It has become one of the most touching - if contested - moments of the First World War, as soldiers laid down their arms for a kickabout in no-man's land between the trenches.
Now the grave of a young infantryman who described taking part in the Christmas truce of 1914 has been restored to keep its memory alive.
Albert Wyatt from Kenninghall, near Diss, served on the Western Front and was in the trenches at Wulverghem in Belgium on Christmas Eve of that year.
In a letter home to his parents, the then Corporal Wyatt, 27, told how the guns fell silent as opposing sides enjoyed kicking around a football during a brief ceasefire.
"Football in the firing line between the British and Germans is the truth, as I was one that played," he said.
Hostilities soon resumed and Wyatt - the son of a blacksmith and one of 12 siblings - went on to a distinguished career in which he was decorated for gallantry in 1916 before he was wounded and sent home the following year.
He died in October 1928 at the age of 41 and was buried in Thetford Cemetery, where Chris and Rosemary Snowdon who live in the town have now restored his grave.
"Our local historian, David Osbourne found his grave and detailed his letter home to his parents detailing the football game," said retired teacher Mrs Snowdon, 66.
"Sadly David passed away and his wife Joy has tried to maintain the grave.
"Having seen photographs and read the account my husband and I decided to help.
"We have cleaned the grave, placed a vase of poppies on it and with the council's permission have installed a plaque on the grave."
Three of Mrs Snowdon's own family - brothers Bertie, George and Joe Muteham - went to war and never returned.
in 2015, Mrs Snowdon was united with lost medals belonging to her great-uncle, Bertie Muteham, after they surfaced at an online auction.
LETTER HOME TOLD OF CHRISTMAS TRUCE
Cpl Wyatt's letter home was reported by the EDP at the time, which described it as "the most historic day ever spent on the battlefield".
He said when A Company of the 1st Norfolks arrived on the front line on December 24, they found everything was quiet.
Then they heard the sound of hymms and shouts of "three cheers for the English" coming from the German lines.
The Norfolks joined in the singing, which went on through the night.
On Christmas morning, the Germans shouted: "Come over here, we will not fire."
Both sides met in no-man's land and wished each other Merry Christmas.
"To our surprise, we found we were fighting men old enough to be our fathers," Cpl Wyatt wrote.
"They told us they had had enough of the war as they were nearly all married men.
"We finished up in the same old way, kicking a football about between the two firing lines.
"So football in the firing line between the British and Germans is the truth as I was one that played."
Controversy continues
Despite Corporal Wyatt's testimony, the precise details of the Christmas football activities have been fiercely contested by historians over the decades.
The idea that there was a match involving opposing soldiers has become part of the enduring myth of the Christmas Truce.
But historians are sceptical and suggest that accounts have been exaggerated and misinterpreted over the years.
There are lots of eyewitness testimonials from both sides saying such a game took place.
However, experts from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission say that it is more likely that spontaneous kickabouts took place up and down the line, rather than a single, one-off game.
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