…and in the morning, we will remember them.
During 2014-2018 a series of nationwide and international events are taking place to commemorate the centenary of World War One. The series of events is being led by the Imperial War Museum, which has a dedicated website entitled 1914.org.
The events will serve to remind us of those who sacrificed their lives so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have today as well as reminding us to be grateful for their sacrifice.
One of those events was the planting of 888,246 poppies in the moat around The Tower of London, one poppy for each fallen British and Commonwealth servicemen. As Remembrance day 2014 approached, a sea of poppies filled the moat as a visual reminder of the number of those who sacrificed their lives and the blood lost…
The poppy fields as described by the ‘War Poets’ are a poignant reminder to me of the lives that were lost in both World War One and World War Two and also the lives lost in more recent wars.
Poppies to me are a simile of the lives that were lost. They are vibrant, standing strong and bold yet fragile and defeated by a heavy downfall or a spring breeze. They remind me of the fragility of peace and freedom and how easily our freedom can be lost.
Reflection on World War One (and the more recent World War Two) serve as a reminder of what might have been if the outcome of those wars had been different…
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.
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.
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
1915
Very good post – and apt, of course. Have you visited Flanders Fields?
Thank you
I have visited Flanders and the battle fields but not for some time.