Lest we Forget

The dead of the First and Second World Wars, and the conflicts wherever British Commonwealth servicemen have fought,  including Iraq and Afghanistan,  will be honored on Remembrance Sunday, throughout the Commonwealth.

A feature of the ceremonies will be artificial poppies, which are sold by the million each year, individually and in wreathes, to raise funds to provide assistance to military personnel and their families.

Some, which have been sold at the British and Canadian Embassies have been sighted in Panama, but if you have been watching BBC TV in recent weeks you will have seen that every announcer and visiting personality has sported a poppy.
The idea of using poppies, (originally made by disabled ex-servicemen) originated with the British Legion, and was sparked by a poem written by a Canadian military doctor, Lt- Colonel lan McCrae during the Battle of Ypres in 1915.

LEST WE FORGET
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.
 

The photograph, comes from Myfanwy Young in Australia  and shows the Anzac Memorial in Sydney’s Hyde Park, complete with poppy in,reflected in the lake that stands in front. {jathumbnail off}