TODAY IN KIMBERLEY’S HISTORY 9 NOVEMBER Savoy Hotel on Boshof Road destroyed in a fire, 1901 DID YOU KNOW THE RED POPPY OF REMEMBRANCE In the United Kingdom especially, and elsewhere in the Commonwealth and Europe, the wearing of an imitation red poppy flower approximately two weeks prior to and the period leading up to 11 November annually, has become a well-established tradition. So much so, that in the United Kingdom, if a person does not wear a red poppy, that person is considered unpatriotic. Colonel John Macrae, who before World War I, was a well-known Professor of Medicine at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, first described the Flanders Poppy as the ‘Flower of Remembrance’. He had previously served as a Gunner in the Anglo-Boer War, and at the outbreak of war in 1914 decided to join the fighting ranks. However, the military decided his talents could be used a lot better, so he landed in France as a Medical Officer with the 1st Canadian Army contingent. At the second battle of Ypres in 1915, when in charge of a first aid post, and during a lull in the battle, he wrote in pencil on a page torn from his despatch book, the following: 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. These verses were sent anonymously and published by Punch magazine under the title In Flanders Fields. In May 1918 Colonel Macrae was wounded and brought by stretcher to one of the larger hospitals on the French channel coast. On his third evening there he was wheeled to the balcony of his room overlooking the sea towards the white cliffs of Dover. His verses must have been on his mind, for he told the doctor attending him: Tell them this, If ye break faith with us who die, We shall not sleep. He died later that same night and was buried in a cemetery above Wimereux where the cliffs of Dover can be seen on a clear, sunny day. The war ended on 11 November 1918 at 11h00 and for many years Armistice Day was commemorated on that day, but in recent times, is held on the second Sunday in November and is now called Remembrance Day. An American woman, Miss Moina Michael, had read the poem and was greatly impressed by the last verse, the wearing of a poppy appearing to her to be the way in keeping faith. She wrote the reply to Colonel Macrae: Oh! You who sleep in Flanders’ fields, Sleep sweet – to rise anew; We caught the torch you threw, And holding high we kept The faith with those who died. We cherish too, the Poppy red That grows on fields where valour led. It seems to signal to the skies That blood of heroes never dies, But lends a luster to the red Of the flower that blooms above the dead In Flanders’ fields. And now the torch and poppy red Wear in honour of our dead. Fear not that ye have died for naught; We’ve learnt the lesson that ye taught In Flanders’ fields. On 9 November 1918, two days before Armistice, Miss Michael was presented with a small gift of money by some of the overseas secretaries of the YMCA for whom she worked, and whose conference was being held at her house. She told those at the conference about the two poems and that she was going to buy 25 poppies with the money. She did, and each secretary there bought a poppy. It is claimed, and probably rightly too, that this was the first ever group selling of red poppies. The Secretary from France, Madame Guerin, had a practical and very useful idea. She visited various parts of the world and suggested that artificial red poppies should be made and sold to help ex-servicemen and their families in need. As a result the first Poppy Day was held on 11 November 1921 in Great Britain, the poppies being obtained from a French organisation that used the profits to help children living in the war devastated regions. Since that first day, red poppies have come to stay and every November, prior to an including Remembrance Day, people all over the world wear their red poppy, remembering the sacrifice made by so many. Poppy Day is usually a day set aside each year for street collections in order to raise funds, and everyone who gave a donation was given a red poppy. There are several other stories relating to the red poppy, but the above is believed by most to be the truth.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 02:48:32 +0000
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