Monday, 11 November 2024

Why poppies?

 

Why poppies?

In the Flanders Fields of western Belgium in the First World War, constant artillery bombardment churned and ploughed the ground. The severe disruption brought dormant poppy seeds to the surface, enabling them to germinate in the light. In mass cemeteries and wherever the ground had been broached, they grew and bloomed in profusion.

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.

Allusions to war and poppies in Flanders date back to 1693 and the Battle of Landen (Battle of Neerwinden) which was then part of the Spanish Netherlands. In that battle, during the Nine Years’ War (1688-1697) William III was defeated by the French. One combatant wrote, ‘During many months after the ground was strewn with skulls and bones of horses and men . . . The next summer the    soil, fertilised by 20,000 corpses, broke forth into millions of scarlet poppies.’

During the Great War, soldiers saw poppies everywhere, a bright splash of colour in an horrendous setting. Many of them picked the flowers, pressing them to enclose in letters home to their loved ones. There are fragile examples held in the Imperial War Museum. One was sent in a wooden cigar box with a handwritten note that said, ‘Gathered by Jack on the battlefield June 16th, 1917.’

Among those millions who saw the fields of poppies was a Canadian military doctor, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. The day after seeing his friend die in May 1915, he wrote ‘In Flanders Fields.’ He did not survive the war, but his poem has been memorised and recited through the generations.

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.

The poppy only became a potent symbol of Remembrance a few years after the end of the war, thanks to the efforts of an American, Moina Belle Michael and a Frenchwoman, Anna Guérin. Moina Michael bought artificial flowers for people to wear on their lapels for Remembrance. Anna Guérin was known as ‘the poppy lady from France.’ She organised a group of French war widows who made silk flowers to sell to raise money for charity. By 1920, the American Legion and other American veterans’ associations adopted the scarlet poppy for Remembrance. They were followed a year later by the Royal British Legion, headed by Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig.

 The first official British Remembrance Day was on 11th November, 1921, though acts of remembrance had been held across the country in preceding years, including the burial of the Unknown Warrior and the dedication of the Cenotaph in London.

I think this final verse could be adapted for current conditions, not as a call to arms in physical battle, but as a cry to use our common sense. There’s little enough of that in some quarters at present.                              

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.

Hold the faith!

46 comments:

  1. I didn't know the churning up of the soil was what allowed those first poppies to grow.

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    1. That's why we see them growing in wheat fields.

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  2. I can remember when I was a child that many people wore poppies as a kind of tribute on this day. My mother grew them in her garden. They were beautiful and that is what I remember them for.

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    1. The Royal British Legion annual Poppy Appeal collects money for charities to support armed forces survivors and their families. As long as wars are fought, the poppies will be sold.

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  3. That was both educational and sad reading, but thanks. Lest We Forget.

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  4. Great origin story. The poetry is great too

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  5. Even here in NZ, although our remembrance day is 25 April (landing at Gallipoli) we too use poppies as the symbol of wartime sacrifice and remembrance to honour those who never came home along with those who did return, forever changed by their experiences.

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    1. Anzac Day dawn parades must be quite something to behold. It is quite fitting that it is a public holiday.

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  6. Your post actually brought me to tears this morning. So very sad.

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  7. Hi Janice - the history of the poppy reference is fascinating ... I always think of poppies and the toils of war - so appalling. In peace - Hilary

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    1. Such bright cheerful flowers, a stark contrast to the horrors of war.

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  8. I like the way you linked McCrae's last verse to modern times. The way things feel at the moment - perhaps we are heading for World War III - though I am not sure who the enemy might be.

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    1. There have been many times when we have stood quaking on the brink of a third world war, to pull away at the last moment. We are in one of those phases now.

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  9. Red poppies have retained their powerful symbolism still, even 100+ years later. I hope our children and grandchildren understand their meaning.

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    1. They will understand if they are taught. I hope they will continue to be taught.

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  10. It's sad, but the poppy fields no longer exist. Somehow they all disappeared and you have to look for them with a magnifying glass. There were a few on Dario's way to school that always surprised me. It's such a beautiful flower. Today the wreaths are made from artificial poppies.

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    1. Time has moved on and villages and towns have been rebuilt. The memories remain and are passed on. Modern conflicts continue and fresh memories are made.

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  11. The poppy is a poignant symbol of remembrance when you know the meaning behind it.

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  12. I remember back in the '50s and the 60s that my mother had artificial ones that she always spend on us before we went to church on this Sunday before then when we went to Mass on Veterans Day.

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    1. People wear poppies from the beginning of November until Remembrance Day. The original practice was to remove them on 11th November and place them on a headstone or memorial.

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  13. I did not know the background of why the poppies grew like that then and there, and the various people that inspired the poppy symbol from various countries is quite appropriate (for want of a better word at this moment).

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  14. I knew the poem but didn't know the origin of the poppy associated with Armistice Day.

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    1. Poppy sellers can be seen everywhere in the days leading up to Armistice Day.

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  15. Thank you for sharing this. History should always be remembered. Very poignant post.

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  16. Yes, we should always remember our history and try to learn from it.

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  17. When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?

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    1. When will people learn to listen to each other, to compromise?

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  18. It's so pathetic that after all these years, there are still wars. You'd think ... wouldn't you? Talk about civilisation...

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    1. There have always been wars and there always will be, much as most of us long for peace. Man is an acquisitive and brutal beast.

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  19. Thank you for this post.

    I always think the volunteer poppy sellers are amazing.
    Wear your poppy with pride ... so important.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Often the poppy sellers are old soldiers with interesting stories to tell.

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  20. We were in Belgium a few years ago but didn't get near Flanders. This was so beautiful. It's sad to think of the horrible sacrifices that had to be asked of people in the name of war.

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    1. Wars continue to sacrifice the youth of the countries in conflict. It won't ever end.

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  21. I (an American) have always loved this poem and now I know why the poppies.What a great story.

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  22. It makes it more meaningful to know the reason for something, anything.

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  23. I never knew anything about poppies. Very interesting information and probably why the war veterans give out an artificial poppy for a donation when they are out collecting.

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    1. The money donated for the poppies is used to support various organisations supporting the disabled survivors and the families of those lost.

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  24. Although we visit the Flanders Fields area on a yearly basis, I never knew where the poppy symbol came from. The poem, like so many of the First World War poems, is very poignant indeed. xxx

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  25. The First World War poets wrote extraordinary works and pointed out that it wasn't a glorious undertaking, but a muddy, bloody, chaotic mess.

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