2015 is the
- 200th anniversary of Waterloo [Sunday June 18 1815], more details here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo
- 800th of Magna Carta, [June 19 1215] more details here:http://magnacarta800th.com/
- and the 100th of the WW1 battle of Ypres, where so many Northumberland soldiers lost their lives. The battle was fought between late April and May 1915 over many weeks: it featured many terrible things including the first use of gas in an attack: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Ypres
Later in the year we will celebrate the 600th Anniversary of the battle of Agincourt on St Crispin's Day - Friday 25th of October 1415- when the English Longbow changed the course of military history in the pas de Calais led by Henry V. But for me the memories during the April / May 2015 months will be of the First World War.
On the 3rd May 1915, during the Second Battle of Ypres, Major John McCrae MD penned "In Flanders Fields", after “Sixteen Days of Hell” tending the wounded at the Essex Farm dressing station near Ypres in the so called “Ypres Salient”, Belgium.
It is now the key WW1 poem. http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-fields.htm
