Lest we forget

In Flanders Fields
John McCrae

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

Ninety years ago today the signing of the armistice marked the end of the four most bloody years in recent history.

Our family were privileged to live close to this area for a short while - now the fields and hillsides show little of the horror and carnage as nature has reclaimed the battlefields into its modern green and pleasant land again.

My father has always told us that as a country we lost the cream of our timber, the cream of our horses and the cream of our men in those four short years.

Today, in London, the last remaining combatants from that terrible war paid their own tributes to their fallen comrades. Amazingly these three gentlemen, one each from the airforce, navy and army have lived to see this ninetieth anniversary. So many of their pals have not

May we and our children always remember and appreciate this ultimate sacrifice made by so many for our freedom.