Wednesday, November 2

Cross


The New Zealand War Memorial , located at Hyde Park corner, pictured, honours the fallen soldier in WWI and WW2. The official dedication took place on Nov. 11, 2006 (Armistice Day) by Queen Elizabeth II, in her capacity as Queen of New Zealand.

From Nov. 1, inside the Commonwealth, red poppies are found on many lapels anticipating Remembrance Day , 11 November, to recall the official end of World War I on that date in 1918; hostilities formally stopped "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.

The red poppy is from the poem In Flanders Fields. These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant colour a symbol for the blood spilled in the war.