The giving of Christmas trees has also often been associated with the end of hostilities . After the signing of the Armistice in 1918 the city of Manchester sent a tree , and £ 500 to buy chocolate and cakes , for the children of the much-bombarded town of Lille in northern France . In some cases the trees represent special commemorative gifts , such as in Trafalgar Square in London , where the City of Oslo , Norway presents a tree to the people of London as a token of appreciation for the British support of Norwegian resistance during the Second World War ; in Boston , where the tree is a gift from the province of Nova Scotia , in thanks for rapid deployment of supplies and rescuers to the 1917 ammunition ship explosion that leveled the city of Halifax ; and in Newcastle upon Tyne , where the main civic Christmas tree is an annual gift from the city of Bergen , in thanks for the part played by soldiers from Newcastle in liberating Bergen from Nazi occupation . Norway also annually gifts a Christmas tree to Washington , D.C. as a symbol of friendship between Norway and the US and as an expression of gratitude from Norway for the help received from the US during World War II
ammunition ship explosion
Halifax Explosion
Christmas tree