From lunches, music and dance, to dressing up a tank in ribbons to deliver toys to children, we look back at how members of the Allied Forces and civilians marked Christmas during World War II.

The following text is from “Santa Claus Rides American Tank Bringing Toys to British Children”, by Gladwin Hill, Dec. 15, 1942.

At a U.S. tank base somewhere in England, Dec 15 – Santa Claus came rumbling across the fields in a General Grant tank today, bringing more candy for each of the children of this village than they ordinarily get in months.

Some day the English children of the village may forget the war, but it is doubtful if they will ever forget the Christmas party the American soldiers gave for them.

A General Grant tank did duty as a sleigh, bringing toys for nearly 100 English children, war orphans and children of British service men on Dec. 15, 1942, in England. Playing Santa Claus is Captain Raymond Jennison. (AP Photo)

The beribboned tanks not only brought candy but toys far better than most children will see this toy-scarce Christmas, rare American soft drinks by the gallon and enough fudge, fruit and cake to satisfy stomachs all around.

Dolled up in their best party clothes…the hundred squealing kids were mainly children of British soldiers away at war.

These little toddlers may have been sleeping on bunks in a London tube station on Christmas Eve 1940, but they woke up to a beautifully decorated Christmas tree, with lots of good things hanging on it and even the stockings hanging on their bunks we… — These little toddlers may have been sleeping on bunks in a London tube station on Christmas Eve 1940, but they woke up to a beautifully decorated Christmas tree, with lots of good things hanging on it and even the stockings hanging on their bunks were filled with presents. (AP Photo)

Children enjoying themselves at a Christmas Party, Dec. 25, 1940, in an underground shelter in London, England. (AP Photo)

In the three years since they had seen their daddies go away clothes had become scarcer, food and fun shorter. Bombers and strafers had roared down over their homes and villages. Every night was the same black and dark.

Then the funny-talking Americans came with their big machines, their laughter and their jokes. And finally the party.

A little English girl, one of 300 evacuee children from the East End of London, gets a lesson in bugle-blowing from one of the Canadian troops at a Christmas party around Dec. 17, 1941, in England. (AP Photo)

The officers sacrificed a month’s candy ration to provide armloads of sweets and peanuts and chipped in $2 apiece for the toy fund.

Mess Sergeant Lloyd Johnson, Seattle, sweat his willing staff many hours of overtime making a mountain of fudge and sandwiches.

Chaplain Father William J. O’Brien of Aubury, N.Y., went to London and talked a big store into parting with a good part of its slim toy stock.

Louise Wesemann, left, of La Grange, Ill., and Mary Wahl, of Fairfax, Minn., members of the Women’s Army Corps, paint toys at the Santa Claus workshop attached to an 8th Air Force bomber station in England around, Oct. 22, 1943. The toys will be dis… — Louise Wesemann, left, of La Grange, Ill., and Mary Wahl, of Fairfax, Minn., members of the Women’s Army Corps, paint toys at the Santa Claus workshop attached to an 8th Air Force bomber station in England around, Oct. 22, 1943. The toys will be distributed to British war orphans at American Red Cross parties this Christmas. (AP Photo)

Santa Claus, Captain Raymond Jennison of a U.S. Army armored unit station, distributes gifts to English children around Dec. 15, 1942, somewhere in Southern England. (AP Photo)

There was a flicker of the homesick look in the Santa’s eyes as he handed out the presents because the 235 pounds in the red and white suit belonged to Capt. Raymond Jennison, [who] was thinking about his own three-year old back in Hopkinsville, Ky.

“I guess if you can’t be home with your own this is the next best thing,” a young lieutenant said.

Shoppers look for Christmas gifts and other articles, at London's Petticoat Lane market on Dec. 8, 1940. People still came despite several shops, right, being bombed during the recent "Blitz". (AP Photo)

American soldiers from left: Sgt. Jerry F. Davenport, of Albany, N.Y.; Sgt. Charles E. Burgess, Rochester, N.Y., and Pvt. Samuel H. Abrahamson, of New York City, shopping for Christmas presents in Algiers for the folks back home, examine hand-decora… — American soldiers from left: Sgt. Jerry F. Davenport, of Albany, N.Y.; Sgt. Charles E. Burgess, Rochester, N.Y., and Pvt. Samuel H. Abrahamson, of New York City, shopping for Christmas presents in Algiers for the folks back home, examine hand-decorated, hand-sewn leather hassocks in the Post Exchange gift shop, around Dec. 7, 1943. (AP Photo)

Some of the 500 tough, sunburned veterans of the Mediterranean war, arrived at a London railway station on Dec. 2, 1944, for twenty-eight days’ leave. They were the first contingent, of the two thousand that docked in England, to reach London. (AP P… — Some of the 500 tough, sunburned veterans of the Mediterranean war, arrived at a London railway station on Dec. 2, 1944, for twenty-eight days’ leave. They were the first contingent, of the two thousand that docked in England, to reach London. (AP Photo)

American soldiers and U.S. nurses decorate their Christmas tree on Dec. 13, 1942, somewhere in England. Ping-pong balls play a large part with tinsel and other metallic decorations being in short supply. (AP Photo)

Troops' Christmas Preparations. (British Movietone/AP Archive)

From left to right: Pvt. Walter M. Hammel of N.Y., PFC Thomas P. of Atlanta, Ga.; Cpl. N. Urdang of Brookline, Mass, at a Red Cross Servicemen's club in Algiers during the holiday season, 1943. (AP Photo)

A sailor, his costume made from shorts and old signal flags, makes his rounds on Guadalcanal island, Christmas Day 1942, with the temperature near 90 degrees. He handed out gifts furnished by the Red Cross which included pipes, cards, writing paper … — A sailor, his costume made from shorts and old signal flags, makes his rounds on Guadalcanal island, Christmas Day 1942, with the temperature near 90 degrees. He handed out gifts furnished by the Red Cross which included pipes, cards, writing paper and soap. (AP Photo/Pool)

British soldiers engaged in the siege of Bardia, Libya, kneel in prayer in the desert at a sunrise mass on Christmas Day. Their coats are turned up against the chill of the desert air at that hour. (AP Photo)

Various clippings of AP stories from WWII. (AP Corporate Archives)

Convalescing Navy veterans at the St. Albans Naval Hospital, Long Island, dig into the traditional Christmas Day dinner in the Mess Hall on Dec. 25, 1943. (AP Photo/Marty Zimmerman)

Christmas dinner on board a British battleship in December 1942. (AP Photo)

American soldiers, members of the Kachin Scouts sit down to a Christmas Day turkey dinner at jungle headquarters in Burma. The turkey, provided in cans, was dropped by low-flying planes. (AP Photo)

Miss Virginia Hammel of McLeod County, Minn., war worker in Washington, D.C., wades into the typical American Christmas dinner on Dec. 23, 1942. It includes roast turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, tomato and lettuce salad, peas, string beans, rolls and butter, coffee with cream and sugar and a mince pie. (AP Photo)

Miss Enid Nobes of Portsmouth, Hampshire in England, demonstrates the average British Christmas dinner, Dec. 23, 1942. It consists of a thin slice of meat such as lamb, boiled potatoes, brussels sprouts, tea, bread and a small dab of butter, with a small pudding for dessert. Even this menu will mean careful saving of ration coupons for several weeks before Christmas. (AP Photo)