Have you seen many people wearing a poppy on T.V. or on the island this week. Poppies are red flowers which are worn to show others that you are remembering those who died for their country.
Well November is a month when we remember those who died in the wars fighting for our countries. The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month marks the signing of the Armistice on 11th November 1918 to signal the end of World War One. At 11a.m. on the 11 November the guns of the Western Front fell silent after more than 4 years of continuous warfare. This day became known as Remembrance Day after the end of WW2 and is now a day fro remembering all those who have been killed in the two World Wars and all other conflicts. Remembrance Sunday is the second Sunday in November which is usually the Sunday nearest to Remembrance Day and special services are held at War memorials and Churches. The Last Post is usually played on a bugle to introduce the two minutes silence. The first two minute silence was held on 11 November 1919, when King George V asked the public to observe a silence at 11am. This was one year after the end of World War 1.
He made the request so "the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead".
A poem called For the Fallen is often read aloud at the services, the most famous phrase being
They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
You can look up the rest of this poem it is called ‘For the Fallen’ by Laurence Binyon (1869 – 1943)
Remembrance day is also known as Poppy Sunday because it is traditional to wear an artificial poppy. They are sold by the Royal British Legion.
But why a poppy?
The reason poppies are used is because they are the flowers which grew on the battle fields after the World War 1 ended.
Flanders is the name of the whole western part of Belgium. It saw some of the most concentrated and bloodiest fighting of the first world war. There was complete devastation, buildings roads trees and natural life simply disappeared. Where once there were homes and farms there was now a sea of mud – a grave for the dead where men still lived and fought. Only one other living thing survived. The poppy flowering each year with the coming of the warm weather brought life hope colour and reassurance to those still fighting.
Poppies only flower in rooted up soil. Their seed can lay in the ground for years without germinating and only grow after the soil has been disturbed.
John McCrae, a doctor serving with the Canadian Armed Forces was so deeply moved by what he saw in Northern France that in 1915 in his pocket notebook, he wrote a poem “In Flounders Field”. The poppy became a popular symbol for soldiers who died in the war., In 1918 Moira Michael an American wrote a poem in reply ‘We Shall Keep The Faith’, in which she promised to wear a poppy ‘in honour of our dead’. This began the tradition of wearing a poppy in remembrance. Poppies are also used to raise money for all the old soldiers who are still alive.
The first actual poppy day was held in Britain on 11th November in 1921 and was a national success and raised much money for the Royal British Legion, a charity dedicated to helping those veterans who have fought in the wars.
