Do you know the poem In Flanders Fields the Poppies Grow by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae? Well, we spent yesterday touring THAT Flanders. Among the twelve WWI sites we visited was the medical Dressing station where McCrae worked when he wrote the poem in 1915.
Here is a simplified version of the German/Belgian conflict. In 1914 Germany wanted to acquire France. Germany asked the Belgian King if they could March through Belgium. The Belgians said no, but the Germans came anyway. They thought they could easily conquer Belgium—they could not. The Allied Forces (which included Canada and Newfoundland) supported Belgium. The fighting was hard and neither side was prepared for the winter of 1914/1915. Then it got worse. On April 22, 1915, the Germans introduced lethal chemical weapons (chlorine gas) against French and Canadian forces. We visited the Memorial to 2000 Canadian Soldiers who lost their lives during the first gas attacks. Here is where it gets personal and real for Ray. Ray’s grandfather Charles Leonard Homewood (Leonard) joined the Allied forces in 1915. He was assigned to the 75th battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Ray wishes he could ask his grandfather about his time here, but he does know that his battalion was stationed in this area in 1917 and that he was exposed to toxic gases. Although he survived, Ray remembers that afterwards, his grandfather could not bear to be around the smell of a lit match. It must have triggered bad memories. Wars are never really over. The farmers in this area still find so many shells, shrapnel, and grenades in their fields that they have a name for it—The Iron Harvest. Still, during harvest each morning, the DOVO bomb specialists receive an extensive list of call-outs. These possibly live items can be extremely dangerous. We saw a grenade just sitting along the road waiting to be picked up. One of the sites we visited was Hill 60. It is also a stark reminder of the war. The Allied forces planted 24 mines in tunnels under the hill. The crater the explosion created on April 17th, 2017 is still visible today. Only 19 of the 24 mines exploded. In 1995 lightning hit a field nearby and activated one of the five mines. Fortunately, there was no loss of human life (one cow died), but windows were shattered for kilometres around the explosion. There are still mines out there. This is another fear that the people of Belgium live with every day. 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. ...Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae You are Always in my Prayers Love Mom. Note: for more on the Iron Harvest follow this link https://theworld.org/stories/2023/08/04/iron-harvest-belgian-team-unearths-unexploded-ammunition-wwi
20 Comments
Mrs. Brennan
4/29/2024 05:29:24 am
This is amazing. It must have been so moving to visit these sites. Our class is very familiar with In Flanders Field by John McCrae. We were responsible for our school's Remembrance Day assembly this year, and of course, the famous poem by McCrae is always included. Is the poem well known by the Belgian people?
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Diane
4/29/2024 03:49:40 pm
Yes, I believe the poem is well known here. There is a plaque with the poem done in McCrae’s original handwriting on the site.
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GVE
4/29/2024 09:49:38 am
Do they still use the mines?
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Diane
4/29/2024 03:50:15 pm
Most of the tunnels are collapsed.
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HLOE
4/29/2024 09:52:44 am
Is that place abandon?
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Diane
4/29/2024 03:50:53 pm
The bunker is abandoned
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Tyler
4/29/2024 10:26:12 am
This is that feeling... war is fascinating but so much for the brain to handle... and it's difficult to imagine what it must have been like for Ray's grandfather or anyone else.
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Diane
4/29/2024 03:53:34 pm
It was supposed to be the start of poppy season but they are late this year!
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NPW A
4/29/2024 10:28:07 am
What time of year could you see the poppies?
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Diane
4/29/2024 03:52:32 pm
It was supposed to be the start of poppy season but they are late this year.
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Npdw F
4/29/2024 10:31:55 am
Was there a feeling at the place of remose?
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Diane
4/29/2024 03:56:42 pm
Our guide, of course, was not around during WWI. The feeling we did get from him is “why do we keep letting these things happen?”
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NPW Group C
4/29/2024 10:32:47 am
How many different bunkers are there? Did you only the visit one?
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Diane
4/29/2024 03:58:47 pm
This was the only Commonwealth bunker on hill 60.. hill 60 was occupied by the Germans for most of WWI.
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Npw D
4/29/2024 10:33:33 am
How often do farmers find explosives?
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Diane
4/29/2024 03:59:26 pm
Every year!
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NPW E
4/29/2024 10:34:39 am
Why is it called flanders field?
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Diane
4/29/2024 04:00:59 pm
The area is Flanders Belgium.
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Jle
4/30/2024 06:51:46 am
Did you find cl laidlaw in the grave sight
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Ray
4/30/2024 08:46:26 am
No We did not, the cemeteries we huge and we had only a little time to walk through them. I found myself stopping at each gravestone with a maple leaf on it marking the grave of a Canadian soldier.
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AuthorRay & Diane Homewood |