‘At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends. At 5 a.m. that morning, Germany, bereft of manpower and supplies and faced with imminent invasion, signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiégne, France. The First World War left nine million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded, with Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, and Great Britain each losing nearly a million or more lives. In addition, at least five million civilians died from disease, starvation, or exposure.’
Extract taken from ‘This Day In History’
The National Service of Remembrance, held today at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, will unite the nation in remembrance of all who have suffered or lost their lives in war. It is the closest Sunday to Armistice Day on 11 November and marks the end of the First World War in 1918. The Queen will be present, alongside other members of the Royal family, veterans, representatives of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, Fishing Fleets and Merchant Air and Navy, as well as faith communities, politicians and High Commissioners of Commonwealth countries.
This year also plays host to the 75th anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein, the 100th birthday of forces sweetheart, Dame Vera Lynne, and the centenary of the Battle of Passchendale in 1917. I was fortunate to witness a musical tribute and canon salute in commemoration of the battle of Passchendale at Blenheim Palace’s Battle of the Proms in July, where Master Gunner John Slough fired the canon in honour of his grandfather, Albert, who was killed in action at Passchendaele.
‘Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.’
Extract from ‘For the fallen,’ by Robert Laurence Binyon
As Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday approaches each year, scarlet poppies begin to make their appearance, but their origins are often forgotten. It was in the opening lines of the poem ‘In Flanders Field,’ written during the First World War in May 1915, that Major John McCrae noticed the poppies flowering over the graves of fallen soldiers. His poem later inspired American teacher Moina Belle Michael and Frenchwoman Madame Anna Guerin to encourage people to use the red Flanders poppy as a way of remembering those who had suffered in war and had sacrificed their lives for their country and families. The Royal British Legion have since adopted the flower as the symbol of their ‘Poppy Appeal,’ supporting those serving in the British Armed Forces. The Royal British Legion’s Festival of Remembrance pays tribute to all who have lost their lives in conflict and their loved ones, or have suffered mental or physical injuries, with thousands of poppy petals tumbling down onto the audience and Her Majesty the Queen.
The tomb of the Unknown Warrior was housed in the nave of Westminster Abbey on 11 November 1920 simultaneously with a French soldier at the Arc de Triomphe, and is the most distinguished tomb amidst kings and queens, representing every unidentified fallen warrior. Since Lady Elizabeth Bowes (married to the Duke of York, later King George VI) laid her wedding bouquet on the tomb in 1923 as a mark of respect, many royal brides have continued this tradition. The tomb’s cover is laid with a slab of black Belgian marble and enrobed by scarlet poppies, with verses inscribed onto it’s surface. One such New Testament verse, from John 15:13, simply says ‘Greater love hath no man than this.’
With these powerful associations surrounding the poppy, I thought it was particularly poignant to find several naturally growing amidst a lavender field. These few poppies made a bright contrast to the delicate surrounding lavender, a flower that is most commonly associated with love, devotion, purity and calm.
This is my resulting oil painting and tribute to those affected by war, ‘Poppy amongst lavender.’
Author: charlotte.iggulden
Hello and welcome to my blog! Here I will be sharing my latest works in progress, news, events, and the myriad of things which inspire my art. If you like nature, humanity, design, conservation, science and of course art, then there might be something here to inspire you. Above all I want to use my art to connect people to one another and to their environment.
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions, I look forward to hearing from you! I hope you enjoy reading.
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