When the men from side to side meet face to face what do they realize?

The two men realize that as individuals, they have no fight. They are simply two men with the same goal, to save a horse.

‘Doesn’t matter, Jerry. Not important, not any more. We could have settled all this peaceful like, Jerry – the the war I mean – and I’d be back in my valley and you’d be back in yours. Still, not your fault I don’t suppose. Nor mine, neither come to that.’

In the end, they toss a coin to see who will take Joey for treatment.... a far simpler answer than war. Ironically, the German soldier lets the Welshman win the toss. As you can see, war is between countries and politicians..... the people drawn into generally wish for nothing more than peace.

‘Yes, I think so. Somewhere it must be, but I do not know exactly where,’ the German said slowly. And then he dug deep in his pocket and produced a coin. ‘You choose the side you want, “head or tail”, I think you say. I will show the coin to everyone on both sides and everyone will know that whichever side wins the horse it is only by chance. Then no one loses any pride, yes? And everyone will be happy.’

The Welshman looked up admiringly and smiled. ‘All right then, you go ahead, Jerry, you show them the coin and then you toss and I’ll call.’

The German held the coin up in the sun and then turned a full slow circle before spinning it high and glinting into the air. As it fell to the ground the Welshman called out in a loud, resonant voice so that all the world could hear, ‘Heads!’

‘Well,’ said the German stooping to pick it up. ‘That’s the face of my Kaiser looking up at me out of the mud, and he does not look pleased with me. So I am afraid you have won. The horse is yours. Take good care of him, my friend,’ and he picked up the rope again and handed it to the Welshman. As he did so he held out his other hand in a gesture of friendship and reconciliation, a smile lighting his worn face. ‘In an hour, maybe, or two,’ he said. ‘We will be trying our best again each other to kill. God only knows why we do it, and I think he has maybe forgotten why. Goodbye Welshman. We have shown them, haven’t we? We have shown them that any problem can be solved between people if only they can trust each other. That is all it needs, no?’