A reflection on the war dead

Red for peace, white for ............

November is the month of the Holy Souls and the month where  also, on Remembrance Sunday, we remember those who sacrificed their lives  in times of war so that we could be free from slavery and genocide.

The red poppy is a symbol (as well as being a fund raising tool for disabled service men and women) of that sacrifice.

The link to the poppies of Flanders fields, almost as prolific as the German and Allied Forces corpses, is a poignant one that encourages us to remember with sorrow and gratitude.

It is not triumphalist, it does not represent war or victory or glorification of battlefield slaughter.

A kind reader commented on my Remembrance Sunday post, that he was not familiar with the white poppy campaign, one that, ostensibly symbolises peace rather than war.

This stance rather leads to a 'when did you stop beating your wife' situation as far as the red poppy wearer is concerned.

Those who wear the white poppy are, in my opinion, gravely deluded. They are ignorant.

We tend to link to opposites so, if the white poppy stands for peace, the red must stand for war.

Not so.

To me the white poppy represents not peace but pacifism and, again, with our love of opposites, it is assumed that, if you are anti pacifism you must be a warmonger

Again, not so.

I have little time for war but, equally, little respect for those who advocate pacifism at the time of war.

Many Quakers have struggled with their consciences and then, God bless them, signed up for duties as medics, stretcher bearers, ambulance drivers. Tasks often more hazardous than those undertaken by the troops.

There is no hiding place for the conscientious objector when your own country goes to war.

We are all bound to get behind our respective governments at such times and bind together for the common good.

Few of us wanted the Iraq War but, once committed, we should have supported our leaders and, above all, our military.

That is why the symbolism of the white poppy brigade is iniquitous and those who wear one should hang their heads in shame.

Was it Belloc who penned the lines:

"Pale Ebenezer thought it wrong to fight, but Roaring Bill ( who killed him)  thought it right"

That should be writ large on the headstones of those who spurn the red for the white.

In Flanders the poppies were red...let's keep them that way

The First World War was, arguably, the worst man-made holocaust the world has ever seen.
Constant shelling, gun batteries drawn by mules and horses, heavy supply wagons and  men by the hundred thousand, all created a battlefield that was a swamp of mud with bodies lying several feet deep in some places.

Picardy and Flanders were the areas most devastated but, in the midst of what must have been a foul smelling Spring time, red poppies sprang up across No man's land - the only vegetation to grow under those conditions.

The shedding of blood symbolised by

the red poppy

Ever since, the red poppy has become a symbol of the fallen war dead or those incapacitated by war.

It is used as a means of fund raising by the Royal British Legion and the cash raised from the sale of poppy badges goes to provide for the welfare of the men and women of the armed forces who have fought on our behalf and who are now suffering as a result.

A few years ago a group of CND types and Quakers introduced a white poppy as a counter to the red.

And now the white poppy campaign is slowly gaining momentum and this just must not be allowed to continue.

Offered under the strapline "White poppies for a culture of Peace" the campaign carefully inserts the innuendo that a red poppy must stand for war.

That is, of course, just not true.

The red poppy and all the ceremonies and church services surrounding Remembrance Sunday are aimed at helping us to remember the sacrifices made on our behalf; they do not ever 'glorify' war.

The white poppy exercise is, I believe, a pacifist manoeuvre and I hold no respect for pacifists who abstain from their duty at times of national crisis.
It is also unclear as to where the cash raised from white poppy sales goes to.


This is the famous poem by John McCrae.....

                                           

 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.



So this year, wear a red poppy as a token of gratitude to those who gave their lives, limbs or good health as a sacrifice on our behalf.

A Missa Cantata will be held at the Church of St Therese de Lisieux, Sandfields, Port Talbot on Sunday 13th November at 5pm.

Celebrant: Fr Paul Brophy