Armistice Day 2010
This beautiful poem was written
by a Canadian Medical Officer
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
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.
John McCrae was a Canadian medical officer who,
in May 1915, had conducted the funeral service
of a friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer,
who died in the Second Battle of Ypres (Ieper).
Distressed at the death and suffering around him,
McCrae scribbled the verse in his notebook.
In a cemetery nearby, red poppies blew gently
in the breeze – a symbol of regeneration and
growth in a landscape of blood and destruction.
in May 1915, had conducted the funeral service
of a friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer,
who died in the Second Battle of Ypres (Ieper).
Distressed at the death and suffering around him,
McCrae scribbled the verse in his notebook.
In a cemetery nearby, red poppies blew gently
in the breeze – a symbol of regeneration and
growth in a landscape of blood and destruction.
Below is the memorial to the
New Zealand soldiers
who gave their lives
in France and Belgium in the 1st World War
in their fight
for our freedom.
We shall honour and remember them.
I'm sorry I'm a day late with this post..
Wishing you all a happy weekend
thank you dear friends
for your comments and
"be kind to one another".
Shane
