The Remembrance Day
Early in the First World War, soldiers were quick to no7ce that blankets of red poppies the first signs of life to appear on devastated ba>lefields of Western front. Burying a close friend and comrade who had been killed on may second 1915, a Canadian doctor, lieutenant-colonel John McCrae no7ced how the bright flowers were pushing through the newly dug graves. Patched in the back of the field ambulance, he contemplated the scene and in a crea7ve outburst of just 20 minutes painted one of the most famous poems of all 7me:
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, s<ll bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below…
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McCrae didn’t like his poem at first, he crumpled paper was wri>en on threw it away. But his fellow soldiers admired it and encouraged him to submit it for publica7on, having been rejected by The Spectator magazine, it was first published by Punch magazine on December eight 1915. The poem inspired the use of silk poppies as a symbol of remembrance champion by two women an American academic Moina Michael and Anna Guérin from France, they encourage the newly-formed Bri7sh Legion to buy nine millions silk poppies for what would become the First poppy appeal in 1921. This raised today’s equivalent of 30 millions pounds with welfare veterans and the care of their families. 100 years later the poppy appeal s7ll raises funds for this purpose, the poppy remains a symbol of remembrance and hope and In Flanders fields is one of the best-loved well-known poems in English language. McRae himself died of pneumonia towards the end of the war, his body remains in France but his poem lives on.Remembrance Day is also known as Poppy Day, and in America it is called Veteran's day. It was first observed in 1919, however un7l 1945 it was called Armis7ce Day. Tradi7onally there is two minutes of silence at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month because that was the 7me (in Britain) when the armis7ce became effec7ve in 1918.
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Today, in the UK Remembrance Sunday is also observed on the Sunday nearest to November 11th. So, in the United Kingdom, two minutes’ silence is observed on November 11 itself, and on the second Sunday of November. Remembrance Sunday, ceremonies are held at War Memorials, all over the UK and over the years it has become a day to commemorate not just the sacrifice of servicemen and women but the suffering of civilians in 7mes of war.Remembrance Sunday is commemorated by church services around the UK and a parade of ex-service personnel in London’s Whitehall. Wreaths of poppies are placed on war memorials from the Cenotaph, a war memorial in Whitehall, to the 7niest war memorials in villages all over Britain. Small wooden crosses are placed in Gardens of Remembrance as private acts of remembering individual losses and suffering and people pin poppies to their coat or jacket.
History states that it was the poem 'In Flanders Fields' wri>en in 1915 by Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian Medical Officer, that captured the imagina7on of the Bri7sh people in the dark days of trench warfare on the Western Front when so many young soldiers failed to return.
Britain's first Poppy Day was held in 1921 and the money raised helped children in war-devastated areas. The Royal Bri7sh Legion opened its own poppy factory in London in 1922 to give prac7cal help in 7me of need to all who have served in the armed forces and their widows and dependents. The paper poppies that are worn today are made by ex-service personnel and are sold by representa7ves of the Royal Bri7sh Legion, an organisa7on of ex-servicemen and women. Today, they make more than 35 million poppies and 65,000 wreaths for the annual poppy appeal.
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Wreath : couronne
Worn : To wear, wore, worn
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R W The correct statement:
1 The Remembrance day takes place only in UK
2 The 11th of November is a public holiday (or Bank holiday) in UK.
3 The Remembrance commemorates only the loss of soldiers from WW1 & WW2.
4 People pin poppies to their clothes.
5 The funds helped WW1 veterans find employment and housing aker the war.
6 The paper poppies are made in China.
7 The Royal Bri7sh Legion is a poli7cal organisa7on.
8 The factory s7ll produces millions of poppies each year.
ACer reading the document carefully, check if each statement is correct or incorrect about the Remembrance Day. Then, <ck the right or wrong box. If it is wrong, give the correct sentence.
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R W The correct statement:
1 The Remembrance day takes place only in UK
2 The 11th holiday) in UK.
3 The Remembrance commemorates only the loss of soldiers from WW1 & WW2.
4 People pin poppies to their clothes.
5 The funds helped WW1 veterans find employment and housing aker the war.
6 The paper poppies are made in China.
7 The Royal Bri7sh Legion is a poli7cal organisa7on.
8 The factory s7ll produces millions of poppies each year.
