Well, I know all these answers for once. :)

Notice that my post is on time to honor the day. I still think of it as Armistice Day and wish the US had not changed the name of the holiday. It served as an excellent history lesson, I think.

Good questions.
Cynthia

Cyn - I am impressed!! You'll have to help me with clues later, when we have more participants!!

In Public School, which some call grade school or primary school, in the 50's we learned a lot of war poems, some of them quite gruesome. Here is one that has stuck in my mind, especially the last line....

Nancy - no clues, btw.

Here is a link that might be useful: Death of the Ball Turret Gunner

Me too :).

Annette, who feeling peely wally this morning and is going to snuggle down for awhile.

Yes, I have always liked (although that does not seem quite the right word) this poem. I actually researched it years ago to find out more about it. Another one of those poems that has such emotional impact for me is "Oh Captain, My Captain" which I cannot read aloud without tearing up. I always warn my students before I read it when we are studying Lincoln.

On another note, I am hoping to get out in the yard again today. We have a birthday party for our 86 year-old neighbor at 1:00, but after that, out I go. I have three bags of soil conditioner to put on our lousy soil. I was planning to distribute them around one area where I have started putting in new shrubs and perennials, but I may ask Chuck to carry them up a level and put them around the corner from the newly fenced area where there is little other than rocks and compacted clay and a few struggling rhododendrons.

Cynthia

O darn, this was too easy!!

Nancy.

No, just seems to be a subject close to our hearts, Nancy.

Just got back from a beach walk and scouting out the fishing possibilities, earning a few prickles of sweat for my trouble. It was great.

Nancy, this question is not too easy for me. If you had asked the name of the poem, I would have known that, but nothing else is coming to me so far. I'll have to reread the posts again for clues, if I can squeeze it into my island time. :) It's Marco Island, if anyone is interested.

Later,
TM

Oh what a lovely place. Well, let's see - for #1, I would recommend having a coffee and a lovely French sweet for inspiration!!

Nancy.

Or, since you are on vacation, if you don't feel in the mood for pastry as Nancy suggested, maybe you could indulge in what my dad used to call "a short one" TM.

The birthday parties for our neighbor are always interesting. Quite an eclectic group every year. One conversation I overheard was about a doctor. I wanted to remember his name since ours may retire while we are still alive (:)) and I don't know any others around here. After eavesdropping for a bit, I realized they were talking about some tv or movie doctor. Silly me!

Nancy, curious to hear your clues for the battle. I can't think of any riddle-like hints for that one -Other than saying that I had hoped to get our neighbor some Guylian or Neuhaus chocolates, but didn't have time to drive into DC. Alas, that only addresses the country, not the battle.

{{gwi:616158}}
This is the a very hotly contested piece of land. This was the 2nd battle there in WW1. The BEF retreated through here in May 1940, on their way to Dunkirk. Yikes, what a thing.

Nancy.

I researched the poppies of Flanders Field this past spring but can't remember any of the answers to your questions. Hopefully clues will jolt my memory.

I've been listening to yodeling You Tube videos while reading the paper. Heard more yodeling than I have for years and found that I like the female singers best--was really impressed with the young gal from the last year's tv talent show.

Re: #3 - McCrae had already served in the Boer War. He was already 41 when he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force for WW1. His father was a military leader in Guelph, Ontario.
The German army launched one of the first chemical attacks in the history of war. They attacked the Canadian position with chlorine gas on April 22, 1915, but were unable to break through the Canadian line which held for over two weeks. In a letter written to his mother, McCrae described the battle as a "nightmare": "For seventeen days and seventeen nights none of us have had our clothes off, nor our boots even, except occasionally. In all that time while I was awake, gunfire and rifle fire never ceased for sixty seconds ..... And behind it all was the constant background of the sights of the dead, the wounded, the maimed, and a terrible anxiety lest the line should give way."
He was inspired to write the poem on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend and fellow soldier, Alexis Helmer. He was later moved to the medical corps and stationed in Boulogne, France, in June 1915.

Any help, so far??

Nancy.

From both Cynthia and Annette's clues I got two professions.
While I don't remember the specific war I think it was long before WWI.
Why poppies? Probably something to do with the condition of the soil after the war.

Is it too early to post my answers? Skip this if you don't want to see my guesses...

