In Flanders fields the poppies blow
—In Flanders Fields, by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD
Between 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.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
As it turns out, when I first visited Remembrance Island in Fortnite (the custom island built for the Royal Canadian Legion to commemorate Remembrance Day, November 11th), there was a software bug which had the lighting permanently set to nighttime, which of course made it difficult to take pictures!
This bug has since been fixed, so here are some photographs I took of Remembrance Island on a return visit. There are eight environments to visit in total, following the trail of red poppies:
- trenches from the First World War,
- the Pool of Peace,
- the Vimy Ridge Memorial,
- the Battle of Ypres,
- D-Day on the Beaches of Normandy,
- a ruined town to show the liberation of Europe,
- Hill 355 from the Korean conflict,
- and a sandy landscape depicting Canada’s mission in Afghanistan.
A small section of the island to the west of the towering Vimy Ridge Memorial presents information about the Canadian soldiers’ experiences in the Korean War, where 516 Canadians died serving their country:
And there is an area which recreates the recent Canadian mission in Afghanistan, where 158 soldiers lost their lives:
At the end of exploring the island and learning about Canada’s war history, you arrive at a virtual recreation of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, with row upon row upon row of soldiers’ graves.
This is a sobering and moving experience, which I do recommend you pay a visit to, in order to be reminded of the sacrifices made by so many soldiers, beginning in World War I and up to the present day. Lest we forget.
