On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, WWI was formally ended with the German signing of the Armistice. We commemorate this day – formerly called Armistice Day – with services and ceremonies honoring the sacrifices made by many.
And, for two minutes, we are in silent reflection each November 11th.
Adorned to our clothing is the poppy—the symbol we use to show that we remember those who were killed in all the wars and peace keeping operations that Canada has been involved in.
And we are reminded of a poem that was written long ago:
As a Canadian surgeon attached to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade during WW1, Major John McCrae spent seventeen days treating injured men—Canadians, British, Indians, French, and Germans in the Ypres salient (the area around Ypres in Belgium).
One death particularly affected McCrae—that of his young friend and former student, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer of Ottawa…on May 2, 1915 a shell burst had killed him. Lieutenant Helmer was buried later that day in the little cemetery outside McCrae’s dressing station, and McCrae performed the funeral ceremony in the absence of the chaplain.
The next day McCrae vented his anguish by composing a poem.
It only took him twenty minutes to complete it.
In the nearby cemetery McCrae could see the wild poppies that sprang up in the ditches in that part of Europe, and that morning they were being blown by a gentle east wind…so he used the word blow to describe what was happening.
…
When I was a child, I stood in the field.
I saw all the crosses standing row upon row.
I’ll never forget.
Do you know the poem I’m referring to? (I’ll have it in my next Blog post.)
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
Read an excerpt now
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