Tower of London WW1 Art

Thank you for posting this link, Claudia. I will be in London in September and it will be high on my priorities list.

I am heading off to London in about two weeks, and a focus of my visit will be to attend events and visit sites that pertain to World War I (eg, the remodeled Imperial War Museum, the Cenotaph, a photo exhibit of what WWI battle fields look like today on display at St James), and this site will be added to my list.

If anyone has suggestions/recommendations please post them.

Thanks.

Geor(ge)

Why poppies?

Lt. Col John McCrae, a Canadian army doctor, wrote the poem In Flanders Fields just after the second Battle of Ypres. It is one of the most popular and most quoted poems from the war. Its references to the red poppies that grew over the graves of fallen soldiers resulted in the remembrance poppy becoming one of the world's most recognized memorial symbols for soldiers who have died in conflict. The poem and poppy are prominent Remembrance Day (11th November) symbols throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, particularly in Canada, where "In Flanders Fields" is one of the nation's best-known literary works. The poem also has wide exposure in the United States, where it is associated with Memorial Day.

The poem:

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.

That poem always makes me weep.

Wow, very cool. Thanks for posting!

I saw pics of the installment - and am so excited that we are going in Sept and that we'll see it - it looks gorgeous...

Keith:

Thanks for the links. The walk through Whitehall by the British Legion looks very interesting. Some of the other lectures such as propaganda posters also look like events that I would attend.

Geor(ge)

I had not planned to go to the Tower this time, but this looks amazing and evocative. I will go.

I really wish I could see this in person! I was just there a few weeks ago. It looks so wonderful.

You do not have to enter the Tower of London to see some of the poppies; you can view many of them from the street and the entryway. There is a spray of them over the heads of those assembling for the Beefeater's tours on the bridge. Quite lovely and Quite RED. saw them last month and lots of volunteers were still assembling them in groups. Wish I could post a couple of pictures of them.

I wasn't planning on going to the Tower next month when I'm in London, but now I feel compelled to at least view the poppies from outside. Thanks for sharing.

I intend to view the spray tomorrow, if the weather cooperates. The photos in the papers are quite impressive.

All the intense World War One emphasis in the papers and all over the TV this month - and looking like it will go on and on until they tire of it - is a bit morose for me. I prefer to focus on those who returned, those who were whole and those who weren't.

My family only lost one man in France....

Oh, Nigel- I absolutely agree with you; that's where the focus should be.

Claudia, just wanted to thank you for posting this. I got over to the Tower to take a look this morning and it was really interesting.

Also thanks to Geor for mentioning the photography exhibit. It was very good as well and contained so much info about WWl I did not know.

I also did the London Walks Westminster at War this afternoon and the guide included a few WWl sights including bomb damage from air raids carried out in 1917.

On NPR the other day I heard that the poppy become symbolic of fallen soldiers because it is the first flower to appear after the earth has been churned up.

This sounds like a beautifully done, very poignant memorial. Wish I could see it in person.

Having both grandfathers serve in WWI, and survive, I found this art project quite moving. The poppies are all hand made and are available for purchase, to be shipped when the installation is removed in December. Cost is £25 plus shipping, our total came to about $90 cdn.
Every evening at last post a roll of honour is read of those killed in the war from the Commonwealth, from a weekly list made up from public submission. poppies.hrp.org.uk