A Day In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppy’s 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 the 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 poppy’s grow in Flanders fields.

Before I did not know what the Flanders Fields poem by John McCrae meant.  Now that I have been to Flanders Fields, I know that it is not just one battle site, the whole area is called Flanders which has many battle sites and cemeteries.

We went to the Passchendaele museum and saw and learned many things about World War I. We saw uniforms, weapons, trenches and tunnels.

The tunnels deep underground were where the officers and soldiers would sleep and live for most of the time when they were not fighting in a battle. It was a secure place to live while they were at the front line. In the tunnels there were rooms that had things like water pumps to pump the water out from the underground tunnel and beds that the soldiers would probably sleep in. There were also first aid rooms, a kitchen and the officers offices and their room. It was all made out of wood to make it feel comfortable for the officers.

After the tunnels, we went outside to see and go through the examples of trenches.

The Germans used woven willow tree branches on the walls, wood on the ground and sandbags at the top near the grass.

The British used an “A” shaped frame with metal on the walls, sandbags where the grass is at the top and duckboards on the floor. Duckboards are wooden boards on the ground that look like ladders to keep the mud out of the soldiers boots so they don’t get trench foot.

We also went to Hill 62 which has a museum and a very long Allied trench.

In the museum there were old view masters with pictures from WWI, Allied uniforms, propaganda posters and weapons.

I learned that propaganda posters were ways the government tried to make men feel guilty if they didn’t enlist in the army.

The trench at Hill 62 is the most authentic trench I have ever seen. It was all muddy on the ground even though it was a dry day. It also had long hallways that are pitch black.  If I was a soldier, I would be very uncomfortable living in swamp like conditions.

The trenches were made out of metal and are now very rusty. At Hill 62 the owners did not put concrete on the ground and walls and clean it up to make it look pretty like the other ones did.  (Notice how wet and muddy the ground in the trench is and how dry it is on the outside of the trench.)

We also saw some Canadian memorials in Passchendaele, Hill 62 and St. Julianne.

The one at St. Julianne is called The Brooding soldier. It marks the first gas attack against Canadian soldiers. The tall statue stands on guard for all of the soldiers who died.

There were about 66,655 Canadian soldiers who died in World War I and 172,950 who were wounded.

To finish the day off we went to the In Flanders Fields museum which taught us more about World War I.

After the museum, we went to see the last post at Menin Gate.

Every night they play the last post and two to three thousand people show up to pay their respects.

The military does this because we need to remember all of the soldiers who died and the sacrifices they made. It is nice what they do to respect and remember them.

Another reason the last post is played is to remind us about the soldiers who died one hundred years ago for peace in our time.

Will this happen again?  Have we not learned what terrible things happen when people go to war?

Now I understand,

they didn’t fight hand in hand.

I wish they had known,

that they weren’t alone,

As they fought to free our land.