Lest We Forget Sacrifice of WWI Soldiers - Free Desktop Wallpaper
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Download a free desktop wallpaper photo of a World War I cemetery in Flanders (Vlaanderen), Belgium taken by Featured Guest Photographer Fushmush.
The battlefields of Flanders (Vlaanderen), in Belgium, were part of the Western front during World War I. The front ran from the North Sea to Switzerland. It was a line of battle between the Allies and the Germans. The Germans would attack and the Allies would defend. The Allies would attack and the Germans would defend. This line remained virtually unchanged for most of the war.
Driving through Flanders, it’s hard to reconcile the present-day scenery with images from World War I. Pictures from the war show a landscape of trenches, mud and craters. Today it’s farmland; green fields, tractors and sheep. It’s hard to believe that it was the setting for such carnage, death and destruction. Well, it’s hard to believe until you start to notice the cemeteries.
- quote from Fushmush blog post: In Flanders Fields the poppies grow
I was looking at the Flickr photostream of my well travelled friend Fushmush when I noticed some photos of war graves in a Flanders WW1 cemetery.
It struck me that although many countries around the world mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month to commemorate the end of hostilities for World War I (the Great War) on 11 November 1918, most people are probably too busy with their day to day work to contemplate the real significance.
11th November was chosen by the Allies as a way of remembering those who died, especially soldiers with ‘no known grave’.
The Flanders poppy became accepted throughout the allied nations as the flower of remembrance to be worn on 11th November. The red poppies were among the first plants that sprouted from the devastation of the battlefields of northern France and Belgium and ‘Soldiers’ folklore had it that the poppies were vivid red from having been nurtured in ground drenched with the blood of their comrades’ - Remembrance Day
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
- excerpt from “The Fallen” by Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)
Learn More About World War I (The Great War)
- The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century (American PBS TV Network)
- Experiencing War (World War I: The Great War): Stories from the Veterans History Project (American Library of Congress)
- The Western Front: a World War One Summary (The War Times Journal)
- First World War 1914–18 (Australian War Memorial)
- World War I Information (The Great War Society)
- Australian commemoration of Remembrance Day (Australian Government Culture website)
- Remembrance Day / Poppy Day / Armistice Day / Veterans Day as commemorated around the World
- ANZAC Day (Australian Government Culture website)
Visit Tyne Cot World War 1 Cemetery
Tyne Cot Cemetery is located 9 kilometres north east of Ieper town centre, on the Tynecotstraat, a road leading from the Zonnebeekseweg (N332).
There is a reasonable amount of parking space near the entrance but beware of the numerous coaches that bring visitors to the cemetery. More information at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
Download Instructions
- Click on the preview photo
- When the full size photo is displayed in Flickr - click on the “All sizes” button above the photo to see the full 1024×768 resolution JPG
Every month I’ll publish a new Free Desktop Wallpaper for your computer by a Guest Photographer or from the archives of photos I’ve taken, subscribe to my RSS feed to make sure you get the next one.
Other photos I’ve taken can be viewed at my Google Picasa Web Photo Album
Other photos by Fushmush can be seen at her Flickr Profile.
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