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13-MAY-2014 Jola Dziubinska

Polish Flag With Red Poppies

Warsaw, Poland

I found this wreath of red poppies at the Battle of Monte Cassino monument.
The writing on it says "In memory of those who fought at Monte Cassino for our freedom - Her Majesty's Government. In remembrance."
Today, May 18 2014, it is a 70th anniversary of the final battle. Back then in May, there were numerous red poppies blooming on the hills of Monte Cassino.
"Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino" (The Red Poppies on Monte Cassino) is one of the best-known Polish military songs of World War II. It was composed in May 1944 in Italy, during the Battle of Monte Cassino, on the eve of the Polish Army's capture of the German stronghold.

The Battle of Monte Cassino was actually a series of four intense and sometimes controversial battles that took place between January 20 and May 18, 1944, culminating at a 1,300-year-old Benedictine monastery on the top of the 1,100 metre Monte Cassino in southern Italy. After the successful Allied landings in Italy in September 1943 a route was needed from the Allied position north of Naples to Rome, and the only way through was via the Liri Valley. Blocking the valley was a mass of German-occupied hills around the town of Cassino. Involving British, US, French, North African, New Zealand, Ghurkha and Polish troops, fierce battles raged against the Germans on a slow and brutal advance towards the monastery, whose eventual capture would give the Allied forces the access they needed to open the road to Rome. At a cost of over 25,000 lives including the deaths by heavy allied bombing on February 15 of a number of Italian civilians who were taking refuge in the monastery, the final battle ended on the morning of May 18 when a reconnaissance group of soldiers from the Polish 12th Podolian Uhlans Regiment finally reached the completely devastated monastery. The Battle of Monte Cassino paved the way for the Allied advance on Rome, which fell on June 4, 1944, two days before the Normandy invasion, and is one of Poland’s proudest military achievements.

Nikon D700 ,Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
1/125s f/5.6 at 50.0mm iso200 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Helen Betts19-May-2014 16:17
A very touching image, well composed and with striking color. V.
laine19-May-2014 11:01
What a lovely wreath of Poppies...thanks for the link, Jola....an important reminder
Sam Rua19-May-2014 02:49
Nicely composed and captured, Jola. Thank for sharing the BG information.
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