Remembrance Day

As most of you know today is remembrance day (or veterans day in America) and i thought I'd explain what that is in Canada and why in Montreal most people are wearing poppies.


Remembrance
Remembrance day ,as you can tell from by the name, is for remembering the dead soldiers. In Canada on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month you are asked to pause and remember all the men and women who lost their lives in the military service. People are asked to remember all those who died in the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, the Afghanistan conflict and peacekeeping missions. Remembrance day is not actually a national holiday across Canada but certain employees still get the day off.

Poppies

Poppies have been associated with the war since the Napoleonic wars. A writer saw a bunch of poppies growing over the dead soldiers. In the war of Ypres in 1915, John Mcrae decided to write a poem inspired by the poppies growing around a friend who had died in battle. The poem worked as an inspiration so that people would associate the poppy with remembrance day. The first poppies were given in 1921. Now the volunteer donations helps ex-servicemen and women to find shelter and get food.