Remembrance Sunday

[Treetotal]

Yes Mike that's right...often seen on French headstones, almost like a Forget-Me-Not.
I put the flowers on top of the monument...they were growing nearby. The dressing Station is close by and was full of poppies that people had left..
Carol

[Viktoria]

Sorry but cornflowers are not like forget me nots .
F g m ns  are tiny flat flowers  with a little yellow centre and five petals .
Just as poppies grew in the cornfields in France so did cornflowers.
We took the poppy as our symbol,perhaps France chose the cornflower.
It was kind to put the flowers there.
As long as we remember.
Viktoria.

[Maiden Stone]

Taken at Essex Farm Cemetery in Ypres in 2015. Notice the difference of the Canadian Poppy.

Carol

I also noticed forget-me-nots on top of the memorial. Forget-me-not is the French national flower of remembrance. They often grow in similar conditions to poppies.

Almost - the French symbol of remembrance is the cornflower. (I guess you knew that really).

  That's what I meant. I'll blame word association, remember and forget. Apologies.
Some cornfield seed mixtures include forget-me-nots with poppies and cornflowers. They all grow in disturbed ground.
 

[Treetotal]

People still use the Forget-me-Not as a symbol of remembrance...this was mentioned to me when I was given a tiny pin of the flower when I visited NFLD some years age, it's where my Father was born:


https://idontblog.ca/forget-me-not-memorial-day-in-newfoundland-labrador/

Carol

[Maiden Stone]

A WW1 exhibition I visited included cards, some of which had forget-me-nots embroidered or drawn on them.

[Viktoria]

The very name of the  flower says it all, “ Don’t Forget Me”-Forget Me Not .
Victorians used it in jewellery ,using little turquoise  stones for petals.
Cards and photo albums were decorated with them.
A very sentimental little flower .
I have some in my garden ,given to me by a young woman,a pupil years
.ago ..
She had a still born baby boy  , her sister lives very close by me and I expressed my sympathy when she visited her, ,and she gave me some seeds in a little sachet.Had brought some for her sister,
On a visit to the Somme one year we (OH and I)seemed to follow one family in particular as we visited cemeteries and memorials .
In the books of Remembrance they wrote “ Just called in to say “Hello and thank you “.”The children wrote their names ,young teenagers to primary school age.
I have visited Beaumont Hamel ,on the little River Ancre ,a tributary of The Somme .
The Newfoundland memorials always have a Caribou on a rock.
Magnificent .
There is also Newfoundland Park.84 acres purchased by Newfoundland as a Memorial.
If you can get it, a book about the first day of The Somme ,title “ Covenant with Death “J ohn Harris.
A detailed account leading up to the first day and the  aftermath of the
battle .
700+of 800 Newfoundlanders of The Newfoundland Regiment were killed the first day .
Viktoria.

[Maiden Stone]

I have visited Beaumont Hamel ,on the little River Ancre ,a tributary of The Somme .

Today is the anniversary of Robert Hesketh's death. Frankfurt Trench cemetery. Robert's photograph is here with 4 others who died in November.
 https://www.ww1cemeteries.com/frankfurt-trench-british-cemetery.html

[Viktoria]

Thank you for sending the photographs ,maps etc,
What handsome young men.
We lost the cream of a generation it was said ,but those who came back
had played their part bravely.
A whole town in mourning for The Accrington Pals ,The 11 th East Lancs .
Almost wiped out in the first few minutes of that morning .
Plus the Surrounding towns and villages .
Thanks again , and glad Robert is remembered and the others too .
Viktoria.I am going to look at the photographs again ,they deserve a little time each.V

[Maiden Stone]

There are more photos further down the page. Robert was very handsome in his uniform.
The 16th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers were the Salford Pals, which had lost many earlier in the Somme campaign. The 9 Fusiliers of the 16th Batt. who died with Tom Henry at Vis-en-Artois in August 1918 were from Manchester. Some were 18, one was only 17. Tom was a 20 year-old veteran with 22 months service who went to France in April 1917 and had recently been promoted Lance-Corporal.