remembrance

poppies - 17 x 9.5 acrylic on paper - Susan Black

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 Field.

In Flanders Field - Colonel John McCrea

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month attained a special significance in the post-war years. The moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front became universally associated with the remembrance of those who had died in the war. This first modern world conflict had brought about the mobilisation of over 70 million people and left between 9 and 13 million dead, perhaps as many as one-third of them with no known grave. The allied nations chose this day and time for the commemoration of their war dead.

It's Remembrance Day and though the temperature is incredibly warm for this time of year +16 the weather is nasty (natch). High winds & driving rain but thankfully apparently there is an indoor contingency plan for the village ceremony. 2 minutes of silence today at the 11th hour.