Remembrance Day

[FCP Bob 1,321]

In Flanders FieldsIn Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,That mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below.We are the dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved, and were loved, and now we lieIn Flanders fields.Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throwThe torch; be yours to hold it high.If ye break faith with us who dieWe shall not sleep, though poppies growIn Flanders fields.— Lt.-Col. John McCrae

[FCP Bob 1,321]

McCrae's "In Flanders Fields" remains to this day one of the most memorable war poems ever written. It is a lasting legacy of the terrible battle in the Ypres salient in the spring of 1915. Here is the story of the making of that poem: Although he had been a doctor for years and had served in the South African War, it was impossible to get used to the suffering, the screams, and the blood here, and Major John McCrae had seen and heard enough in his dressing station to last him a lifetime. As a surgeon attached to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade, Major McCrae, who had joined the McGill faculty in 1900 after graduating from the University of Toronto, had spent seventeen days treating injured men -- Canadians, British, Indians, French, and Germans -- in the Ypres salient. It had been an ordeal that he had hardly thought possible. McCrae later wrote of it: "I wish I could embody on paper some of the varied sensations of that seventeen days... Seventeen days of Hades! At the end of the first day if anyone had told us we had to spend seventeen days there, we would have folded our hands and said it could not have been done." One death particularly affected McCrae. A young friend and former student, Lieut. Alexis Helmer of Ottawa, had been killed by a shell burst on 2 May 1915. Lieutenant Helmer was buried later that day in the little cemetery outside McCrae's dressing station, and McCrae had performed the funeral ceremony in the absence of the chaplain. The next day, sitting on the back of an ambulance parked near the dressing station beside the Canal de l'Yser, just a few hundred yards north of Ypres, McCrae vented his anguish by composing a poem. The major was no stranger to writing, having authored several medical texts besides dabbling in poetry. In the nearby cemetery, McCrae could see the wild poppies that sprang up in the ditches in that part of Europe, and he spent twenty minutes of precious rest time scribbling fifteen lines of verse in a notebook. A young soldier watched him write it. Cyril Allinson, a twenty-two year old sergeant-major, was delivering mail that day when he spotted McCrae. The major looked up as Allinson approached, then went on writing while the sergeant-major stood there quietly. "His face was very tired but calm as we wrote," Allinson recalled. "He looked around from time to time, his eyes straying to Helmer's grave." When McCrae finished five minutes later, he took his mail from Allinson and, without saying a word, handed his pad to the young NCO. Allinson was moved by what he read: "The poem was exactly an exact description of the scene in front of us both. He used the word blow in that line because the poppies actually were being blown that morning by a gentle east wind. It never occurred to me at that time that it would ever be published. It seemed to me just an exact description of the scene." In fact, it was very nearly not published. Dissatisfied with it, McCrae tossed the poem away, but a fellow officer retrieved it and sent it to newspapers in England. The Spectator, in London, rejected it, but Punch published it on 8 December 1915

[FCP Bob 1,321]

http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm...eas/jasonbesseyThe Battle of Ypres 1915 by Jason BesseyThe battle of Ypres was a turning point in the First World War with the introduction of chemical warfare by the Germans; they used chlorine gas to suffocate the opposition, or force them out of trenches to higher, more vulnerable, ground.On April 22nd 1915, the 1st Canadian Division has just arrived at the front which was located just outside the city of Ypres, near Belgium. Here they achieved recognition for holding their ground against the new weapon of choice in modern warfare known as chlorine gas.From the beginning, the Germans had the advantage of holding high ground but the Canadians weren't alone in their battle, they had two British Divisions on their right and two French Armies on their left.That same first day, after a long fought artillery bombardment, the Germans fired 5700 cylinders of chlorine gas into the air. When released, the gas sank rather then diffusing in the air which became an advantage for the German soldiers. When the gas sank into the trenches, it forced the Canadians out and onto higher ground making the German's job of targeting them easier. During the gas attack, the allied French Army were forced to retreat leaving a four- mile gap in the allied line. Although the Germans were successful in causing the French to retire, they could not take full advantage of the gap left behind. They were also vulnerable to the thick chlorine gas and were not fully equipped to deal with it. The Canadians knew that the gap was a very big disadvantage, so they spent the whole night attempting to fill it. They attempted a counterattack on the Germans to get them out of Kitcheners Wood near St Julien. They were successful in clearing the woods, but had to retreat. The attack that occurred that night resulted in substantial casualties, but did reward them with some extra time to close the gap.On April 24th, the enemy struck again with a bombardment of the gas. A light breeze carried the gas into Canadian positions. The only protection the Canadians had were wet cloths (which never worked that well in keeping the gas from getting inhaled) so it caused them to retreat back a few hundred yards. They lay on their stomachs and waited for the gas to dissipate, while at the same time firing shrapnel to keep the Germans from taking their position. While the gas was very effective, it only resulted in 228 injured to the allied forces. However, the gas did have many long-term effects.The Canadians withdrew from the battle on May 3rd, where they were relieved by British forces. The number of casualties accounted for were 5975, and 1000 of these were termed fatal. Most of these men were killed either on the first day when they had to regain lost ground because of the gap made by the retreating French forces, or on the 24th when German forces used gas attacks on Canadians which forced them to retreat.After the battle of Ypres, Canada sat in a different position in the eyes of Belgium and France. The name Canada was a word symbolizing thankfulness and bravery due to the effort of the 1st division in the battle of Ypres.

[troyomac 0]

Lest we forget.

[Canadianpoker83 0]

Lest we forget.

[rcgs59 15]

Lest we forget.

[aucu 3]

Cheers to the lads that gave it all.

[thehidden 0]

Lest we forget.

[Mercury69 3]

Lest we forget.

Cheers to the lads that gave it all.

And to those still giving it in Afghanistan (and other less hostile places). 97 of our men and women have given their lives in Afghanistan since 2002In your memory

[outsider13 0]

Lest we forget.

[Jeepster80125 0]

[nutzbuster 7]

Great posts Bob.

[AcesOnFire 0]

This is how we did ithttp://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00fk...membrance_2008/I love my country sometimes...

[FCP Bob 1,321]

Bump

[rcgs59 15]

Good bump BobBoth in English Class and History class we always would Go over his poem. He summed up his story well back then, the thing is war still continues. thus this is still Sad. To all our brave soldiers past and present you serve us well, may god keep you save. You will never be forgotten.

[king_tanner 84]

Thanks vets for giving me a day off of work so I can drink, watch basketball, and play poker.But seriously if you know a vet or see one... just say thanks. Those guys and gals deserve it for going through everything they do.

[nutzbuster 7]

Great posts Bob.

[FCP Bob 1,321]

Bump

[r23y 2]

Thank you to everyone who work hard day in and day for are country.Thank you to all from past also