23rd December 1953: Australian soldiers finish decorating a Christmas tree near the new border between North and South Korea. The tree is decorated with electric lights, to be powered by a generator.
The Korean War ended earlier that year, in July. 17 000 Australians served in Korea between 1950 and 1953.
From the collection of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.
Christmas Day in the London Bridge Canteen depicts HRH Princess Helena Victoria, creator and Chairman of the Ladies’ Auxiliary Committee of the YMCA paying a visit to workers during the First World War.
The princess, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, was one of a number of royals to drop German names from her title at the outbreak of the war. She never married, but went on to live through both World Wars.
The image was created by war artist Clare Atwood in 1920. Atwood, an unusual woman for her time, was a known lesbian who lived in a ménage à trois relationship with two other women until their deaths.
This collection of images shows Australian soldiers celebrating Christmas in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s.
Australia committed approximately 61 000 troops to the Vietnam War between 1962 and 1972 (and again occasionally until 1975), including many thousands of conscripts.
All the photographs are from the collection of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.
Private David McColl of Canberra, hanging puddings to mature before Christmas.
December 1967. Nui Dat, Vietnam.
Newly arrived members of 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), preparing their base camp for the Christmas season.
November 1970. Nui Dat, South Vietnam.
Corporal Arthur Wallis, 21, sharpening a knife in preparation for carving the three prime hams he has prepared for Christmas.
Today is Christmas Eve according to the old calendar, and tonight millions of people (including Ukrainians like me) celebrate with a twelve-dish dinner.
With the disaster surrounding us and a house full of smoke, this is going to be an odd one.
5th January 1962: The Three Wise Men arrive at Barajas Airport in Madrid, Spain, where crowds of children wait to greet them.
British troops eat Christmas dinner in a shell hole in Beaumont Hamel, France on the 25th of December, 1916. The commune was almost completely destroyed during the Battle of the Somme that took place that year.
December 1916. First World War: Injured soldiers celebrate Christmas in the 3rd Northern General Hospital in Sheffield, England. Sheffield was bombed by a German zeppelin during the war, and soldiers from the region suffered heavy casualties in the Battle of the Somme.
This painting depicts Christmas dinner in the Ruhleben internment camp in Germany in 1917. The camp, located west of Berlin, housed between 4000 and 5500 mainly British prisoners during the First World War.
The work was created by Anglo-Dutch artist Nico Jungmann, who was interned at Ruhleben because he was a naturalised British citizen.
To begin the Christmas season, here is an amazing holly-themed muslin gown from the 1820s.
It is in the Met collection, and I discovered it via Dr Kate Stradin‘s amazing fashion history Twitter account.
