By Robyn Muir, Writer
This Remembrance Day celebrates 100 years since the end of World War One. We pay our respects to those who fought for our country and those who passed away.
We consider poppies as a symbol of the war because of the poem ‘In Flanders Fields’.
‘Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.’
Poem by John McCrae
Flanders field was one of the most significant battle grounds in WW1. John McCrae wrote the poem and fought in World War 1; he was a Lieutenant Colonel and was also a Canadian poet, physician, author and artist. McCrae’s inspiration for the poem came in Spring 1915 after losing a friend in the Battle of Ypres and was inspired by the sight of poppies growing in battle-scarred fields to write the now-famous poem ‘In Flanders Fields’.
The poem’s opening lines, about poppies, refer to the many poppies that were the first flowers to grow in the churned-up earth of soldiers’ graves in Flanders, Belgium. After the First World War the poppy was adopted as a symbol of the war and remembrance. The poppies we wear today have been worn since 1921 to remember military personnel who have died at war.
When you buy a poppy, your donation goes to the Royal British Legion who provide emotional support to veterans of the armed forces and their families. The Legion fund Recovery Centers around the country to help people badly injured in war to regain their health, the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, the National Memorial Arboretum, Remembrance tours, rehabilitation courses, career advice for people who have left the forces and also promote remembrance. The charity does much more, including funding research into blast injury studies, providing military personnel with holidays at Legion owned seaside centers around the UK, specialist dementia support, funding theatre recovery projects and also working with partner charities in pop in centers. Last year the Royal British Legion raised almost £31 million.
This Remembrance Day celebrates 100 years since the end of World War One. We pay our respects to those who fought for our country and those who passed away.
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