The symbol of the poppy was first associated with the First World War. This bright red flower became a common sight to see on the battlefields of northern France in 1915. Soldiers on the Western Front would even send pressed poppies in letters to their loved ones. 1915 saw fierce fighting at places like Loos and Ypres in France and Belgium. Poppies grew well in the churned-up soil of the battlefield shell craters.
The constant bombardment not only churned up the soil, and brought seeds to the surface but the nitrogen of the explosives helped to fertilise the earth and give the poppies enough nutrients to grow and bloom.
In 1915, after losing a friend during the Battle of Ypres, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian doctor, wrote a poem inspired by the colorful display of poppies that had sprung up on the battlefields. It's called 'In Flanders Fields'
