The Royal British Legion has recreated the words of one of the most iconic Canadian poems to emerge from the carnage of World War One in poppies across locations in England, Wales and France.
It’s part of the Legion’s drive to collect funds through its annual Poppy Appeal to help veterans of the armed forces.
The poem lines are located at Royal Hospital Chelsea in London, on Dunkirk Beach, on the White Cliffs of Dover, at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, in Cardiff Bay, at Salford Quays in Manchester and outside the Sage in Gateshead, according to a press release by the Royal British Legion.
In Flanders Fields was written by Canadian surgeon Lt.-Col. John McCrae after the horrifically bloody second battle of Ypres in Belgium, in 1915.
McCrae penned the first draft of his poem following the death of one of his best friends, 22-year-old Lt. Alexis Helmer, who was killed along with another young officer Lt. Owen Hague when an artillery shell exploded near them.
In Flanders Fields is often recited around the Remembrance Day ceremonies of November 11th.
Video courtesy of the Royal British Legion
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