In Flanders Fields.

[WKDWZD]

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.


By John McCrae May 1915

Lest we forget.

[Wild Eyed Southern Boy]

“Only the dead have seen the end of war.” - Spanish-American philosopher and writer George Santayana

Sobering, isn't it?

NOTE: The Imperial War Museum, in London, has the quote engraved on its walls, attributed to Plato. The museum opened in 1936. Santayana’s version was published in 1922.

[AttackPlanR]

To think of the horrors of that war. I'm not sure that we Americans can even comprehend what that was like.

[BlandFood]

To think of the horrors of that war. I'm not sure that we Americans can even comprehend what that was like.

I imagine those that died in it did, as for anyone today comprehending what it was like would be equal for all with the exception of those that almost died from smoke inhalation or chemical fires. They might have a good idea of what poison gas was like or those that died in gas chambers.

[Wild Eyed Southern Boy]

To think of the horrors of that war. I'm not sure that we Americans can even comprehend what that was like.

America lost almost 117,000 with 206,000 wounded.

Compare that to the British Empire with 1.1 million killed/2 million wounded.

France 1.3 mil killed/4.2 mil wounded.
Russia 2.2 mil / 4.2 mil

Germany/ Austria-Hungary 3.1 mil /7.3 mil

Supposedly the Spanish Flu killed 1/3 of the 10,000,000 total.

Makes you wonder how anybody forgot that in 1939.

[ms maggie]

America lost almost 117,000 with 206,000 wounded.

Compare that to the British Empire with 1.1 million killed/2 million wounded.

France 1.3 mil killed/4.2 mil wounded.
Russia 2.2 mil / 4.2 mil

Germany/ Austria-Hungary 3.1 mil /7.3 mil

Supposedly the Spanish Flu killed 1/3 of the 10,000,000 total.

Makes you wonder how anybody forgot that in 1939.

I agree, we have been spoiled. Makes the reticence of the French more understandable as well as the willingness of the Russians to (try to!) bargain with the devil.

For some reason the influenza epidemic that took so many lives in the US right after WW I is rarely taught. My grandmother talked about it, horrible horrible stuff.

[Eastside Terp]

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.


By John McCrae May 1915

Lest we forget.

agreed.......

good of you to recognize Kristallnacht ........

[WKDWZD]

agreed.......

good of you to recognize Kristallnacht ........

I didn't, I recognised the Great War... but thank you for bumping the thread and also for giving me the opportunity to bump it again.

[Eastside Terp]

I didn't, I recognised the Great War... but thank you for bumping the thread and also for giving me the opportunity to bump it again.

yea, I should have known better ......

even on the anniversary that would have been out of character for you .....

[WKDWZD]

yea, I should have known better ......

even on the anniversary that would have been out of character for you ...

Help me here... The poem is about the fallen of the Great War of 1914-1918. Why do you equate Kristallnacht with with that war? Kristallnacht was 20 years later.

If you feel the need to start a thread on Kristallnacht, please do but don't tramp all over the souls of the fallen of the Great war in your attempt to have a poke at me.

[Eastside Terp]

Help me here... The poem is about the fallen of the Great War of 1914-1918. Why do you equate Kristallnacht with with that war? Kristallnacht was 20 years later.

If you feel the need to start a thread on Kristallnacht, please do but don't tramp all over the souls of the fallen of the Great war in your attempt to have a poke at me.

I recognize that poem was about WWI but couldn't figure out why you posted in on November 9th ........

Kaiser Wilhem died but that's all I saw on the timelines.......

not as familiar with WW1 as I probably should be ........

November 9th is the anniversary of Kristallnacht so I thought, wrongly, that maybe you had a change of heart .......

my original post was actually in agreement and more of a compliment than a poke ......

It doesn't have to be about WWI, it can be about any war and we all agree with the sentiments .......

[WKDWZD]

I recognize that poem was about WWI but couldn't figure out why you posted in on November 9th ........

Kaiser Wilhem died but that's all I saw on the timelines.......

not as familiar with WW1 as I probably should be ........

November 9th is the anniversary of Kristallnacht so I thought, wrongly, that maybe you had a change of heart .......

my original post was actually in agreement and more of a compliment than a poke ......

It doesn't have to be about WWI, it can be about any war and we all agree with the sentiments .......

