Armistice Day
In 1918, on the eleventh month, eleventh day, the eleventh hour,
after four years of one of the worse wars,
the world rejoiced and celebrated the armistice.
This was suppose to be the "war to end all wars", when it was over.
In Canada and Australia it is called Rememberance,
in the USA it is Veterans' Day.
Many countries honour their veterans on November 11th.
It is not a day to celebrate war, but a day to remember the ultimate sacrifice
made by others so that we may have freedom.
Britain started making artificial poppies
that it might offer opportunities for the disabled
employment by making poppies, wreaths and other items related to poppies.
The Royal British Legion poppy factory was established and the very first Poppy Day was held November 11, 1921,
and is an annual event in Britain.
In Flanders Fields
by Colonel John McCrae
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
People continue to pay tribute to the poet of
"In Flanders Fields" by visiting McCrae House,
a limestone cottage in Guelph, Ontario where he was born.
The house has been preserved as a museum
and a memorial cenotaph with a garden of remembrance.
The symbolic poppy and John McCrae's poems
are linked with the voices of those who have died
in war and continue to be heard each Remembrance Day.
Because of the poem's popularity,
the poppy was adopted as the Flower of Remembrance
for those that died in the war from
Canada, Britain, France, the United States, and other Commonwealth countries.
Each year Veterans Affairs Canada commissions
the design of a poster to commemorate Veterans' Week.
Used with Permission
Collage Photos from clockwise top left:
Private James Wyman, 1st Battalion, PPCLI, taking part in Exercise Charlie Horse II - Korea 1952. (Photo taken by W.H. Olsen)
HMCS New Waterford. (National Archives of Canada)
First World War (1914 - 1918)
A wounded Canadian who took part in the capture of Hill 70 leaving casualty clearing station - August 1917. (National Archives of Canada)
Aircrew walking towards Handley Page 'Halifax' aircraft of No. 6 Bomber Group, R.C.A.F., in Yorkshire, 27 October 1944
Consult Veterans Affairs Canada's Web site regularly for news and information on Veterans' Week activities .
Links around the world.
Rememberance Day in Canada
Veterans of Foreign Wars - USA
The Royal British Legion
Australian War Memorial
In Flanders Fields Museum - Belgium
I Remember
I don't remember two World War's
This was before my time
Yet history tells us scores and scores
Lives lost, so I'm here to remind.
They gave up their future
It was no adventure
Some paid the ultimate price
It was the sacrifice.
One day to remember the bold
The day is freezing cold
Takes about, in minutes, thirty
Remember, they were months, cold and dirty.
So our freedom can abide
And standing by our side
The ghosts of man made war
Loving and Praying, no more.
Lyn 2002©
For Country
Globes for You
Dolls for You
Cards for You
The Armistice
Adoptions from Friends
Poetry
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