A song dedicated to the soldiers who gave their lives at Monte Cassino battle. Song’s title alludes to field poppies flowering on the shell torn hills of Monte Cassino during the battle in May 1944. The author was also probably inspired by relations of soldiers who fought at the Somme river thirty years earlier. In their memories they often compare poppy flowers to the blood of dead soldiers.
Two opening verses were created during the night of May 17th-18th 1944 at the Polish Soldier Theatre of the Second Polish Corps garrisoned at Campobasso. The author, Feliks Konarski (aka Ref-Ren) was the soldier of the Second Polish Corps of the Polish Armed Forces in the West, known before the war as a singer and song writter. The third verse was written a few days afterwards. The fourth and last verse, was created in 1969 to celebrate the battle's 25th anniversary.
The melody was composed by Alfred Schultz, composer, and conductor, also a soldier of the Second Polish Corps.
The song was also popular in the post-war period. Communist regime banned its public performance as memory about Polish Army in the West was to be minimized.