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In Flanders Fields
Sunday, November 9th, 2008 10:52 amToday is Remembrance Sunday and shortly after I have finished this entry the annual ceremony will begin at the Cenotaph.
Between 1919 and 1945, the ceremony was held on Remembrance Day proper, 11am 11 November, the time and day of the signing of the Armistice in 1918. The day was specifically dedicated by King George V on 7 November 1919. After the Second World War the ceremony was moved to Remembrance Sunday, the Sunday nearest to 11 November and since the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II in 1995 it has become customary to hold services on both Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day.
In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae, May 1915
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.
Poppy found in field outside Foxton, S Cambs, June 2008
There are those who ignore Remembrance Day and Armistice Day because they see it as a glorification of war. That is to miss the point: Remembrance is about those who died in the service of their country. They were rarely glory hounds and many just wanted to be home with their families. Often they were fighting for their mates, their village and their families. By the time they died, in the Great War, few would have still been fueled primarily by continued feelings of patriotism. They were there and they were dying because they couldn't let their friends and family down.
We have the freedom to be dismissive because they gave up theirs and even if some believe that war can never be justified, that is an opinion to impress upon the politicians who send soldiers, sailors and airmen to fight, not the servicemen themselves.
Between 1919 and 1945, the ceremony was held on Remembrance Day proper, 11am 11 November, the time and day of the signing of the Armistice in 1918. The day was specifically dedicated by King George V on 7 November 1919. After the Second World War the ceremony was moved to Remembrance Sunday, the Sunday nearest to 11 November and since the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II in 1995 it has become customary to hold services on both Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day.
by John McCrae, May 1915
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.
Poppy found in field outside Foxton, S Cambs, June 2008
There are those who ignore Remembrance Day and Armistice Day because they see it as a glorification of war. That is to miss the point: Remembrance is about those who died in the service of their country. They were rarely glory hounds and many just wanted to be home with their families. Often they were fighting for their mates, their village and their families. By the time they died, in the Great War, few would have still been fueled primarily by continued feelings of patriotism. They were there and they were dying because they couldn't let their friends and family down.
We have the freedom to be dismissive because they gave up theirs and even if some believe that war can never be justified, that is an opinion to impress upon the politicians who send soldiers, sailors and airmen to fight, not the servicemen themselves.
