Are you buying a poppy this year?

grannyknot I've just made my first knitted poppy (Pattern online) but will give donation to British Legion.

I've bought my poppy and will probably watch part of the Remembrance Sunday wreath laying as I usually do, but I will switch off the religious service. I find it anachronistic - if that's the right word.

Hello bach - yes of course in WW1 Ireland was part of UK and many were conscripted and volunteered. Tends not to be commemorated though does it. I remember years ago standing in the square in Bantry and noticing the war memorial. In every other country in Europe and the commonwealth as well, it would have related to the 2 world wars but not in Ireland.
It also struck me in Normandy while on holiday that there were many, very visible memorials to allied troops but none to the sons of Germany who also died there in large numbers.

Just got home from visiting Mum in her nursing home. I chuckled when I saw her sitting up in bed with a poppy pinned to her nightie. The BL had just been round and although she struggles to remember birthdays and anniversaries she was quite clear about why she was wearing a poppy!

I think the day has drifted away from being purely from being a day of remembrance and a reminder not to let it happen again, to become something else for many people. I had always hoped that it would sort of die out when I was younger, as a little girl I really thought that all the grownups should just put their differences aside and get on with things, having learnt from their mistakes. My mother thought it was funny (I was 8) and my father was horrified. However, we have lost so many young men in more recent wars and they do not have their own special days of remembrance, so as long as we continue to have wars there will always be soldiers who have died in battle to remember. Only a cessation of war that lasts until the last descendants of a war have passed on will stop the sale of poppies.

I married into an RAF family. Anyone who doesn't think the families live in ghettos should try staying in Northern Ireland. Having your car searched on a regular basis and having to show papers to soldiers with guns every time you have visitors to stay. Visitors don't like it and often don't return.

I always buy a poppy, the factory in Richmond is very close to where we live. I like to show my support for our armed forces, they don't have a choice as to where they are sent or the pointless conflicts they find themselves in, they are pawns of successive governments. Similarly those generations who were conscripted into the first and second world wars certainly didn't have a choice. In particular the Great War is one I am sure could have been sorted out with diplomacy, I never really understood why the assassination of an Arch Duke could have unleashed such hell. So many young men never returned from the trenches and were treated as mere cannon fodder. It's also appalling to read how some of these youngsters, were executed as cowards when they refused to go back to the front due to the awful psychological damage they suffered from shell shock. Having said all that I do appreciate the stance some took who declared themselves pacifists that was not an easy thing to do either.

merlot sorry to take a while to answer re glorification I have been out and about!

I think it is the generals et al who take the prime positions with the politicians that make it feel that way for me.

I always weep when I see the veterans at Whitehall/Cenotaph as I find that v moving and reminds me of my grandad who used to take me to London to watch. He cried for his lost friends and comrades.

The theory - that war is part of evolution - is set out in an interesting article.

discovermagazine.com/2012/jun/07-is-war-inevitable-by-e-o-wilson#.UnvcqFCpXz4

This afternoon in our local pet shop I donated to Animal Aid in support of all animals injured through being used in war and conflict. I shall wear my purple poppy in remembrance of all those horses, dogs, even pigeons, etc who suffered and lost their lives in war.

But the senior ranks have to be there, penstemmon. As leaders of men and women they cannot and would not want to shirk their responsibilities. Their role in a remembrance service is to show respect. If they were not there they would be accused of indifference.

The prime position alongside politicians is a nod to their rank. They may not even like or respect the person they are standing next to. They may prefer to stand with their men but they are performing a duty.

Does anyone remember that lovely moment during the VJ 50th anniversary parade when the Duke of Edinburgh slipped out of the Royal box so that he could march alongside his 'men' as they saluted the Queen?

Wasn't WW1 more to do with colonial powers locking horns than arch dukes? The assassination was a spark that lit the dry tinder of all existing territorial disputes and bellicosity.

I wear a red poppy in remembrance. I don't feel wearing a red poppy in any way glorifies or celebrates war.

You are right Jess. Sarajevo was the excuse the Kaiser wanted, and it was the Kaiser himself, to start a war he had been itching to start for years. He was profoundly jealous of Britain's place in the world, based on its empire and wanted to be equal.

If you want to know more read Peter Hopkirk's book: 'On Secret Service East of Constantinople: The Plot to Bring Down the British Empire'. The story it tells is so bizarre it could be a thriller by John Buchan - and it was because I was studying him (John Buchan) that I came to study this period and topic. I suddenly realised that 'Greenmantle' was far closer to fact than fiction!