1. Now I am thinking I may be wrong, but I think this dates to the Napoleonic Wars.

2. The soil was so destroyed by all the battles and graves, nothing else would grow.

3. Your last post has me wondering again if I am right, but I think he was a soldier and physician.

4. 2nd battle of Ypres - that I am sure of! :)

I am second-guessing myself now. Methinks I may have been overconfident.

Cynthia, who is off to bed

Ah, yes, the Napoleonic Wars.
Soldier and doctor were the ones I had in mind also. At 41 he must have already been a physician. Did he considered himself a soldier first? I can understand how a son of a military man might feel so but not a good use of war resources for him not to be in the medical corps from the beginning, IMHO.
Poor soil condition, wonder if all the good topsoil ended up in lower levels due to soil upheaval from battles and grave digging. And compacted soil due to machinery and trampling boots. Must have been lead build up in the soil as well from ammunition and lime from being used in burials.
Since Cynthia is sure of Ypres I will go with that.
Bobbie

Poppy seeds can lay dormant for many years, when the soil is disturbed for whatever reason they'll germinate. Hollyhocks germinated in a garden in Victoria after being dormant for 80 or so years, they found this out when they started cleaning up the gardens at Point Ellice House in Victoria. amazing isn't it.

Annette

Nature sure is amazing, Annette!!

1. The red poppies that McCrae referred to had been associated with war since the Napoleonic Wars when a writer of that time first noted how the poppies grew over the graves of soldiers.

2. The damage done to the landscape in Flanders during the battle greatly increased the lime content in the soil, leaving the poppy as one of the few plants able to grow in the region. I too have heard it was due to the disturbance of the soil, both by bombs and by graves - how appropriate, really.

3. At the age of 41, McCrae enrolled with the Canadian Expeditionary Force following the outbreak of the First World War. He had the option of joining the medical corps due to his training and age, but volunteered instead to join a fighting unit as a gunner and medical officer. It was his second tour of duty in the Canadian military. He previously fought with a volunteer force in the Second Boer War. He considered himself a soldier first; his father was a military leader in Guelph and McCrae grew up believing in the duty of fighting for his country and empire. McCrae was moved to the medical corps and stationed in Boulogne, France, in June 1915 where he was named lieutenant-colonel in charge of medicine at the Number 3 Canadian General Hospital. He was promoted to the acting rank of Colonel on January 13, 1918, and named Consulting Physician to the British Armies in France.

4. McCrae fought in the second battle of Ypres in the Flanders region of Belgium where the German army launched one of the first chemical attacks in the history of war. Just a personal note, my maternal Grandfather was there, as well.

"In Flanders Fields" has attained iconic status in Canada, where it is a staple of Remembrance Day ceremonies and may be the most well known literary piece among English Canadians. It has an official French adaptation, entitled "Au champ d'honneur", written by Jean Pariseau and used by the Canadian government in French and bilingual ceremonies. In addition to its appearance on the ten-dollar bill, the Royal Canadian Mint has released poppy-themed quarters on several occasions. A version minted in 2004 featured a red poppy in the centre and is considered the first multi-coloured circulation coin in the world. Among its uses in popular culture, the line "to you from failing hands we throw the torch, be yours to hold it high" has served as a motto for the Montreal Canadiens hockey club since 1940.

The years of war had worn McCrae down, however. He contracted pneumonia that same day, and later came down with cerebral meningitis. On January 28, he died at the military hospital in Wimereux and was buried there with full military honours.

The poem was a popular motivational tool in Great Britain, where it was used to encourage soldiers fighting against Germany, and in the United States where it was reprinted across the country. It was one of the most quoted works during the war, used in many places as part of campaigns to sell war bonds, during recruiting efforts and to criticize pacifists and those who sought to profit from the war. American composer Charles Ives used "In Flanders Fields" as the basis for a song of the same name that premiered in 1917. According to legend, fellow soldiers retrieved the poem after McCrae, initially unsatisfied with his work, discarded it. "In Flanders Fields" was first published on December 8 of that year in the London-based magazine Punch.

Thanks for playing this week. I let you off easy - yeah, that's what it was, I meant it to be easy. lol. See you next weekend.

Nancy.

Excellent questions, Nancy. Thanks for the fun!

Bobbie, meant to mention that you made me giggle when you said you were listening to yodeling whie reading the paper. I am not sure I could concentrate!

Ha, ha, Cynthia. After the first couple where I had to yodel along I had no trouble concentrating.

Thanks for the timely question, Nancy. It complimented the WWII programs that I have been watching on PBS the past several weeks.