The fields around our beautiful Hertfordshire countryside have been very beautiful and colourful over the last few months. Firstly it was the bright yellows of the rapeseed then as it faded back, the poppies started flowering.
The poppies have been particulary stunning this year and have been in flower for nearly a month or so now. It's poignant that they should be so beautiful this year, as it's this year that we commemorate a hundred years since the Battle of the Somme. The battle was one of the bloodiest of the first world war, with over a million killed or wounded and a total of 19,240 British troops dying.
My grandad fought in this war and this battle on the Western front and all through it he wore a small silver cross with a soldier's doxology engraved on it. Luckily, he managed somehow to survive the battle, but died in his early sixties due to gas poisoning damage on his lungs from the gas that was used by the German forces to assault our troops. My dad gave me his silver cross when I was waiting for my transplant call and once more that tiny silver cross and prayer served as a good luck talisman for our family and I survived an incurable disease, receiving a heart and double lung transplant and a gift of new life. I treasure this little silver cross and prayer now and keep it safe and sound, alongside my new chance at life.
Here are some pictures of the beautiful poppies flowering nearby at this most significant time for our country.
The Battle of the Somme started on the 1st July 1916 and ended on 18th November 1916. Let us never forget the freedom our soldiers fought for.
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