Remembrance Day 2017, Lest We Forget…
Poem “In Flanders Fields” by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
This Remembrance Sunday – we remember and honour those who have sacrificed themselves to secure our freedom and those who continue to serve in our armed forces protecting our nation.
In the Spring of 1915, shortly after losing a friend in Ypres, a Canadian Doctor, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae was inspired by the sight of poppies growing in battle-scarred fields to write this now famous poem called ‘In Flanders Fields’. After the First World War, the poppy was adopted as a symbol of Remembrance.
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
- By Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, 1915
