It was at the Essex Farm advanced dressing station on the 24th April 1915, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrea wrote the poem that immortalises the First World War, ‘In Flanders Fields’. On the 24th April 2010, ninety five years later, that same spot was visited. Next to the Advanced Dressing Station is The Essex Farm Cemetery.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Royal Artillery Graves Essex Farm Cemetery
49th(West Riding)Division Memorial
Essex Farm is also the location of the 49th (West Riding) Division Memorial
