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 Poppy by breughel
In the nature, however, "the papaver rhoeas" is an annual plant which grows in the fields where it constitutes a weed, at the edge of roads or in waste ground.
Poppies grow easily from seed, they are known for self-sowing and easily populate the soil to the detriment of the farmers who don't want them in the corn fields even if they are decorative.
That poppies developed so widely on the battle fields of North France and Flanders is due to the fact that the ground containing lime was overturned by the explosions of shells. The poppy was the first plant to grow again on these farm grounds tortured by the war. For the soldiers the poppies were vivid red from having been nurtured in ground drenched with the blood of their comrades.
The poppy is not specific of Flanders battlefields, it grows naturally elsewhere and it is the object of floral cultures on other continents. The inconvenience of poppies as ornamental flower is that they fade very quickly after being cut and loose their petals.
This together with its symbolism explains the large development of the artificial poppy manufacture for the remembrances of the Great War.
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 Poppies at Menin Gate
Memorial. by breughel
In Flanders’ Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
…
He died in the last year of the war and never new the impact his poem caused.
An American woman, Moina Michael started making hand made cloth poppies to wear in remembrance of the war on Armistice Day (eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month).
Making replicas of the original Flanders' poppy and selling them in favour of the veterans spread in some of the allied countries immediately after the Armistice.
Armistice Day came to be known as “Poppy Day” in many countries such as the UK, Canada, Australia, New-Zealand and other Commonwealth nations and in the USA.
The poppy has become a nationally known and recognized symbol of sacrifice and is worn to honour the men and women who served and died for their country in all wars.
Actually in Belgium on Armistice Day artificial poppies are less usual. Here people prefer to bring natural flowers to the veteran cemeteries and monuments of WW I. Every town or village has a monument to the victims of the two WW.
Around the town of Liège you will find on these monuments the names of many civilians, from teenagers to elderly, shoot by the invaders. This killing of civilians in 1914 explains why so many Belgians in 1940 did flee to France but this is another sad story.
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 Coquelicots "poppies"
artificiels. by breughel
Cette fleur symbole a pris son origine dans le poème écrit par le Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae à Ypres en 1915 à la vue des coquelicots qui avaient envahi le champ de bataille.
Ce poème débute par
"IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row, …"
McCrae qui était chirurgien affecté à une brigade d'artillerie canadienne écrivit ce poème à son poste de secours après la mort d'un ami. John McCrae mourut de ses blessures en mai 1918.
La tradition du coquelicot artificiel débuta lorsqu'une américaine Moina Michael se mit à faire fabriquer à la main des "poppies" en tissu pour être portées le jour de l'Armistice.
La tradition de porter un coquelicot en tissu en souvenir des morts de 1914-1918 se répandit particulièrement en Grande Bretagne, les pays du Commonwealth ayant participé à la grande Guerre (Australie, Nouvelle-Zélande et autres), le Canada et les USA.
Le bénéfice de la vente de coquelicots artificiels était destiné aux vétérans de la guerre. Le jour de l'armistice ou Remembrance Day devint ainsi le “Poppy Day”.
La manufacture de coquelicots artificiels est toujours active. En Grande Bretagne l'oeuvre de charité "the Royal British Legion" est particulièrement active en matière de "poppies".
En Belgique lors du 11 Novembre les nombreux monuments aux morts, les "pelouses d'honneur" des cimetières sont plutôt fleuris au moyen de fleurs naturelles.
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 Coquelicots - Klaproosjes by breughel
Dans la nature, cependant, "papaver rhoeas" est une plante annuelle qui pousse dans les champs où il constitue une mauvaise herbe, au bord des routes ou dans les terrains vagues en situation chaude. Le coquelicot est une plante qui pousse dans les moissons et il donne toute sa valeur décorative lorsqu'il fleurit en masse parmi les épis de céréales, mais pour l'agriculteur c'est une "mauvaise herbe".
En fait le coquelicot s'est développé en masse sur les champs de bataille des Flandres parce que le sol limoneux constamment retourné par l'explosion des obus était favorable à cette plante colonisatrice de ces sols arrachés à l'agriculture par la guerre. Le coquelicot était la première plante à repousser sur ces sols martyrisés par la guerre. Sa couleur rouge sang en fit le symbole des morts qu'il recouvrait.
Le coquelicot n'est en rien spécifique des champs de bataille des Flandres, il pousse naturellement ailleurs et il fait l'objet de cultures florales sur d'autres continents. L'inconvénient des coquelicots comme fleur décorative est qu'elles se fanent très rapidement après leur coupe. D'où la naissance d'une quasi industrie du coquelicot artificiel qui est celui présent lors des commémorations de la Grande Guerre.
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If you head to Ieper in the spring, you may see some of the poppies in the fields of Flanders that were immortalized in the poem In Flanders Fields by Canadian military physician John McCrae. The red poppy, which bloomed across the battlefields of Flanders in WW I, became the symbol of Remembrance Day (also known as Armistice Day) observed on November 11th, the day WWI ended in 1918, to commemorate the sacrifice of veterans and civilians in WW I, WW II and other wars.
The VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) in the US also sells poppies but on Memorial Day observed on the last Monday in May instead of Veterans Day on November 11th, a tradition that dates back to 1922. Leave a Comment
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As we were driving through Belgium, we were glad to have a map that had both the French and the Flemish words for the cities we were heading for as many times the names were not like Ghent/Gent or Brugge/Bruges where it was obvious that they were the same place.
Ypres/Ieper is one of those that's not so obvious, I knew this city as Ypres, the French spelling, Ieper is the Flemish spelling. We butchered the pronunciation which Frommer's says is "ee-pruh" which actually doesn't sound like the way people there were pronouncing it which was more like "ee-pers" but it's definitely not "ya-pree".
And I won't even get started on my pondering about why a proper name would be different in different languages, isn't a name a name? Leave a Comment
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Cat haters must love the Kattenfestival which has it's origins in the 12th century when they would throw live cats from the Cloth Hall belfry, hope they hadn't cashed in on all of their 9 lives yet! Cats were thought to be evil spirits, I do too sometimes when they are hacking up hairballs on my carpet, and this ritual continued until the shockingly late date of 1817.
PETA will be happy to know that they now only throw stuffed cats from the belfry when they hold this festival every three years in May. The last one was in May 2006 so you'll have to wait until 2009 if you want to attend this festival. Leave a Comment
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 The Last Post by Luchonda
I quote "To the armees of the British Empire who stood here from 1914 till 1918 and to those of their dead who have no known grave"
The ceremony of the last post is a tradition and tribute to about half a million soldiers who died in the great war in the fields of Flanders (died or missing). A tradition since 1928, only stopped - of course - during the second world war Leave a Comment
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Going down South from the Netherlands as I did, brings you from a protestant to a catholic area. On the streets you just are confronted with more statues and more. Leave a Comment
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Battlefield daytours and the Fancy Fair in March.
The Fancy Fair is in March a lot of space next to the cloth hall is available - The cat parade in the month of May due to the almost better weather conditions. Leave a Comment
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