It is here, in the Fields of Flanders, that John McCrae wrote his famous poem "In Flanders Fields the Poppies Grow". Poppies grow more easily in soil that has been recently overturned; and the WWI bombardments were so heavy that the poppies proliferated on the battlefields. This fact, and the poem, have led to the poppies becoming the symbol of military deaths, first in WWI, and subsequently in both world wars. Remembrance Day in Britain is called "Poppy Day" and the English is Britain and abroad buy paper poppies to wear in their buttonhole. The poppies are sold to support the families of soldiers killed in action.