock. Treatment normally starts straightaway and can last up to three years. Although survival rates are over 80%, cancer remains the single largest cause of death from disease in children in the UK.
About CLIC Sargent
CLIC Sargent is the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people. It provides clinical, practical and emotional support for young cancer patients and their families, from diagnosis onwards. For more information visit www.clicsargent.org.uk
*******
For more information about this fundraising event please contact Karen Roberts on 07879 413126 or email karen.roberts@clicsargent.org.uk
For more information about CLIC Sargent and its services please contact the media team on 020 8752 2812 or email mediarelations@clicsargent.org.uk Outside office hours please call 08448 481189.
For further information on CUH archives department , please contact: louise.gosling@addenbrookes.nhs.uk tel: 01223 586 730
_____________________________________________________________