In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae, May 1915
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.
Inspiration for the Poem
In the second week of fighting during the Second Battle of Ypres a Canadian artillery officer, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, was killed on 2 May, 1915 by a German artillery shell. He was a friend of the Canadian military doctor Major John McCrae. John was asked to conduct the burial service owing to the chaplain being called away on duty elsewhere. It is believed that later that evening John began the draft for his famous poem 'In Flanders Fields'.
Inspiration for the poemRelated Books
Inspiration for The Poppy Umbrella
On 11 November 1995 Lt Col Graham Parker, OBE (pictured right with his daughter, Joanna) was in Ypres (Ieper). As he led the Poppy Parade to the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing, there was a heavy rainstorm and the crowds lining the route began putting up their umbrellas.
The Armistice Day service at the Menin Gate Memorial that year was commemorating the 70th anniversary of the battles of 1915 in the Ypres Salient. Graham's thoughts turned to images of poppies growing among the graves as portrayed in the 'In Flanders Fields' poem. The images of poppies on the old Flanders battlefields and the umbrellas on a wet November day in Ypres were Graham's inspiration for the Poppy Umbrella and how it could be used to raise funds for service men and women.
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