Britain to send boxes of Christmas presents to its troops overseas

LONDON – Pipes and pencils will be replaced by cameras and games when a 90-year-old royal tradition of sending gifts to British troops abroad is revived this Christmas, a defense spokesman said Thursday.

British troops spending the Christmas of 1914 huddled in trenches in France or on battleships received a Christmas gift box filled with pipes, lighters, cigarettes and telescoping “bullet pencils” made from rifle cartridges.

The gifts were the initiative of Princess Mary, the 17-year-old daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, who wanted everyone wearing the British uniform overseas to receive a gift from the nation on Christmas Day.

Ninety years later their modern-day contemporaries in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, the Balkans, and the Falkland and Ascension Islands will get a bundle containing cameras, games and other treats.

The idea has been resurrected by British companies that will sponsor the gift boxes to be distributed by the Defense Logistics Organization.

Spokesman Brig. Jeff Little said the Princess Mary gift box became an institution during World War I.

“By the time the fund closed in 1920, almost 200,000 pounds had been donated for the provision of more than 2.5 million boxes with contents,” Little said.