In Flanders Fields : John McCrae
Historical Geocache
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.
The name of John McCrae (1872-1918) may seem out of place in the
distinguished company of World War I poets, but he is remembered for what is
probably the single best-known and popular poem from the war, "In Flanders
Fields." He was a Canadian physician and fought on the Western Front in 1914,
but was then transferred to the medical corps and assigned to a hospital in
France. He died of pneumonia while on active duty in 1918. His volume of poetry,
In Flanders Fields and Other Poems, was published in 1919.
His poem "In Flanders Fields" , remains to this day one of the most memorable war poems ever
written. It is a lasting legacy of the terrible battle in the Ypres salient in
the spring of 1915.
The most asked question is: why poppies?
Wild poppies flower when other plants in their direct neighbourhood are dead.
Their seeds can lie on the ground for years and years, but only when there are
no more competing flowers or shrubs in the vicinity (for instance when someone
firmly roots up the ground), these seeds will sprout.
There was enough rooted up soil on the battlefield of the Western Front; in fact
the whole front consisted of churned up soil. So in May 1915, when McCrae wrote
his poem, around him bloodred poppies blossomed like no one had ever seen before.
But in this poem the poppy plays one more role. The poppy is known as a
symbol of sleep. The last line We shall not sleep, though poppies grow / In
Flanders fields might point to this fact. Some kinds of poppies can be used to
derive opium from, from which morphine can be made. Morphine is one of the
strongest painkillers and was often used to put a wounded soldier to sleep.
Sometimes medical doctors used it in a higher dose to put the incurable wounded
out of their misery.
Cover from "L'illustration" magazine 24
April 1915
Private Valentine Joe
Strudwick
Many units passed through Boesinghe in 1916, including the first wartime
volunteers, men from Kitchener's Army, in the form of 14th (Light) Division.
Among them were many young soldiers, including Private Valentine Joe Strudwick
of the Rifle Brigade, who was killed in January 1916, aged 15. He was among the
youngest soldiers to die in the war, and is buried in Essex Farm Cemetery
Questions
X = How many "Rifleman" of the Rifle Brigade rest in the same row as
Valentine Joe Strudwick ?
Y = How many doors of the dugout can be locked ?
Z&W = the number of the division on the monument of the canal bank ?
Where to seek ?
North 50 52.(W/3)(Z*2)(10-X)
East 002 52.(W/3)Y(W/3)
TIP : If you want a nice bikeride
combine it with my "In Flanders Fields : Gas"