*In Flanders Fields

The 8th December 1915 edition of the English magazine Punch published for the first time the moving poem In Flanders Fields written by Canadian doctor, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. The poem was written by McCrae the day after he witnessed the death of his friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer. This poem symbolises the sacrifices of all who fought in the Great War.

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.

To find out more about the soldier, doctor and poet John McCrae click here.

Photo: Essex Farm Casualty Clearing Station, 2006 [Munro Collection]

*****

The Families and Friends of the First AIF thanks the Australian, UK and French governments for affording Australian and British soldiers – presently buried in mass graves at Pheasant Wood – dignified individual reburials in a new CWGC cemetery at Fromelles, and applauds Minister Snowdon and his British counterpart, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence and Minister for Veterans, Kevan Jones MP, for their joint decision to DNA test the remains at exhumation and use every reasonable method to attempt identification of each soldier.