Anyone who knows me will know that I grew up a military child. Some of my closest friends over the years have been military children and soldiers themselves. Remembrance Day is incredibly important to me and always makes me solemn and tearful.

As a child I loved reading stories set during the first and second world wars, and I still do.

Poppy Field is a beautiful book and one that we have read on this day since it’s publication in 2018. It tells the tale of perhaps the most famous and important war poem, in Flanders Fields by John McRae.

The story tells of a family who live on a farm in Ypres. Surrounded by poppy fields and war cemeteries. The farm was once a battlefield and the stage for many famous battles and war scenes we are all now familiar with including the 1914 Christmas Truce.

Poppy Field is based on the Poppy’s history. The story follows one family over four generations and their link to the famous poem, In Flanders Fields. From a poor girl comforting a grieving soldier, to an unexpected meeting of strangers, to a father’s tragic death. This haunting book shows how the war has been intertwined with this family’s life, has shaped their family in different ways. The family rituals revolve around the poem and the poppy fields.

This is a wonderful story weaving the importance of the poem and the symbolism of the poppy with the events of war and showing us all the costs of war continue long after the fighting ends.

In the story, the little boy’s father is killed ploughing his field. This has sadly been a reality for Flanders farmers over the year. Many have died accidentally during what is known as the “Iron Harvest” People continued to die because of the war long after it ended.

The poppy honours all in the Armed Forces who lost their lives in the first and second world wars. The poppy is about remembering the tragic loss of life, the human cost of war. The poppy is for soldiers who have died in recent wars and conflicts.

On this day we remember the few who gave and continue to give so much for the many.

Those who die that we may live

Mothers, fathers, daughters, sons

Heroes all

We will remember them x