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A section for all you budding etymologists where each week the origin of a word or phrase is investigated.
the burial, John began the draft for his now famous
This week it is..... Remembrance Day Poppy
This week we bring you something a little different, not poem “In Flanders Fields”.
the etymology of a word or phrase but the origins of why
poppies are sold and worn as a sign of remembering the In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae, May 1915
fallen soldiers in war. (see page 1)
Scarlet corn poppies (popaver rhoeas) grow naturally
in conditions of disturbed earth throughout Western In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Europe. The destruction brought by the Napoleonic Between the crosses, row on row,
wars of the early 19th Century transformed bare land That mark our place; and in the sky
into fields of blood red poppies, growing around the The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
bodies of the fallen soldiers.
In late 1914, the fields of Northern France and Flanders
were once again ripped open as World War One raged We are the Dead. Short days ago
through Europe’s heart. Once the conflict was over We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
the poppy was one of the only plants to grow on the Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
otherwise barren battlefields.
The significance of the poppy as a lasting memorial
symbol to the fallen was realised by the Canadian Take up our quarrel with the foe:
surgeon John McCrae in his poem In Flanders Fields (see To you from failing hands we throw
story and poem below). The poppy came to represent The torch; be yours to hold it high.
the immeasurable sacrifice made by his comrades and If ye break faith with us who die
quickly became a lasting memorial to those who died We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
in World War One and later conflicts. It was adopted by In Flanders fields.
The Royal British Legion as the symbol for their Poppy
Appeal, in aid of those serving in the British Armed This year marks one hundred years since the start of the
First World War in which an estimated 15 million soldiers
Forces, after its formation in 1921.
During the early days of the Second Battle of Ypres were killed from all nations. For anyone who will be
a young Canadian artillery officer, Lieutenant Alexis visiting London before the end of November, there is a
Helmer, was killed on 2nd May, 1915 in the gun positions moving tribute at the Tower Of London to the 888,246
near Ypres. An exploding German artillery shell landed British soldiers who died, with a ceramic poppy for each
near him. He was serving in the same Canadian artillery of them placed in the dry moat surrounding the Tower.
unit as a friend of his, the Canadian military doctor and Whatever the rights and wrongs of that war and all that
have followed, these were fathers and sons, and in more
artillery commander Major John McCrae.
As the brigade doctor, John McCrae was asked to modern times mothers and daughters, who fought and
conduct the burial service for Alexis because the died to protect us, and should be remembered. See page
chaplain had been called away somewhere else on duty 5 to find out where you can buy your poppies this year
that evening. It is believed that later that evening, after to do just that.
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