Remembrance and the First World War centenaries, (Day One) Why do we still need to remember events from so long ago?

Remembrance and the First World War This is a poppy. Aren’t poppies beautiful? Usually good things like flowers make us feel happy. We wear the poppy as a symbol to help us to remember something. Even at a terrible time flowers, can help us feel hope. People have been wearing a poppy every November for 100 years – isn’t it good that you are helping to keep alive a belief in hope after so many years?

Remembrance and the First World War Between 1914–1918 Britain was involved with a terrible war. It is called the First World War, or the Great War. During that war, a Canadian doctor called John McCrae noticed the poppies growing on the battlefields. He wrote a poem about the poppies. This poem is now very famous. It is called 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 amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw the sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders’ fields. John McCrae

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw 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. This is a lovely poem but it is also a poem with a message. It talks about passing on the torch – do you know what that might mean? It means that he wants us to remember all those who died. John McCrae wanted the horror that he had seen to be remembered so that the sacrifice of those who had fought would not be forgotten.

Remembrance and the First World War The War to End all Wars? After the war was over, some people just wanted to forget about it because millions of people had been killed or hurt. But so many people had been involved over the four years of the war, others thought the war should be remembered. They hoped that if people remembered how bad the war has been, it might not happen again- that it would be the War to End All Wars.

Remembrance and the First World War Because the poppy had grown on the battlefields of Western Europe where so many men had fought and inspired by John McRae’s poem, the poppy was adopted as the symbol of Remembrance. A symbol helps us to remember. The poppy was a symbol of hope as it was the only thing still to grow on the battlefields amongst so much fighting. It was a little flower of hope that showed that things could survive even when the whole world seemed to be in a terrible mess.

Remembrance and the First World War We are now going to watch a short film about how the poppy became a symbol of the First World War. The Poppy Story http://www.poppyscotland.org.uk/learning/public/our-films This slide is optional

Remembrance and the First World War People have been wearing a poppy every November for 100 years – isn’t it good that you are helping to keep alive a belief in hope after so many years? So when we wear the poppy we are thinking about the terrible wars and those who were hurt or killed, but we are also wearing a poppy because it gave people a feeling of hope. We are reminding those around us that the poppy was chosen so that we would learn about those men and women from the past and those today who go and serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Merchant Navy.

Remembrance and the First World War This week we will learn about the importance of Remembrance. We will learn about what people remember when they wear the poppy and how important it is to remember the wars and the people who fought in them. We will help keep their memory and that message going from generation to generation.

Remembrance and the First World War Optional Suggested Poem or prayer, Lament of the Fallen by S J Robinson or The Digger by Dundee poet Hamish Mann, who was killed at the Battle of Arras in April 1917, five days after his 21st birthday. The Digger, by Hamish Mann   He was digging, digging, digging with his little pick and spade, And when the Dawn was rising it was trenches that he made; But when the day was over and the sun was sinking red, – He was digging little Homes of Rest for comrades who were dead …. Hamish Mann 1896-1917. Born in Broughty Ferry in April 1896. Mann was commissioned in July 1915, and drafted to France in August 1916, joining the 8th Battalion Black Watch near Bethune. He survived several battles of the Somme, but was wounded while leading his platoon during the advance at Arras in April 1917, and died on the 10th, five days after his 21st birthday. LAMENT OF THE FALLEN "TYNECOT" by S J Robinson We don't want your pity We don't want your love We don't want no sympathy That is not enough We just want your memory So we did not die in vain, So what we lost was worth it So none must suffer again We don't want no pity We've had that enough We want you to learn from us So we can rest above.