At 11am on the 11th November 1918 the guns of the Western front fell silent after four years of continuous warfare. In the devastation of the trenches only one small delicate flower continued to grow, the Red Poppy. Its seeds some of which may have lain dormant in the soil for years, thrived amongst so much destruction.
Three years before the guns fell silent Lt Col. Doctor John McCrae, a Canadian, described this in his poem 'In Flanders Fields'.
In 1918 after the guns fell silent an American lady Moina Michael so touched by John McCrae's words wrote her own poem in response 'We Shall Keep Faith' and promised to wear a poppy in memory of the dead, and so the tradition of wearing a poppy on Remembrance day was born.
In 1921 Frenchwoman Madame Guerin persuaded Earl Haig that the Red Poppy of Flanders should be adopted by the Royal British Legion as a symbol of Remembrance after selling poppies to raise money for the devastated areas of France.
Today one can see around the villages of North Hampshire, memorials to our war dead. On Remembrance Sunday and Armistice day poppies are laid in commemoration.
IN FLANDERS FIELDS
In 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.
Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields
Sleep sweet-to rise anew
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high we keep the faith
With all who died
And now the torch and poppy red
We wear in honour of our dead
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4 comments:
Simon,
One of the first poems we had to memorize - so lovely to see the red poppies growing. I've only seen the plastic backed felt ones that the Veterans sell every November. Wonder if I could find some seed to put in our neighbour Ted's garden - at 86 he still puts on his uniform every November 11th.
Hi Barbara, good to talk to you again. How lovely you knew that poem, written indeed by your countryman. I hope Ted keeps putting on his uniform for many years to come. Best wishes, Simon.
Thank you. Simon, for mentioning Poppy Lady Madame Guérin in your piece. She is so often forgotten and she shouldn't be ... considering the 'Inter-Allied Poppy Day' was her idea. She went to the British Legion with samples of her poppies and persuaded them, like you say, to adopt her idea - just like the U.S.A. and Canada had done. She sent her representative Colonel Moffat to Australia and New Zealand to act on her behalf. The British Legion was quite poor so she paid for the poppy order with her own money and was repaid, once the Poppy Day donations were received. Thank you again.
The poem would be recited by the Poppy Lady from France, Madame Guérin ... whenever she lectured for the widows and children of the devastated regions of France and the veterans. For me, she put the poppy on my lapel: https://poppyladymadameguerin.wordpress.com/
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