Yes I did over simplify my perception of the cause for the outbreak of war in 1914, of course the assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo was merely the spark and as you say FlicketyB, the Kaiser had been itching to start for years. In comparison the reasons why we entered the fray in World War II were so much more understandable, World War I seemed such a needless waste of lives.

Been thinking about why it seems like "glorifying war". More precisely it is I think glorifying being killed in a war, the remembrance service etc. Countless young men were conned into volunteering for the first one, by being told there was something fine and noble about the whole thing. Huge pressure was brought to bear and much propaganda published that hid the reality. These techniques have been used by the rich and powerful to con the young and innocent through the ages. There was nothing remotely glorious about dying in France. It was a waste. WW2 is of course morally a different case and as wars go, very unusual. But if it had not been for WW1 and the botched up handling of post-war Germany, it might never have come to pass. Germany in the end suffered far, far more than the UK and the civilian bombing undertaken by the UK was horrendous.
So politicians and the upper classes on this day should hang their heads in humility at the failure of their predecessors that led to all that waste and suffering.

There is nothing glorious about war, but we should remember all those people who gave their lives in many wars. If we can't do once a year, then I despair. There are many mean spirited people who use the occasion to make political statements and say Remembrance Day shouldn't happen. Perhaps they don't want to be remembered by anyone when they die. If so, then I pity them.

I buy and wear my poppy in remembrance! As do both my daughters, who wouldn't dream of not doing so.

I also agree JessM, that possibly there would have been a 2nd world war, if the Versailles Treaty hadn't been so harsh on the Germans after the 1st World War and the reparations they were forced to make so impossible. Who knows perhaps Germany wouldn't have been such so eager to embrace Hitler's message but they were so totally crushed in the aftermath of the 1914-18 War it was a fertile ground for an extremist idealogy.

Typing error should read "wouldn't have been a 2nd world war" first line of last post.

I totally agree, janthea. I wear my poppy to remember with respect the countless young men and women who have suffered and died across the generations. They surely deserve that much. I don't wear it as a political statement and don't feel the need to justify it. Remembrance Day - the clue's in the name.

Exactly, Maggiemaybe, We will remember them.

I wear a white poppy and have (yet again) been ostracised for my beliefs. I mourn for everyone who has died through conflict, not just in this country but throughout the world, throughout time.

If I could get one I would wear it with pride but together with the red one. The red for the fallen to acheive the peace that the white one represents

Don't let the ignorant grind you down. I admire you for your stand

I'm with you Goose.

Why wear a Poppy?

''Please wear a poppy' the lady said, and held one forth,
But I shook my head.
Then I stopped to see how she would fare
Her face was old and lined with care,
But beneath the scars the years had made, there remained a smile that refused to fade.

A boy came whistling down the street, bouncing along on carefree feet,
His smile was full of joy and fun, Lady' he said, 'may I have one'
As she pinned it on, I heard him say 'why do we wear a poppy today'?

The lady smiled in her whistful way, and answered 'this is remembrance day', the poppy there is a symbol for the gallant men who died in the war,
And because they did, you and I are free, that's why we wear a poppy you see'.

'I had a boy about your size, with golden hair and big blue eyes,
He loved to play and jump and shout, free as a bird he ran about.
As the years went on he learned and grew, and became a man as you will too'.

He was fine and strong with a boyish smile, but he seemed with us just a little while. When war broke out he went away, I still remember his face that day when he smiled at me and said goodbye, 'I'll be back soon so please don't cry.'

But the war went on and he had to stay, all I could do was wait and pray,
His letters told of the awful fight, I can still see it in my dreams at night,
With tanks and guns and cruel barbed wire, and mines and bullets the bombs and fire.

Until at last the war was won, and that's why we wear a poppy son.'
The small boy turned as iif to go, then said 'thanks lady, I'm glad to know,
That sure did sound like an awful fight, but your son, did he come home alright?'

A tear ran down each faded cheek, she shook her head but didn't speak,
I slunk away, head bowed in shame, and if you were with me you'd have done the same, for our thanks in giving is oft delayed, though freedom was bought and thousands paid.

And so you see when a poppy is worn, let us reflect on the burden born
By those who gave their very all when asked to answer their country's call
That we at home in peace may live. Then wear a poppy, remember, and give.

In remembrance of ALL have give 'their all' and particularly
Flying Officer J,W.Lynes 1914-1942
Captain P.M.C. Trelease 1918-1945
R.I.P

lovely post "Niggley".