Fields of Freedom Kohler, Haldimand County

The Story of The Poem "In Flanders Fields" and the Red Poppies that We Wear.

Throughout History, the scarlet corn poppy has been a symbol of life. But after the publication of "In Flanders Fields" in 1915, it became a universal symbol of remembrance.

Linda Granfield's The Story of the Poem by John McCrae, illustrated by Janet Wilson, Lester Publishing, 1999.

Veteran Harold Schaus was sixteen years old when the war broke out. He had six weeks of basic training at Camp Borden, Ontario, and was eventually shipped across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary in December 1942, docking in Glasgow, Scotland. More training, more courses ~ the only good thing during this period was meeting the lady who would become his wife, Edna. She was seventeen. He was nineteen.

In July, 1944 Harold's advanced party in the Argylls landed in France approximately five weeks after D-Day. His description of front-line battles, charging up hills where the Germans were well dug in, German counterattacks and the inevitable human losses leave the reader solemnly grateful. "I had a friend who went there after the war and they toured the battlefield. He said he couldn't believe they would send us up that hill without softening it up for days. It was impossible to think we'd try it."

The Argylls' attack on Hill 195 where the German advance was stopped, was later "taught at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, as how to plan a night attack."
Schaus' detailed description of the realities of war and the hardships these soldiers endured are shocking and riveting. "Lest We Forget," wear a red poppy proudly, attend the Remembrance Day Service at the cenotaph tomorrow and remember to say "Thank you, Mr. Schaus for your service." Harold and Edna reside in Haldimand County.

~ Soldiers' Stories, Kirk Du Guid, First Choice Books, 2009