Heavy mists hung over northwest Europe last week and so did heavy suspense. A Christmas "truce" was observed by the Luftwaffe, but the quiet was ominous. The most terrific military force in the world, the German Army, had been idle for six months and on Christmas Eve its commander, Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch, visited its westernmost camps on the Channel coast. At Cap Gris Nez, near the long-range guns which sporadically hurl shells into England, he told his men: "The Channel will protect England only so long as it suits us."...
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