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To mark Christmas 1916, the officers of a unit of the Canadian Army Service Corps held a formal dinner near the front. The menu card, which all in attendance signed, imagines the commanding officer rising through the ranks to become a field marshal in 1940, and then returning to civilian life in 1960.

The staff of the Canadian Discharge Depot at Buxton made the 1918 Christmas festivities as pleasant as possible, in the full knowledge that the soldiers were desperately keen to get home.

Few soldiers enjoyed being away from home at Christmas - but a proper Christmas dinner might have helped to soften the blow.

This hand-coloured menu may seem modest, but it would have represented a significant departure from a soldier's regular fare.