EAST LOTHIAN LIFE 19 S ummer in East Lothian brings many a splash of vibrant colour as wildflowers bloom in abun- dance. Earlier this year, a field in Aberlady was turned crimson by the simultaneous flowering of millions of poppies. Their delicate per- fume and visual impact of colour was intense. Appreciating the beau- ty of nature’s hand, I reflected on this flower’s association with resurrection and remembrance. Born twenty years after World War Two, I wanted to know more about man’s his- tory with the Common Corn Poppy (Papaver rhoeas) and I wondered; ‘what life was like for those who experienced East Lothian at War?’ Looking back over the last century, it is from the end of World War One, that the symbol of the poppy has come to serve such an integral role in financial assistance raised for servicemen and their families who have suffered loss. In Britain, in 1921, the poppy was adopted by the British Legion to commemorate the end of the WW1 on 11 November 1918, Armistice Day. Today, substantial funds continue to be raised through donations and sales collected for the red imitation poppies worn annually for Remembrance Day. Scattered by the wind, poppy seeds tend to lie dormant until soil is heavily turned. Following the devastation of war, they emerge to bloom amongst the rubble and bomb craters. Not unsurprisingly, their bright colour is often seen as symbolic of the blood shed by those who have fallen on the ground from where they grow. In particular, one poem from WW1 has served to immortalise the poppies of Flanders’ Fields. An area of large open farmland, Flanders covers the neighbouring parts of Belgium, France and the Netherlands. Here, at Ypres in April 1915, from artillery fire, exploding shells and toxic gas, more than 200,000 men were killed during three of the war’s most savage battles lasting just 17 days. Shona McMillan reflects on Poppies and East Lothian at War EAST LOTHIAN AT WAR Above: Longniddry bents with Edinburgh in background
Transcript
EAST LOTHIAN LIfE 19EAST LOTHIAN LIfE 18
Summer in East Lothian brings many a splash of vibrant colour as wildflowers bloom in abun-dance. Earlier this year, a field
in Aberlady was turned crimson by the simultaneous flowering of millions of
poppies. Their delicate per-fume and visual impact
of colour was intense. Appreciating the beau-
ty of nature’s hand, I reflected on this
flower’s association with resurrection and remembrance. Born twenty years
after World War Two, I wanted to know more about man’s his-tory with the Common Corn Poppy (Papaver
rhoeas) and I wondered; ‘what
life was like for those who experienced East Lothian at War?’
Looking back over the last century, it is from the end of World War One, that the symbol of the poppy has come to
serve such an integral role in financial assistance raised for servicemen and their families who have suffered loss. In Britain, in 1921, the poppy was adopted by the British Legion to commemorate the end of the WW1 on 11 November 1918, Armistice Day. Today, substantial funds continue to be raised through donations and sales collected for the red imitation poppies worn annually for Remembrance Day.
Scattered by the wind, poppy seeds tend to lie dormant until soil is heavily turned. Following the devastation of war, they emerge to bloom amongst the rubble and bomb craters. Not unsurprisingly, their bright colour is often seen as symbolic of the blood shed by those who have fallen on the ground from where they grow. In particular, one poem from WW1 has served to immortalise the poppies of Flanders’ Fields. An area of large open farmland, Flanders covers the neighbouring parts of Belgium, France and the Netherlands. Here, at Ypres in April 1915, from artillery fire, exploding shells and toxic gas, more than 200,000 men were killed during three of the war’s most savage battles lasting just 17 days.
Shona McMillan reflects on Poppies and East Lothian at War
east Lothian at war
Above: Longniddry bents with Edinburgh in background
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Serving at the second Battle of Ypres, Scots-Canadian, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae was working as a field hospital surgeon. Half the Canadian brigade to which he was attached was killed. Witness to such carnage, his traumatic experience proved to be the catalyst to his now famous poem In Flanders Fields. Anonymously sent to Punch magazine, it was published in December 1915. Then, after his death in active service in 1918, McCrae’s poem was published posthumously in a 1919 collection of his work.
Reprinted in the 1918 November issue of Lady’s Home Journal, Moina Michael, War Secretary of the American Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), came to read the poem two days before Armistice Day. In progress was the 25th YMCA Conference of Overseas Secretaries and Moina had brightened its headquarters with flowers. In appreciation, delegates gave Moina a cheque for ten dollars. Shortly before she had read McCrae’s poem and showed it to them. Moina accepted their gift but explained she would use it to buy red silk poppies. She explained she had vowed to wear a poppy in remembrance of those killed. Buying 25 poppies, she distributed them amongst those who had effectively given the first ‘donation’ for remembrance poppies.
Raised in Georgia, Moina’s family had originated from Britagne, France. A deeply Christian lady, Moina was motivated to help others and worked in education until she resigned to assist in the war effort. Wanting to travel abroad in war service, at 49, Moina was considered too old so she relocated. At the YMCA, Moina worked in a part of the building described as a sort of canteen area with comfortable seating where servicemen met their loved ones for the last time before going overseas. At first hand, Moina saw the intense emotional pain caused by separation through war. Profoundly moved by
Oh! You who sleep in Flanders’ fields,sleep sweet - to rise anew…
We cherish too, the poppy redthat grows on fields where valour led.
