by Jeremy Quinton
Home >> Alf, Deidrie and Poppy
As the autumn leaves fell from the trees in the parks across London, further afield the skies above Europe were turning darker in more ways than one. The Second World War was about to start.
Things were moving fast. War broke out. People got worried. Alf & Deidrie got married. Deidrie got pregnant. As baby came in…father went out. Destiny took Alf into the cockpit of a war plane. After flying across western Europe and dropping bombs on the good folk of Berlin, Alf returned. But he never went home. Events had taken him away. Specifically, a two-legged “event� with blonde hair and green eyes. Deidrie and her boys never saw much of Alf after that.
Flying over the rooftops of time…past the more recent wars of another era… and now we’re into the next century. Alf died earlier this year. A man who, in the eyes of many, fought “for his countryâ€?, was no more. At his small funeral were some of those who’d served in the same squadron during the war. Some of his family were there too.
In many countries where Christianity is a major religion, the dead are remembered in a number of special ways & days around the start of November.
On November 11th, in various countries where English is spoken (New Zealand, Canada, Britain, the USA & South Africa for example) and in various European countries too, it is a special day in the calendar, to remember or commemorate those who lost their lives in World War I and other wars, such as the one Alf fought in.
Around this date poppies are sold & worn by millions of people. The red poppy emblem was chosen because of the poppies that bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders (north western Europe) in World War I, their red colour an appropriate symbol for the bloodshed. White poppies are also worn, by those who want to emphasise their desire for peace, not war.
“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.â€?
In Flanders’ Fields John McCrae, 1915
_Author’s footnote : Information from various sources – predominantly “Britishâ€? – has been condensed into a couple of paragraphs. The writer is acutely aware that for this reason, for a better understanding of the day mentioned in the article, and how it’s celebrated in the countries mentioned, even how it’s referred to, the reader would need to consult other sources. _ _Wikipedia , for example, offers more info under Remembrance Day _ _ “World War One will soon to cease to be an event in living memory. Of the millions of men who fought for Britain, just 10 survive. Their average age is 106, and this year is seen as the last chance to make a record of what happened to them almost a century ago.â€? _
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A very emotive article and an impressive poem. My first thoght is that behind each of those dead, is a story which lasts in the future as a simple number or an anecdotal data: “He fought for his country”. My impression is: Dying for nothing, you loose your life and life continues apart. I also think that all these kind of symbolism, are made in good faith, but are unfortunately far from helping things to be different. Mentally, most of us are searching for a better world, but why does it seem that the world drives on its own? Even so, I prefer to think that at least within our limitations we have the opportunity to show our rejection with this kind of symbolism or commemoration. Or in a different way, isn´t it that its instituition is a way of turning it into something without effectiveness?
I desagree with war and I think people are more prone to peace.We lieve in a violent world, built by political accions. People are drived to wrongs ways in their kind of theirs lives. We know less that we would.Only we know the information that “the bigger” or “the power” wants to give, wants to show out.
We have bad drivers in our marvellous world.
It’s impossible for me to read your poll and I can’t answer it. The letter size is too little.
Best wishes.
If the letters are too small, click on ‘Ver’ and on ‘Tamaño del texto’, where you will be able to adjust the font size. I recommend a medium size.
Thanks Marian for the comments & thoughts…which struck me not only as deep but also wonderfully expressed:o).
You’ve made me think of a number of things…but above all I think you’ve “hit the nail on the head” when you say that “Remembrance Day” and other such days are (I’m struggling to find the word I want!) “created” in good faith…and exist as “optional” events that people can take part in, in their own way, if they wish.
Talking of wars…I’ve seen that the Spanish Civil War has been featured
more prominently in the national media here. Interesting info on that & on Spanish history in general can be found (in English of course!) at the two following hyperlinks :
Spanish Civil War
and
“Key events in Spanish history” :http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/992004.stm
P.S.
Were you suprised in any way to see that of almost forty people who took part in the poll question, less than twenty believed that humans are more prone to peace than to war?...(I expected more people to express an “optimistic” belief!)
My parents knew and lived the civil war. My father hasn’t wanted to watch anything in the TV about that in many years. It was enough when his change his face when we asked him about that. I think nobody won in a war if simple people, who lived in peace before a war, takes so much suffering and too much hungry during the war and the following years.
Is it possible that after all this years nobody invented the way (I’m sorry but I readed Einstein’s weekly before) to talk between us and to be more human?