British Legion introduces modern take on ‘In Flanders Fields’ for 2017 Poppy Appeal

The British Legion launches a new campaign to encourage people to Rethink Remembrance this Poppy Day. They have done this by re-creating John McCrae’s famous poem in seven locations the Legion aims to bring ‘In Flanders Fields’ into modern-day consciousness, they hope to encourage people not just to Rethink Remembrance  but also to consider the meaning of the poppy as a symbol both of Remembrance and hope for the Armed Forces community, past and present.

‘In Flanders Fields’ was written after poppies bloomed on the battle fields of the First World War, despite the death and destruction around them. It’s that life force growing in the most difficult of circumstances that connects the poppy with a message of hope.

The Poppy Appeal 2017 is encouraging the public to recognise that your poppy supports the Armed Forces community past and present says Claire Rowcliffe, Director of Fundraising

The poem lines are located at Royal Hospital Chelsea in London, on Dunkirk Beach, on the White Cliffs of Dover, at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, in Cardiff Bay, at Salford Quays in Manchester and outside the Sage in Gateshead.

The individual letters of the poem are made up of clusters of poppies, giving the impression the lines of the poem have grown from the ground, and when viewed from a height or at ground level will bring a new perspective to the famous poem and its meaning.

In Flanders Fields

By 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.
 

Links

http://www.britishlegion.org.uk

http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/poppy-appeal-2017/

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