It seems to signal to the skiesthat blood of heroes never dies,
but lends a lustre to the redof the flower that bloom above the dead…
in Flanders’ fields…
Wear in honour of our dead.
Monia Michael, 1869 - 1944
McCrae’s poem, later she described it as an almost spiritual experience, equating the poppy’s emergence from devastation, to the magnificent rainbow which had appeared in the sky after the biblical flood. For Moina, her vow on 9 November changed her life forever and the personal crusade she had embarked on was one from which millions of people would benefit.
Largely at her own expense, Moina campaigned to persuade ex-servicemen to adopt the poppy and wear it in pride and honour for the fallen. A short while later, through the YMCA, Moina met war widow Madame E Guérin on a visit from France. With significant success, Guérin took up the fundraising challenge and organised production of poppies in France for the benefit of children in war torn Europe. Guérin then came to Britain and approached Field Marshall Earl Haig who had been the Commander-in-Chief of the British Armies in France and Belgium. Principal founder of the British Legion, Haig was so impressed by Guérin’s fundraising ideas that he gave approval for the first Poppy Day Appeal in 1921.
Today, fundraising still continues, this delicate flower symbolising remembrance and strength of resurrection out of loss. However, on such a tranquil day, it is difficult to imagine war could have touched Aberlady but just a short walk from here reveals the evidence of coastal defences, standing in silent witness in a county where over 100 people died in the last war.
WW1 was not to be ‘the war to end all wars.’ Twenty-one years on, the first
air attack of WW2 in Britain took place over the Forth, Lothians and Fife. Then in October 1939, on a photo reconnaissance mission, the first German aircraft to crash intact on British soil landed near Humbie. From this plane
and its captured airmen, the resulting intelligence gathered
was to prove invaluable in protecting Britain from air attack.
A rural area, East Lothian did not suffer the repeated ‘Blitz’
Left to right: Polish tanks training in the Lammermuirs. Home Guard training at North Berwick
In Flanders fields the poppies blowbetween 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…
Lt Col John McCrae, Born in 1862Died in active service in Boulogne, 28.01.1918. Buried at Wimereux
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attacks borne out on London but more than 200 bombs fell here. At Haddington three civilians were killed and at Innerwick, a railway worker was gunned down from a plane.
Highest fatalities occurred in air crashes. Through a combination of factors, including pilot inexperience and equipment failure, over 100 died. Planes flew from airfields at Drem, Macmerry and at East Fortune over 2,000 airmen were stationed. Troops also arrived, the King’s Own Scottish Border’s billeted to Gosford Estate after it was taken over by the War Office in 1940. In addition, many from the Polish army trained here preparing for return to their homeland. Then, after the Normandy landings in June 1944, Gosford Estate was used for 3,000 German prisoners of war and near Haddington; a further camp was set up at Aimsfield to hold 800 non-Germans.
The social balance of life was greatly impacted on as men went to war and women took on their jobs. Here especially, the Women’s Land Army played a vital role in food provision as Britain struggled under relentless attacks on its supply ships. Women gained a new confidence and independence at work. Friendships were struck up and romances blossomed. Many who had seen their move as temporary, found East Lothian was to become their new home.
As with any place in Scotland, people went about their lives and work as best as they could; local miners sustaining much needed coal and Musselburgh’s Brunton Wire Mill producing steel for arms. East Lothian played a vital part in war efforts and strategy. For example, in operation North Fortitude, deception tactics were used to deceive the enemy into thinking an invasion was to take place through Scotland into Norway. A deception, which enabled the Allies to prepare for the Normandy Landings. When war stepped closer, people’s resolve enabled them to adapt. Nevertheless, war touched everyone and even in 1945, just one hour before German surrender officially began, East Lothian witnessed an attack in the Firth of Forth by a German U-boat. Of the Isle of May, on the Avondale Park and Sneland, nine were killed in sight of land, victory and peace.
When next you see a poppy growing, perhaps you will recall its story and reflect on what life was like for those in East Lothian at War.
For more information see http://www.eastlothianmuseums.org/content/pages/education-service.php, www.eastlothianatwar.co.uk and Vols 1 & 2, East Lothian at War by Jack Tully-Jackson and Ian Brown. To share your story please email: [email protected]
Alex Bulloch, a native of Dunbar, is the organiser of the War Research Society, which was founded over 30 years ago by serving Police Officers and ex- Servicemen. The Society supports a number of causes and runs coach trips to the first and second World War Battlefields, Cemeteries and Historic Sites of Northern Europe. All trips have an experienced guide and include conducted tours.
Alex would welcome enquiries. Please send a medium sized stamped addressed envelope for literature detailing tour dates, costs etc to:
War Research SocietyTours of Battlefields of Northern Europe and Cemetery Visits43 Norfolk PlaceBirmingham B30 3LBTel/Fax: 0121 459 9008
Left to right: Women’s Land Army and soldiers at Saltoun. German Heinkel 111 at Kidlaw, Humbie
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