{"id":17293,"date":"2015-11-08T12:21:46","date_gmt":"2015-11-08T20:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=17293"},"modified":"2015-11-08T12:21:46","modified_gmt":"2015-11-08T20:21:46","slug":"in-flanders-fields","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2015\/11\/08\/in-flanders-fields\/","title":{"rendered":"In Flanders Fields"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"flandersWild poppies grow on the verge of a Flanders field near Passchendaele as dawn breaks on the centenary of the Great War.  Getty<\/span><\/p>\n

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
\n\tBetween the crosses, row on row,
\n\tThat mark our place; and in the sky
\n\tThe larks, still bravely singing, fly
\n\tScarce heard amid the guns below.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We are the Dead. Short days ago
\n\tWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
\n\tLoved and were loved, and now we lie
\n\tIn Flanders fields.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
\n\tTo you from failing hands we throw
\n\tThe torch; be yours to hold it high.
\n\tIf ye break faith with us who die
\n\tWe shall not sleep, though poppies grow
\n\tIn Flanders fields.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Lieutenant-Colonel<\/span><\/a> <\/span>John McCrae<\/span><\/a>, Canadian physician<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"flanders<\/p>\n

The setting sun creates long shadows at Sanctuary Wood Military Cemetery in Ypres.  Getty<\/span><\/p>\n

\"flanders<\/p>\n

The morning sun falls on the fortified Advanced Dressing Station, near Essex Farm Cemetery in Ypres, where Canadian doctor Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae treated the wounded and is believed to have composed his famous poem 'In Flanders Fields' after burying his friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, on 3 May 1915.  Getty\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n

\"ypres<\/p>\n

A preserved WWI trench system is pictured in Sanctuary Wood in Ypres. Getty<\/span><\/p>\n

\"ypres<\/p>\n

Bomb craters scar the woodland floor in the preserved Sanctuary Wood.  Getty<\/span><\/p>\n

\"ypres\"A surviving tree, damaged in the Great War, is covered in tributes.  Getty<\/span><\/p>\n

Ypres was the centre of five battles between German and Allied forces from 1914 to 1918. The deadliest of these was the Third Battle of Ypres or the Battle of Passchendaele, between July and November 1917.<\/p>\n

Casualty numbers are disputed, but it is thought that around 325,000 Allied and 260,000 German troops lost their lives.<\/p>\n

\"19175 January 1917: Soldiers march past the ruins of St Martins Church and Cloth Hall in Ypres.  Getty<\/span><\/p>\n

\"19175 October 1917: Australian troops march towards the front line to relieve their comrades, who had won Broodseinde Ridge the previous day, during the Battle of Passchendaele.  Getty<\/span><\/p>\n

\"191711 November 1917: Soldiers pose for a photo near the ramparts at Ypres the day after British, Canadian, ANZAC, and French forces finally recaptured the Passchendaele Ridge east of Ypres. Getty<\/span><\/p>\n

\"191819 April 1918: Soldiers lie dead in the mud on a battlefield during the Lys Offensive, also known as the Fourth Battle of Ypres.  Getty<\/span><\/p>\n

With respect for those who fought & Died in Two World Wars<\/p>\n

For all the victims, and for the victims of all wars past & present<\/p>\n

Remembering the human cost of war, not the financial or political cost of warfare.<\/p>\n

 Remembering every animal not given a choice, each one a tragic victim<\/p>\n

                            of wars past and present                                <\/span><\/p>\n

Lest we forget<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A big thank you to Wendy Kelly, Coventry, UK, a Care2 member who sent me the pictures and captions<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wild poppies grow on the verge of a Flanders field near Passchendaele as dawn breaks on the centenary of the Great War.  Getty 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. […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-holiday","category-145-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17293\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}