At 11 am on 11 November 1918 the guns on the Western Front fell silent after more than four years of continuous warfare.
The tradition of wearing red poppies on Remembrance Day has its origins in John McCrae’s 1915 poem, In Flanders Fields, which describes the poppies growing between the crosses marking the graves of fallen soldiers.
In Flanders Fields by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae
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.
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