The Dearne ALC

Remembrance Day

11th November 2014

Today we remember…..

...all those who have given their lives fighting for us, for our freedom and for our country

…all of those still in our armed services

…all of those who bear the injuries of war, both mental and physical

…all those who are affected by war – whoever they are…wherever they are

Today, we join the rest of the nation and remember

THE STORY OF THE POPPY

During the First World War (1914 – 1918) much of the fighting took place in Western Europe.

Previously beautiful countryside was blasted, bombed and fought over.

The landscape swiftly turned to fields of mud, where little or nothing could grow.

Bright red Flanders poppies grew in their thousands, flourishing even in the middle of the destruction.

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.

More than 65 million men from 30 countries fought in WWI. Nearly 10 million died.

Over 15 million civilians died and 20 million were wounded in WWI.

World War I was also known as the Great War, and the War to End All Wars

Millions of soldiers suffered “shell shock” due to the horrors of trench warfare.

Shell-shocked men often had uncontrollable diarrhoea, couldn’t sleep and stopped speaking.

While some soldiers recovered, others suffered for the rest of their lives

Officially a British soldier had to be 19 years old to serve overseas but many lied about their age. About 250,000 under-age boys served. The youngest was discovered to be just 12.

Average life expectancy in the trenches was about six weeks. Junior officers and stretcher bearers were some of the people most at risk.

As the guns finally fell silent at 11am, on November 11, 1918, Private George Edwin Ellison would go down in history as the last British solider to die in the First World War.

Having served four years on the Western Front the 40-year-old was killed at 9.30am, despite the armistice being signed at 5am.

In London, our capital city, a huge display of poppies has been created at The Tower of London.

The poppies are all ceramic and the final one will be added on 11 November.

888,246 poppies will fill the moat, each one representing a British or colonial death during the First World War.

“…at the going down of the sun…and in the morning……we will remember them”