
Many Canadian schoolchildren memorize Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields”. Most ceremonies on this day include a recitation. I had a go of reciting it from memory in honour of this year’s Remembrance Day, and I believe I only replaced “sleep” with “rest”. I also seem to reflexively say “amidst” instead of “amid”. I am certain that “amidst” remains a word, despite what spell check tells me. Regardless of my vocabulary choices, this poem remains a really evocative part of the collective memory of Canadians.
Hundreds of thousands of Canadian men and women served in the armed forces and medical divisions during the Great War.