The Poppy was the only flower that grew in the fields/woods devastated and ravished by war. The sight of these delicate, vibrant red flowers growing on the shattered ground caught the attention of a Canadian soldier by the name of John McCrae. He noticed how they had sprung up in the disturbed ground of the burials around the artillery position he was in.
It was during the warm days of early May 1915 when he found himself with his artillery brigade near to the Ypres-Yser canal. He is believed to have composed a poem following the death of a friend at that time. The first lines of the poem have become some of the most famous lines written in relation to the First World War.
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It was on a Saturday morning, November 9th, 1918, after reading John McCrae's poem (published in the "Ladies Home Journal") that Moina Michael made a person pledge to 'keep the faith'. She vowed to always wear a red poppy of Flanders Fields as a sign of remembrance.
Compelled to make a note of this pledge she scribbled down a response on the back of a used envelope. She titled her poem "We Shall Keep the Faith". The first verse read like this:
Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet - to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died
.
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/article/remembrance-poppy.htm
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