Are you buying a poppy this year?

I think that manufacturing cars and manufacturing weapons are two completely different things. The whole purpose of a weapon is to kill or injure someone - though a car can injure or kill, that is not its purpose.

For arms manufacturers, wars are necessary in order for them to make a profit. The UK relies very heavily on the arms industry to improve its export figures, and politicians are quite happy for this to continue.

Thank you grannyactivist.

need2 the financial accounts of the PPU are in their annual report: click here.

Does any profit from the sale of the white poppies go to a worthwhile charity? Just wondered if anyone knew?

Thank you, JessM, for your post of yesterday at 10.39 about "glorifying being killed in a war". You have a gift for saying what I am thinking but am unable to put nearly as clearly as you can!

While I am happy, and indeed proud, to wear a poppy, I am too young (born in 1951) to remember anyone who died in a world war. What I do remember is the fact that my father fought in the Far East and saw things that he could never tell us about when we were little, but could start to tell his DGC about. He had nightmares regularly well after I was born. I remember bomb sites when I was growing up and thinking about the suffering that they represented. I remember my father's talking about the school teachers he had at who had one leg, or one arm, or unpredictable behaviour. I remember the school teachers I had who had never had the opportunity to marry, as there were no men available, and so spent their lives in using their considerable brain power to teach, rather than, as would then have been the case, staying at home. Good for their pupils of course, but they might have preferred to have a choice.

I also regret that i never met my paternal grandmother who had a husband away in WWI and two sons away in WWII. Although they all came back relatively unharmed, the worry must have taken its toll on her, and she died in 1948.

It seems to me to be quite disgraceful that, after all we have learned about the effect of conflict on survivors, that we have to expect charities to look after them and their families even now. The Royal British Legion does good work, but it should be part of the MoD remit and budget to do it, I think.

Our local Methodist church has the two boxes, for red and white poppies, side by side. I don't see the two as mutually exclusive, but as two sides of the same coin. The British Legion uses the red poppy as a fundraising tool in Britain; the money raised equips their tireless employees and volunteers to support people in need in very many ways - without their particular knowledge and expertise many people would struggle.

In 1933 the Women’s Co-operative Guild introduced the White Poppy; their intention was to remember the war dead (as with the red poppy), but with the added meaning of a hope for the end of all wars.

As such I am happy to wear both a red and a white poppy - although I now prefer to save my white poppy to wear on September 21st - the International World Day of Peace.

No, I'm not buying nor wearing a red poppy this year. I would wear a white poppy of peace if I could find one here.

It brought a tear to my eye, and there is nothing wrong with being sentimental sometimes.

Yes, a poppy emo would be good.

Nigglynellie, I would love to be cynical and say that poem is just mushy sentimentalism. But I can't. Because it is true of so many young men, and the mothers they left behind.

[much needed, IMO, poppy emoticon]

lovely post "Niggley".

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

I'm with you Goose.

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 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.

Exactly, Maggiemaybe, We will remember them.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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.

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?