This is a beautiful song for our Canadian and American Soldiers!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prPsDBulNJQ
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseacti ... id=2736336
http://www.sewolf.ca/Videos/CFTribute800x600.wmv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prPsDBulNJQ
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseacti ... id=2736336
http://www.sewolf.ca/Videos/CFTribute800x600.wmv
Snapshots of Canada and the First World War: 5 Key Moments
05/11/2007 10:22:00 AM
Author Nathan Greenfield describes 5 key moments of Canada's involvement in the First World War.
It's impossible to sum up the experiences of all Canadians in the First World War with these five key battles -- but these crucial moments are clear examples of the sacrifices made by our brave soldiers.
The Second Battle of Ypres: April 1915
At 5 PM on April 22, the Germans unleashed the first gas attack in history, tearing a hole almost five miles wide in the French lines, immediately to the Canadians' left. Canadian counter-attacks at midnight and the following dawn stymied the German advance. At 4 AM on April 24, the Canadians withstood another gas attack. The weight of German shelling and infantry attacks later forced them to withdraw to more defensible positions closer to Ypres. In one hundred hours of battle, the Canadians suffered more than five thousand casualties.
The Somme: July to November 1916
Within hours of going over the top, tens of thousands of the more than 750,000 troops -- including more than 700 Newfoundlanders -- lay dead and wounded within yards of their own trenches. Weeks of bloody and frustrating fighting followed. The Canadians joined the offensive in mid-September. Thanks to their use of the creeping barrage, produced by hundreds of artillery pieces, on September 15, the Canadians were able to quickly capture German positions near Courcellete. On November 11, they took Regina trench: a week later they took Desire Trench. The Canadians lost more than twenty-four thousand me on the Somme.
Vimy: April 9, 1917
The first great Allied victory, the taking of Vimy Ridge by the Canadians, was the product of long and careful preparation. Maps were given to small units and every man practiced on a mock-up of the ridge. In the weeks leading up to the attack, one million shells landed on the ridge, pulverizing the German trenches, while sappers dug "subways" towards the ridge, allowing thousands of soldiers to enter the battle halfway into no-man's land, where they joined thousands of others advancing behind a creeping barrage. The Canadians moved so quickly that in some places they were in the enemy trenches before the Germans could come out of their bomb shelters. More than thirteen thousand Canadians fell while taking the ridge that neither the French nor the British had been able to conquer.
Passchendaele: August to November 1917
The mud of Passchendaele, which swallowed men, horses and cannon, horrified Lieutenant-General Arthur Currie when he first saw the battlefield near Ypres. The Canadians attacked on November 26, after a four-day fusillade that destroyed German barbed wire. Central to the Canadians' success was their use of small until tactics that allowed them to attack German strong points by flanking them. Passchendaele also saw the Canadians use the newly developed "bite and hold" tactic -- the taking of positions that could be quickly fortified (and supported by guns in the rear) against the inevitable German counterattack. Currie had predicted sixteen thousand casualties; the actual number was 15,654.
The Last 100 Days: August to November 1918
In the last hundred days of the First World War, the 100,000 man-strong Canadian Corps defeated forty-seven German Divisions and advanced eighty-five miles -- the largest advance of any Allied army. The commander of the German Army, General Eric Ludendorff called the Canadian victory at Amiens: "The blackest day of the German Army." After taking Amiens, the Canadians broke through German defences at the Drocourt-Queant Line, the Canal du Nord, Cambrai, and Valenciennes before ending the war at Mons on November 11th. Over the hundred days, the Canadians lost almost 46,000 men.
05/11/2007 10:22:00 AM
Author Nathan Greenfield describes 5 key moments of Canada's involvement in the First World War.
It's impossible to sum up the experiences of all Canadians in the First World War with these five key battles -- but these crucial moments are clear examples of the sacrifices made by our brave soldiers.
The Second Battle of Ypres: April 1915
At 5 PM on April 22, the Germans unleashed the first gas attack in history, tearing a hole almost five miles wide in the French lines, immediately to the Canadians' left. Canadian counter-attacks at midnight and the following dawn stymied the German advance. At 4 AM on April 24, the Canadians withstood another gas attack. The weight of German shelling and infantry attacks later forced them to withdraw to more defensible positions closer to Ypres. In one hundred hours of battle, the Canadians suffered more than five thousand casualties.
The Somme: July to November 1916
Within hours of going over the top, tens of thousands of the more than 750,000 troops -- including more than 700 Newfoundlanders -- lay dead and wounded within yards of their own trenches. Weeks of bloody and frustrating fighting followed. The Canadians joined the offensive in mid-September. Thanks to their use of the creeping barrage, produced by hundreds of artillery pieces, on September 15, the Canadians were able to quickly capture German positions near Courcellete. On November 11, they took Regina trench: a week later they took Desire Trench. The Canadians lost more than twenty-four thousand me on the Somme.
