WW1 Armistice Centenary 1918-2018
WORLD WAR 1 ARMISTICE CENTENARY
1918 – 2018
THANK YOU
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.
For the Fallen
Robert Laurence Binyon, by artist William Strang.
Poem by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), published in The Times newspaper on 21 September 1914.
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England’s foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.
Our Fallen Companions
It’s the 11th day of the 11th month and at 11.00am on this day in 1918 the First World War came to an end and the armistice was agreed. The date has been set aside to remember the dead and honour those who fell in the dreadful years of the war.
As well as the brave men who fought we should remember the animals were forced into battle to be terrified, horrifically injured and slaughtered in massive numbers. Horses and mules had no choice and were the biggest casualties. Dogs and pigeons were war victims also.
It was unspeakable horror and we should take a moment today to remember how humans used the animals to fight and kill one another. Will you light a candle for them on this day and say a prayer too, for they suffered and died for us without knowing anything about the conflict.
We Will Remember
Ypres
