Lest We Forget

We celebrate ANZAC Day today in Australia.   

Traditionally, sprigs of rosemary are worn on ANZAC Day.  The smell of rosemary is thought to improve the memory and today is a day of remembrance.  Rosemary grows wild on the Gallipoli peninsula where Australia and New Zealand Army Corps landed this day in 1915. 

For a more accurate account of history, this is what the Australian War Memorial Site has on The Anzac Day Tradition:

When war broke out in 1914 Australia had been a federated nation for only 13 years, and its government was eager to establish a reputation among the nations of the world. When Britain declared war in August 1914 Australia was automatically placed on the side of the Commonwealth. In 1915 Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula in order to open the Dardanelles to the allied navies. The ultimate objective was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, an ally of Germany.

The Australian and New Zealand forces landed on Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Ottoman Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated from the peninsula, with both sides having suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. More than 8,000 Australian soldiers had died in the campaign. Gallipoli had a profound impact on Australians at home, and 25 April soon became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who died in the war.

Another symbol of remembrance is the poppy.  For Australians, the poppy is traditionally worn on 11 November, Remembrance Day.  In 2018, 11 November will ward the 100th anniversary of the Armistice which ended the First World War (1914-1918). On the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, a minute of silence is observed and dedicated to the soldiers who died fighting to protect the nation.

During the First World War, red poppies were among the first flowers that grew in the battlefields of northern France and Belgium. Canadian doctor Lt. Col. John McCrae wrote a poem in the spring of 1915 entitled "In Flanders Fields" shortly after losing his young friend and former student Lt. Alexis Helmer of Ottawa (killed on 2 May).  Since then, the poppy has been adopted as a symbol of remembrance

London Eye brought me to the Victoria & Albert Museum last 2 April.  As we were running out of time, she asked me if there was any particular display I had wanted to see before we left.  I asked her to show me the poppies.  During the weekend, as she was showing me around, she had mentioned what had been done in front of the Tower of London in 2014.  The moat was filled with ceramic poppies to represent the number of lives that were lost during the war.  She said that the V&A Museum had purchased 16 poppies to commemorate the 16 V&A staff that had died during WWI. 

Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red

July to November 2014 

Sixteen Ceramic Poppies from

Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red

(Paul Cummins; Designed 2012; made 2013-2013)

These poppies formed part of a temporary installation at the Tower of London in 2014, marking 100 years since Britain entered the First World War.  Each of the 888,246 flowers comprising the commemoration represented a British or Commonwealth military life lost.  The ceramic artist Paul Cummins drew inspiration for the installation's title and concept from a poem that he discovered by an unknown soldier killed in Flanders.

The poppies were hand-made in Derby, Stoke-on-Trent and Warwickshire under Cummins' direction.  Thousands of volunteers 'planted' them progressively in the Tower's dry moat, in a scheme devised by the stage designer Tom Piper MBE.  Over five million people visited the installation, drawn by the dramatic sea of red, to reflect on the scale of lives lost.  Afterwards, all the poppies were sold and proceeds from their sale were given to Service charities.

Of the vast number who died in the War, 16 were V&A staff.  Their names are recorded in the Cromwell Road entrance on a memorial tablet by sculptor Eric Gill.  The Museum bought 16 poppies, every one subtly different, to honour the sacrifice of each individual.