Canadian factoid 6 - and Canada's contribution to remembrance day

Picture: the war memorial, Peterborough, Ontario.

On remembrance day, the factoid today is about the Canadian $10 bill and poppies. My technological supervisor did sort me out a picture of the relevant monetary image, but sadly I couldnt get it on to the screen. However, you can get a view of all Canadian notes at http://www.vancouver.hm/money.html and in the meantime i shall work on my cut and paste techniques!

The reverse side of the Canadian $10 depicts images related to peacekeeping and remembrance, with poppy decoration and that famous line 'lest we forget' (in English and French); this is accompanied by a quotation from John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Fields".

Ever wondered why we wear poppies to mark the occasion?

Scarlet poppies (popaver rhoeas) grow naturally in conditions of disturbed earth throughout Western Europe. The destruction brought by the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th Century, transformed bare land into fields of blood red poppies, growing around the bodies of the fallen soldiers. In late 1914, the fields of Northern France and Flanders were once again ripped open as the First World War raged through Europe's heart. The significance of the poppy as a lasting memorial symbol to the fallen was realised by the Canadian surgeon McCrae in his poem. The poppy came to represent the immeasurable sacrifice made by his comrades and quickly became a lasting memorial to those who died in the First World War and later conflicts.

So, when you wear your poppy with pride this remembrance day, it was a Canadian that was responsible for creating the symbol. Here is the poem he wrote about Flanders fields...

In Flanders Fields

(Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army)

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.