Bullecourt

As it was a beautiful sunny morning, and we had time to spare, we decided to have a quick look around.  

And the poppies were blooming, still as red as before.   And they continued to flower all the way through the Flanders area, and they were still blooming on the side of the streets when we arrived home.   This has certainly been a good year for red poppies.

 And in the fields around Arras, the giant wind mills also bloomed, everywhere and yet more were being built.  A good income for the farmers.

 A lovely peaceful village near Arras.

And our destination, Bullecourt, where there is a memorial dedicated to four Australian Infantry Divisions, who fought there during WWI.

 The church behind the memorial, quite a haunting place, which has seen much bloodshed, I think.

A poster on the town hall, advertising ANZAC DAY.

 We drank coffee, the cheapest ever, at this little cafe called Le Canberra.    Quite bizarre.

I decided to look up the poem, the first line of which I can only remember.   Even then I was not correct as I thought that it was 'In Flanders fields the poppies grow' but in fact it is 'blow'.   But I can remember reciting this poem in primary school during the 1950's, as a lead up to ANZAC Day on the 25th April.   In my imagination I could see the poppies growing amongst the tombstones and was quite affected by the words.

The first verse of the poem, written by a Canadian doctor called John McCrae, goes like this:-
'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.'

A war that resulted in the slaughter of so many men.   And for what reason?   A complete mess up!   But we will return to the area, a piece of our history.   Lest we Forget.