100 Years On

This year marks 100 years since the beginning of the First World War, and November in particular is a time of remembrance. Tomorrow, 11th November, people all across the United Kingdom will remember the men and women who gave their lives in the two World Wars, and conflicts since then.

The installation, Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, at the Tower of London, marks the first full day of Britain's involvement in the First World War. You can read more about this remarkable piece of art by following the link below.

http://poppies.hrp.org.uk/

 Poppies have become symbolic for remembrance after they grew all across battlefields in Flanders, with their red colour signifying the blood spilled. This idea can be seen in Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae's 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