Remembrance Day

This was written a few weeks back.  Took me awhile to feel okay to publish it.


Today is the 11th of November which is Remembrance Day.  It is also one year to the day that my father died and it was also my parent's wedding anniversary.  Funny, I can't remember whether they married in 1948 or 1949.

According to wikipedia, Remembrance Day  is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth of Nations member states since the end of the First World War to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty.   Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of hostilities of World War I on that date in 1918. Hostilities formally ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month", in accordance with the armistice signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. ("At the 11th hour" refers to the passing of the 11th hour, or 11:00 am.) The First World War officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919.  The Treaty of Versailles was a shaming, punitive document and the effects of which largely contributed to the growth of fascism in Germany and the second world war.  Nevertheless, we mark the 11th of the 11th of the 11th as a day in which the fallen are remembered in war, not the insanity behind the war.


The red remembrance poppy has become a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem In Flanders Fields. These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red colour became a symbol for the blood spilled in the war.

In Flanders Fields

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 among 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.

- John McRae

In the Shrine of Remembrance Melbourne you can find the Stone of Remembrance with the biblical  inscription GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN.

At 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month, the sunlight shines on the word 'Love' on the stone.  I think that's really pretty special.

 RIP Dad, I can't believe it's really one year since you've departed this life.  I see bits of you everywhere, from the crystal duck wine decantor present you gave me, to the books you wrote on your life, and the cards you sent to us unfailingly every birthday.