25 April, 2012

The Story Behind the Remembrance Poppy

Happy ANZAC Day everyone!  Did you manage to crawl out of bed and attend the dawn parade this morning?  I didn't go to the dawn one, but did go to the parade at Hobsonville which started at 10am.  This was much more appealing to me, because I'm not really a morning person - well, not if I can help it.  


Significance of the Poppy ~ The association of the Flanders poppy with battlefield deaths as a natural symbol of resurrection and remembrance dates back many years.  Flanders and Picardy in Northern France saw some of the bloodiest fighting of the First World War.  There was complete devastation.  Buildings, roads, trees and natural life disintegrated into seas of mud - graves for the dead, while still more men fought on.  Only one living thing bloomed - the poppy.  Flowering each spring, it brought new life, hope and colour to those still fighting.  The poppies are a vivid reminder of the sacrifice - the blood lost in war. 




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. 




1 comment:

  1. Great post Deb. Happy ANZAC Day, Air Force. xoxo

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for taking the time to leave me a comment. I really enjoy reading them. Regards, Debbie