Perhaps I should explain about, and you may be unaware of the Poppy Appeal that we have in this country. It is an annual fund raising campaign held by the Royal British Legion to help servicemen/women and their families. This year it was launched on 24th October, this gives a little over 2 weeks for people to buy their poppies and support the appeal before Remembrance or Armistice Day on the 11th of November. For us it is a period of remembrance, culminating with two minutes of silence at 11:00am on the 11th Day of the 11th Month.

It was not my intention to detract from any other event like Kristallnacht, and I admit that I wasn't aware of the anniverasry of that dreadful occurance.

You are however correct in that Remembrance Day here although originally was for the fallen in WW1 is now regarded as for all the fallen in all the wars and conflicts since WW1.

Peace.

[kandace]

WKDWZD:

WWI has often been overshadowed by WW2, but in many ways WWI was the more significant war in terms of how it shaped our contemporary world. Americans tend not to grasp its magnitude because we entered the war at a late date and didn't suffer the massive casualties that afflicted Europe. The dead of WWI are remembered in Europe while unfortunately forgotten in the US.

[Byng]

WKDWZD:

WWI has often been overshadowed by WW2, but in many ways WWI was the more significant war in terms of how it shaped our contemporary world. Americans tend not to grasp its magnitude because we entered the war at a late date and didn't suffer the massive casualties that afflicted Europe. The dead of WWI are remembered in Europe while unfortunately forgotten in the US.

One of my great Uncles never returned from Flanders and another did, I was never sure which one of them got the better deal! If I remember correctly, and I was quite young when the surviving uncle died, the numbers that died in one battle alone on both sides were in the hundreds of thousands in just 2 days and the gain in territory by the allied forces was something like 50 feet! The death toll numbers in that war were just staggering and wiped out a whole generation on both sides.

Thank you for posting this WKDWZD

[kandace]

One of my great Uncles never returned from Flanders and another did, I was never sure which one of them got the better deal! If I remember correctly, and I was quite young when the surviving uncle died, the numbers that died in one battle alone on both sides were in the hundreds of thousands in just 2 days and the gain in territory by the allied forces was something like 50 feet! The death toll numbers in that war were just staggering and wiped out a whole generation on both sides.

Thank you for posting this WKDWZD

One interesting fact about World War One that will surprise many Americans is that the British upper classes suffered massive causalties along with the working classes. Americans are conditioned by the examples of our Civil War and Vietnam to believe that the wealthy necessarily flee military service but such was not the case with British aristocrats and well to do gentry during WWI. The future leaders of Britiain were blown away on the battelfield and the surviors were scarred for life. The beginning of the end of Pax Britannica began in WWI.

[Byng]

One interesting fact about World War One that will surprise many Americans is that the British upper classes suffered massive causalties along with the working classes. Americans are conditioned by the examples of our Civil War and Vietnam to believe that the wealthy necessarily flee military service but such was not the case with British aristocrats and well to do gentry during WWI. The future leaders of Britiain were blown away on the battelfield and the surviors were scarred for life. The beginning of the end of Pax Britannica began in WWI.

That is very perceptive and totally true kandace. Not many, even in UK, actually pick up on that.

[kandace]

That is very perceptive and totally true kandace. Not many, even in UK, actually pick up on that.

So true. One of the interesting consequences of America's post Civil War new money super wealthy (and even the "old money") coming into contact with British aristocrats in the late 19th century was that the Brits looked down on the American upper classes for not "doing their duty" during the Civil War. It just killed Teddy Roosevelt that his father didn't fight in the Civil War. Teddy's mortification and shame was emblematic of a generation.

[WKDWZD]

WKDWZD:

WWI has often been overshadowed by WW2, but in many ways WWI was the more significant war in terms of how it shaped our contemporary world. Americans tend not to grasp its magnitude because we entered the war at a late date and didn't suffer the massive casualties that afflicted Europe. The dead of WWI are remembered in Europe while unfortunately forgotten in the US.

The trouble with the Great War (WW1) is that the average person just cannot begin to grasp the magnitude of it, it is almost impossible to comprehend the level of mans inhumanity to man, the blatant disregard of the value of life. It was called "the war to end wars", only it didn't.

I have made the Great War something of a personal study and I struggle with the futility and wastefulness of it, sometimes it is more comfortable to just switch off and not to think about it for a while. It is not surprising that many are uninformed about it in this country so it is understandable that Americans generally, who didn't lose a generation, have little knowledge of the magnitude of it all.