Vimy: April 9, 1917
The first great Allied victory, the taking of Vimy Ridge by the Canadians, was the product of long and careful preparation. Maps were given to small units and every man practiced on a mock-up of the ridge. In the weeks leading up to the attack, one million shells landed on the ridge, pulverizing the German trenches, while sappers dug "subways" towards the ridge, allowing thousands of soldiers to enter the battle halfway into no-man's land, where they joined thousands of others advancing behind a creeping barrage. The Canadians moved so quickly that in some places they were in the enemy trenches before the Germans could come out of their bomb shelters. More than thirteen thousand Canadians fell while taking the ridge that neither the French nor the British had been able to conquer.
Passchendaele: August to November 1917
The mud of Passchendaele, which swallowed men, horses and cannon, horrified Lieutenant-General Arthur Currie when he first saw the battlefield near Ypres. The Canadians attacked on November 26, after a four-day fusillade that destroyed German barbed wire. Central to the Canadians' success was their use of small until tactics that allowed them to attack German strong points by flanking them. Passchendaele also saw the Canadians use the newly developed "bite and hold" tactic -- the taking of positions that could be quickly fortified (and supported by guns in the rear) against the inevitable German counterattack. Currie had predicted sixteen thousand casualties; the actual number was 15,654.
The Last 100 Days: August to November 1918
In the last hundred days of the First World War, the 100,000 man-strong Canadian Corps defeated forty-seven German Divisions and advanced eighty-five miles -- the largest advance of any Allied army. The commander of the German Army, General Eric Ludendorff called the Canadian victory at Amiens: "The blackest day of the German Army." After taking Amiens, the Canadians broke through German defences at the Drocourt-Queant Line, the Canal du Nord, Cambrai, and Valenciennes before ending the war at Mons on November 11th. Over the hundred days, the Canadians lost almost 46,000 men.
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Remembering
Only one word comes to mind RESPECT
Only one word comes to mind RESPECT
Ode to the poppy
31/10/2007 11:14:00 PM
The poppy has been an international symbol of remembrance since the 19th century Napoleonic Wars, over 110 years before it was adopted by Canada.
In November, Canadians wear scarlet poppies to pay tribute to those who have died in war and military operations. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month – the time the Armistice of World War I was signed in 1918 – people across the country are asked to observe two minutes of silence to remember those servicemen and women who have sacrificed their lives.
The poppy has been an international symbol of remembrance since the 19th century Napoleonic Wars, over 110 years before it was adopted by Canada. A record from the time reflects on how the destruction wrought by war transformed bare land into fields of blood-red flowers which grew around the bodies of fallen soldiers.
Scarlet poppies (popaver rhoeas), long known as the corn poppy because it flourished as a weed in grain fields, grew abundantly in the trenches of the war zone. Artillery shells and shrapnel stirred up the earth and exposed the seeds to the light they needed to germinate. While the seeds of the flower can remain dormant for years, they are known to blossom spectacularly once the soil is churned.
The poppy became a lasting memorial to the fallen in Canada and the Commonwealth due largely to Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian Medical Officer during the First World War. During the Battle of Ypres in 1915, Lt.-Col. McCrae wrote the poem In Flanders Fields when he saw poppies growing beside a grave of a close friend who had died in battle.
While the poppy has become a modern symbol of sacrifice, its legend reaches back thousands of years. The flower has been found in Egyptian tombs dating back 3,000 years. Homer mentions poppies in the Iliad when he compares the head of a dying warrior to that of a hanging poppy flower.
And in ancient Greece, poppies were considered sacred to Hypnos, the god of sleep. Ancient imagery depicts Hypnos with poppies in his hands and crowning his head. The doorway to his temple was also decorated with poppy blossoms. Hypnos was thought to bring prophetic dreams and relief to those suffering from grief or emotional pain.
Ancient Greeks thought that poppies were a sign of fertility. Poppy seeds were thought to induce vitality and strength so Greek athletes were given mixtures of poppy seeds, honey, and wine.
The Romans knew the god Hypnos as Somnus, which is echoed in the flower's Latin name Papaver somniferum - somnus ferre - bringer of sleep. The poppy was also associated with Thanatos, or Hades the Lord of Dead, and of eternal sleep.
Poppies can also be linked to the Mogul leader, Genghis Khan. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Mogul Emperor led his warriors on campaigns south to India, and west to Russia as far as the Black Sea. According to legend, pure white poppies erupted on churned up battlefields drenched with blood.
(And while Oriental poppies contain opium, the corn poppy, does not. And remember when Dorothy fell asleep in a field of flowers in the Wizard of Oz? The flowers were poppies.)
The first artificial poppies as memorial symbols were distributed in Canada in 1921. Today the volunteer donations from the distribution of millions of poppies are an important source of revenue for the Royal Canadian Legion that goes toward various programs helping ex-servicemen and women.
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 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.
- John McCrae, 1915
For more information on the traditions of Remembrance Day in Canada, click here
RELATED ARTICLES
Juno: a beach to remember
Giving birth as bombs fall
From poppies to peace
Copyright © 2006 All Rights Reserved - Fifty-Plus.Net International Inc.
31/10/2007 11:14:00 PM
The poppy has been an international symbol of remembrance since the 19th century Napoleonic Wars, over 110 years before it was adopted by Canada.
