"At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918, representatives of Germany and the Entente signed the Armistice that put an end to World War I, the deadliest conflict in world history up to that moment.
Death and destruction everywhere |
The four years of The Great War-as it was called then- saw unprecedented levels of destruction and violence, thanks to trench warfare and to the introduction of modern weaponry such as machine guns, tanks and chemical weapons. By the time this war ended, 9 million soldiers had been killed and 21 million were wounded. The world was never going to be the same!!!!!
Chemical weapons started to be used in World War I |
To commemorate that date and remember the members of the armed forces who died in that war, the Commonwealth countries started to observe Remembrance Day, as early as November 1919, only one year after the Armistice had been signed.
World War I devastated large areas of Europe |
Remembrance Day is also called Poppy Day since the red remembrance poppy has become a familiar emblem of this day due to the poem "In Flanders Fields". Poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red colour being a symbol of the blood spilled in the war.
Poppies blossom across Flanders fields |
"In Flanders Fields" was written by the Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae in May 1915 after assisting to the funeral of friend and fellow soldier Alexis Helmer. It is one of the most popular and most quoted poems from the war.
This poem is the origin of Poppy Day |
WAR POETS
This was not the only case in which poetry was intensely and dramatically connected to World War I. For the first time, an important number of English poets were soldiers, writing about their experiences of war. A number of them died on the battlefield, most famously Rupert Brooke, Edward Thomas, Isaac Rosenberg or Wilfred Owen. Others survived but were deeply influenced by their experiences, which were reflected in their poetry.
Europe is full of World War I cemeteries |
To end with, we want to leave here a poem by Wilfred Owen, "Anthem For The Doomed Youth". We think it is the best possible way to show the horror, the cruelty and the brutality of war.
And as Commonwealth citizens like to say every November 11, on Remembrance Day: "We Shall Not Forget You".
Don´t miss the marvellous song "Remembrance Day" by Mark Knopfler: "We will remember them, we will remember them"
"Remembrance day" by Mark Knopfler
How nice to read something about Remembrance Day!! I hope our students read it before November 11th.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I am glad we don't celebrate this day in Spain. It means we didn't take part in The Great War.
I like the video you've chosen for Knopfler's song because it is "so British..."
Thanks again for all your posts. We do appreciate them!!
I am going to watch TV this weekend just in case I can see a Poppy!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteToday the students of 2nd ESO A (IES Pérez Galdós) have learnt about Poppy's Day thanks to your wonderful blog. Greetings from the amazing Canaries
ReplyDeleteAna
Thanks Ana. It is always a pleasure having you as one of our readers. Thanks again.
DeleteHello, this morning my class have visited this blog and we liked so much, I hate wars. We learnt so much about Poppy's Day!!!
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear that you have learnt!!!! Thanks for your commet
DeleteI like your blog. Please, Stop all the wars :(
ReplyDeleteGreetings from IES Pérez Galdós
Greetings form Bembibre
DeleteHello! Today in the class we saw the story of Poppy's day. I think that it is sad .
ReplyDeleteYou are very brave.
from Las Palmas, Jose.
Yes, the story is very sad. We agree with you
DeleteI like this blog. In my class we have a Poppy's draws!!!
ReplyDeleteIt would be very nice to see a phot of your class. Thanks for your commet.
DeleteHello! My teacher Ana Fernández showed us the story of Poppy's Day. I think that the story is sad. It is the first time that I read about it. Bye.
ReplyDeleteYes, we hope we will stop wars in the future
DeleteHi! Today in the english classroom we remembered the Poppy's day. We spoke about them and we saw this blog. Congratulations is a great blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot
DeleteThe video of poppy day is so good
ReplyDeleteYes, we like it too
DeleteI dont like wars, and i like the popies day to remember all the soldiers than die
ReplyDeletein this war.i feel blue when i think in all this people.
You look very sensitive and sensible when you say you don't like wars!!!
DeleteI hate war. We draw poppys in the heart of persons...
ReplyDeleteI like that
DeletePablo Gordillo Gordillo 2ª ESO (A) I.E.S Perez Galdos, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
ReplyDelete- I like the military world bad this is very touching, I love this blog.
Yes, it is very touching
DeleteIts amazing the amount of people who died in the First World War. Thanks for this blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment
DeleteThank you for your comment
DeleteI like this topic is very interesting and in my class we drew poppies
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment
DeleteI am sad, because those 9 million soldiers that had been killed and 21 million that were wounded.
ReplyDeleteI hope that the people realize this error and they don´t do more.
I learned a lot more with this text. Thank you.
A very interesting comment. Good job!!!
DeleteI like Popi's Day but I hate war.
ReplyDeleteThese people did not deserve to have died because of wars. I´m wear a poppy to remember.
ReplyDeleteI learned about this day because my teacher Ana Fernández Gómez loves this day because is a conmemorate to a millions of people who gave their lives for their countries. This is a very beatiful day. xxoo
ReplyDeletejuan