Armistace Tribute

Today, Armistace Day, marks the anniversary of the end of the first World War at 11 am in 1918. It is the day we remember our heroes, the servicemen and women who lost their lives in war and also those who are currently serving in armed forces.

The poppy we wear with sadness and pride on Armistace Day and Remembrance Sunday is the corn poppy or field poppy. It was one of the only plants that grew on the battlefields. It is an annual plant which flowers between about May and August, and its seeds are spread by the wind and can lie dormant in the ground for a long time. If the ground is disturbed from the early spring the seeds will germinate and the poppy flowers will grow.

This is what happened in parts of the front lines in Belgium and France. The poppy seeds began to germinate and grow during the warm weather when the ground was disturbed by the fighting in the spring and summer months of 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1918.

During the few weeks the plant blossomed, the battlefield was coloured blood red, not just from the red flower that grew in great numbers but also from the actual blood of the dead soldiers that lay scattered and untended to on the otherwise barren battlegrounds

"In Flanders Fields" is a poem by John McCrae, a Canadian soldier. He noticed the red flowers growing in the battlefield at the time of his friend's death.

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.

- John McCrae

Moina Michael, who was on duty at the YMCA Overseas War Secretaries' headquarters in New York pledged to "keep the faith" of those who died and vowed to always wear a red poppy of Flanders Fields as a sign of remembrance and campaigned for the poppy as a national memorial symbol.

Today marks the 90th anniversary of the Poppy Day Appeal. The first British Poppy Day appeal was launched on 11th November 1921 on the third anniversary of the Armistace, and the proceeds of the poppies which were made in France went to support ex-servicemen.

Remembrance Sunday is held on the second Sunday in November each year. This year it is on 13th of November.

Ready now at Sir Plants-Alot we have a selection of beautiful floral tributes for you to remember someone special or a loved one. Funeral flowers can also be made to order.

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