Today is Remembrance Day

Nov 09, 2008 News

Every second Sunday in November of every year, Guyanese turn out in their numbers to observe and remember the contributions of the fallen heroes in the two World Wars. Today is no different.

A real poppy flower

The Cenotaph, a monument erected in honour of the lost souls, will be a hive of activity, where the Guyana Defence Force will pay tribute. As is customary, there will be a road march with the various military and paramilitary organisations decked out in ceremonial gear.

There will also be the traditional wreath-laying ceremony, spearheaded by the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces as well as senior functionaries and members of the diplomatic corps, after which there will be a retreat at the Legionnaires Hall.

POPPY
Another mark of commemoration for the activity is the wearing of the symbolic poppy. But why the poppy?
It is documented that, back in 1915, during World War One, a doctor called John McCrea, who was working to help soldiers in France, wrote a poem in 1915 about the poppies growing on the graves of dead soldiers.
The beginning of the poem goes –

“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, 1915.

An American poet called Moina Michael read the poem and got the idea of using poppies to remember the dead, but also to help the living at the same time.

Moina bought real poppies and gave them out to friends. She also sold some poppies and gave the money to surviving needy ex-soldiers. The first official Poppy Day, organised by a charity called The Royal British Legion, was held in 1921.

The First World War finally ended after four long and bloody years of fighting, on November 11, 1918. The guns stopped at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

Millions of people were killed in the war, and millions more were injured. In the years since 1918, even more people have died in wars around the world, including, of course, World War Two.

At first, November 11 was known as Armistice Day because ‘armistice’ is the word used for an agreement between enemies to stop fighting.

These days it is more usually called Remembrance Day, or Poppy Day.