Christmas preparations get under way, and the soldiers begin buying whatever Christmas presents are available at the local market. The selection means that the gifts for their loved ones back home, rather than the usual knitted mittens or boxes of chocolates, include such things as camel saddles, gold jewellery and other local specialities. But, as the saying goes, it's the thought that counts, and the presents are certainly bought and wrapped with love, care and homesickness.

Then the unthinkable happens. On 13 December, the Canadian CC-119 Boxcar transport aircraft carrying all the Christmas presents crashes near Pisa, Italy, on its way home. Fortunately, the entire Canadian crew survives, but all the Swedish soldiers' Christmas presents are lost.

The Christmas spirit is lifted somewhat, however, when the battalion receives visits from two prominent figures of the time a few days later. On 16 December, the well-known Swedish radio personality Sven "Uncle Sven" Jerring visits the battalion, and the following day, the then Secretary-General of the United Nations, Sweden's Dag Hammarskjöld, arrives.

Sven Jerring's recordings from the battalion, featuring interviews, personal greetings to loved ones back in Sweden and performances of Christmas carols, eventually become a complete radio programme, broadcast on Swedish Radio on 23 December 1958.

Perhaps the radio programme provided some consolation for those back home, despite the absence of Christmas presents? Perhaps no gold jewellery or camel saddle in the world could have made a finer Christmas gift than hearing the voices of their loved ones far away in Gaza? Could hearing a Christmas carol sung by someone you dearly miss be the finest Christmas present of all?

So, to all the loved ones back home, and to everyone who is serving or has served in Swedish peacekeeping missions:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, with greetings from the Swedish UN Battalion in Gaza, 1958!