How is 'flanders' significant to anzac day?

Answer 1

"In Flanders Fields" is a poem written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) of the Canadian Army. The poem commemorates the World War I soldiers who died on the Flanders fields. It is traditionally read at ANZAC Day commemorative services.

Flanders is located in the north of Belgium, near the border with France. It was the scene of one of World War I's bloodiest battlefronts.

The story goes that, following one of the bloodiest battles of World War I, in the fields of Flanders, when the ground was completely churned up and muddied, thousands of red poppies sprang up. The seeds had lain dormant in the soil and, after being aerated with the churning of the soil from the soldiers' boots and fertilised with their blood, the poppies grew abundantly, springing forth new life from death.