Branch Members are requested to contact the Website Administrator, Stephen Brown [email protected]

if they have any poems they wish to be considered to be added to this gallery.

See our Facebook Page for further information www.facebook.com/groups/rbldarlington

If you are interested in joining the Royal British Legion Darlington Branch please contact the Branch Membership Secretary [email protected]  

(Updated 08/12/2025)

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Written by Robert Laurence Binyon September 1914

"For The Fallen"

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This Poem was written by a Branch Member to mark the Royal British Legion, Darlington Branch Visit to the D-Day Landings, Normandy (16th to 19th May 2025)

" In Honour Bound "

Beneath the skies of Normandy, where silence speaks so deep,

The Darlington branch stood still, where the fallen heroes sleep.

Flags held firm in reverence, as poppies gently sway,

They walked the sands of history, where brave men came that day.

From County Durham’s quiet streets to foreign fields of pain,

They journeyed not as tourists, but to remember, not in vain.

Each step upon that hallowed shore, each grave marked white and true,

Told tales of lads not much unlike the hearts in red, white, blue.

They stood at Sword and Juno, where echoes still resound,

Of charging souls through smoke and fear upon that blood-soaked ground.

At Gold they paused in solemn thought, at Omaha they wept,

And Utah bore the weight of those who marched but never slept.

The sea still whispers stories, of courage, loss, and grace,

And winds that cross the Channel bring the past into this place.

With wreaths laid down in silence, and bugles soft and slow,

The Legion bore remembrance where the poppies dare to grow.

Old comrades’ names were spoken, each syllable a prayer,

Their spirits walked beside them, as if they still were there.

For though the years may falter, and memory may fade,

The promise of the Legion is a vow forever made.

So here’s to Darlington’s finest, who crossed the sea once more,

To stand for those who stormed ahead upon that distant shore.

Their visit etched in legacy, in gratitude and grace—

A torch passed on in reverence, time cannot erase.

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"The Poppy"

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This Poem was written by Major John McCrae 1915

"Flanders Fields"

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow 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 your quarrel, with the foe

To you from falling hands we throw

The torch, be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

Shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders Fields

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This Poem was written by Sir John Stanhope Arkwright in 1919

"Valiant Hearts"

O valiant hearts, who to your glory came

Through dust of conflict and through battle flame;

Tranquil you lie, your knightly virtue proved,

Your memory hallowed in the land you loved.

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This Poem was written by Rupert Brooke

"The Soldier" 

If I should die, think only this of me:

That there's some corner of a foreign field,

That is forever England

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