Lest We Forget.

On Friday, November 11th we will observe Remembrance Day across the country. This is a very special day in Canada. We remember and honour our fallen soldiers, the men and women who were killed in war fighting for Canada.

In almost every town and city across the country there is a war memorial, a statue or monument with the names of the men and women from that town or city who were killed in battle. Across Canada there will be ceremonies at the war memorials, and people will lay wreaths in remembrance. When I was a student, we always attended a Remembrance Day ceremony at school.

Remembrance Day is always on November 11th. This is to remember the official end of World War I. The armistice (the agreement to end the war) was signed with Germany on November 11th, 1918, and the war officially ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. We observe a moment of silence at 11:00am.

 

The poppy is the Flower of Remembrance in Canada. During WWI, Canadian soliders fought mostly in France and Belgium. In an area of Beligum called Flanders, poppies (a type of flower) grew wild in the fields. The poppy was chosen as a symbol of remembrance because of a well-known poem written by a Canadian soldier:

In Flanders’ Fields

written by John McCrae in 1915

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.

Today, people across Canada wear lapel poppies (pins that can be attached to the front of a jacket). People donate money to the Royal Canadian Legion (the national veterans’ group), and in return they are given a lapel poppy to wear.

The fourth verse of the poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon is often recited at Remembrance Day ceremonies, and it is sometimes written on the tombstones of fallen soldiers. It is now known as the Ode of Remembrance:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.