Archive
June 2005 - 'Poppy Appeal'
01/06/05
John McCrae, 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.
Poppies have become inextricably linked with Remembrance Day events in November but at this time of year these glorious red flowers create wonderful scenes near the Ribble estuary. Fields are transformed from characterless agricultural land using one of the cheeriest shades in nature's palate. The familiar scarlet blooms climb through the crops to add spots of colour to fields and hedgerows and in some places those spots combine to create a bright red tide.
The First World War guns fell silent at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 and the following year that date was chosen to commemorate the dead. It was known then as Armistice day but today the events, which are organised by the Royal British Legion, are more often called Remembrance Day or, occasionally, Poppy Day.
Poppies were a poignant symbol for remembrance for many reasons. They were the only flowers to grow easily on the battlefields after World War One. They are very delicate flowers too, which only live for a short time rather like the young men killed in battle. Soldiers would say that the poppies were vivid red because they had been nurtured in ground drenched with the blood of their comrades.