HE took part in a soccer game during the Christmas Day Truce and then fought courageously throughout the rest of World War I.

    Lieutenant Colonel Frank Naden won the Distinguished Service Order three times and the Military Cross twice.

    Now the medals he was awarded for his bravery have been sold for more than £15,000 (US$18,640).

    Lt. Col Naden was one of the first soldiers to leave the trenches on Christmas Day 1914 to mingle with their German counterparts in No Man’s Land on the Western Front and exchange food and cigarettes.

    In a letter he wrote home, the then sergeant said that men from both sides spoke about how they wished the war would be over soon.

    His account, which is in the Imperial War Museum, reads: “The Scotsmen started the bagpipes and we had a rare old jollification, which involved soccer, in which the Germans took part. The Germans expressed themselves as being tired of the war and wished it was over.

    “Next day we got an order that all communication and socializing with the enemy must cease, but we did not fire at all that day, and the Germans did not fire at us.”

    Lt. Col Naden then rose through the ranks, becoming a battalion commander, but he did not start winning his gallantry medals until later in the war when he was fighting in Belgium.

    His medals were sold by his family and were snapped up by a private collector at an auction run by Spink and Son in London. They sold for a hammer price of £15,500 but with fees added on the total price paid was £18,600.

    When the DSO or MC is awarded more than once this is marked by a bar on the medal rather than another medal being handed over. As part of the auction lot, the collector also bought other service medals he was awarded.

    (SD-Agencies)