In November, Canadians wear scarlet poppies to pay tribute to those who have died in war and military operations. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month – the time the Armistice of World War I was signed in 1918 – people across the country are asked to observe two minutes of silence to remember those servicemen and women who have sacrificed their lives.
The poppy has been an international symbol of remembrance since the 19th century Napoleonic Wars, over 110 years before it was adopted by Canada. A record from the time reflects on how the destruction wrought by war transformed bare land into fields of blood-red flowers which grew around the bodies of fallen soldiers.
Scarlet poppies (popaver rhoeas), long known as the corn poppy because it flourished as a weed in grain fields, grew abundantly in the trenches of the war zone. Artillery shells and shrapnel stirred up the earth and exposed the seeds to the light they needed to germinate. While the seeds of the flower can remain dormant for years, they are known to blossom spectacularly once the soil is churned.
The poppy became a lasting memorial to the fallen in Canada and the Commonwealth due largely to Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian Medical Officer during the First World War. During the Battle of Ypres in 1915, Lt.-Col. McCrae wrote the poem In Flanders Fields when he saw poppies growing beside a grave of a close friend who had died in battle.
While the poppy has become a modern symbol of sacrifice, its legend reaches back thousands of years. The flower has been found in Egyptian tombs dating back 3,000 years. Homer mentions poppies in the Iliad when he compares the head of a dying warrior to that of a hanging poppy flower.
And in ancient Greece, poppies were considered sacred to Hypnos, the god of sleep. Ancient imagery depicts Hypnos with poppies in his hands and crowning his head. The doorway to his temple was also decorated with poppy blossoms. Hypnos was thought to bring prophetic dreams and relief to those suffering from grief or emotional pain.
Ancient Greeks thought that poppies were a sign of fertility. Poppy seeds were thought to induce vitality and strength so Greek athletes were given mixtures of poppy seeds, honey, and wine.
The Romans knew the god Hypnos as Somnus, which is echoed in the flower's Latin name Papaver somniferum - somnus ferre - bringer of sleep. The poppy was also associated with Thanatos, or Hades the Lord of Dead, and of eternal sleep.
Poppies can also be linked to the Mogul leader, Genghis Khan. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Mogul Emperor led his warriors on campaigns south to India, and west to Russia as far as the Black Sea. According to legend, pure white poppies erupted on churned up battlefields drenched with blood.
(And while Oriental poppies contain opium, the corn poppy, does not. And remember when Dorothy fell asleep in a field of flowers in the Wizard of Oz? The flowers were poppies.)
The first artificial poppies as memorial symbols were distributed in Canada in 1921. Today the volunteer donations from the distribution of millions of poppies are an important source of revenue for the Royal Canadian Legion that goes toward various programs helping ex-servicemen and women.
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 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.
- John McCrae, 1915
For more information on the traditions of Remembrance Day in Canada, click here
RELATED ARTICLES
Juno: a beach to remember
Giving birth as bombs fall
From poppies to peace
Copyright © 2006 All Rights Reserved - Fifty-Plus.Net International Inc.
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Sled Dog said:
That poem I memerized and recited at my school on rememberance day when I was just a young lad barely able to understand war and what it means.
My Grandfather was there and it effected him even though most would have not noticed. He enlisted at the age of 16 (lied about his age) hardly much older then I was reciting the poem and headed to war. He went over with the Winnipeg group (may have been at Vimy ridge I'm not sure). He was wounded twice with shapnell from land mines and shot through the head with a steel jacket bullet. Busting his jaw on one side and blowing out his ear drum on the other. Only luck kept him alive. He signed up for WW2. They never took him but he would have went. Defending his country meant alot to him.
I hated the Germans for what they did to him, but he would tell me stories of trading with the german soldiers for chocolate and tobbaco at night. Only to shoot at them during the day. He said not to hate them, they where men just like him fighting for thier country. He had many german friends that had imigrated to this country after the war I remember a few even still today.
He taught me to respect them and they would in turn respect me. He taught me many things about people and a little about the war. He was a peaceful happy man who played the hand dealt him and never complained. Had no money but was rich in friends.
I saluted him when they put him in the earth. Don't know why for sure. It just felt right. I wear my poppie every year not only for him but for all the others, those who gave thier lives and those who returned. In the middle of his town was a monument to those who died. A little town in the Saskatchewan farmland of barely 600 people in 1968 had over 300 names on it from two wars. Some familys gave all thier men folk to the war. Because of that the legion was a crowded place rememberance day and chests where heavy in medals. All knew those that never came back.
Yep In Flanders fields the poppies blow, Between the crosses, row on row.
A great poem!!
Nice Charlie thanks for sharing that. My father and three of his brothers, my uncles all went to WWII. Luckily all four returned. Remembrance Day was a special day at our house and I loved seeing my dad in his army suit marching with all the other Veterans on those special days made me very proud. There was always a fowl supper the whole small village where I grew up of 300 would attend on that day as well. The food was always good and we the children then ran around having a ball at the town hall.
just found this one wished I would have seen it prior to November 11th.
http://users.skynet.be/fb730011/salute.htm
http://users.skynet.be/fb730011/salute.htm
