Blowing in the Wind.....

“Where have all the flowers gone”…. And “Blowin’in the Wind”. Both are songs that are evocative for me of the First World War and the poppies blowing in Flanders Fields. Today all around New Zealand Armistice Day is being commemorated. Two minutes silence was observed at services at War Memorials on the 11th hour of the 11th day.
I went hunting for red poppies during my walk this morning. I could find only one brave poppy dancing in the long grass as it was being blown in the strong nor-west wind.
Whenever I see these red poppies growing in the wild I am reminded of that famous war-time poem “In Flander’s Fields”…..
During the early days of the Second Battle of Ypres a young Canadian artillery officer, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, was killed on 2nd May, 1915 in the gun positions near Ypres. An exploding German artillery shell landed near him. He was serving in the same Canadian artillery unit as a friend of his, the Canadian military doctor and artillery commander Major John McCrae.
As the brigade doctor, John McCrae was asked to conduct the burial service for Alexis because the chaplain had been called away somewhere else on duty that evening. It is believed that later that evening, after the burial, John began the draft for his now famous poem “In Flanders Fields”.

“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.”

Lest we forget……