White Poppy and Rememberance

I was too Annie, I think it was the photograph of the 'Kings Pilgrimage' in 1922, with George Vth looking at graves as far as the eye could see. The enormity of the losses was such as was difficult to comprehend! I think we have to remember German losses in both wars too. They were young men too and by no means were all wicked. My mother, despite her loss in WW2, was very emphatic about this to the point that in the interest of Peace and Reconciliation (Baptist Chapel) had a German girl to stay with us for two months in 1957. She and her family became lifelong friends, visiting regularly over the years. Hatred is a corrosive as we now sadly see on a daily basis.

Anniebach

The red poppy is worn because of the many deaths in poppy fields, no one was buried beneath white poppies .

I agree Anniebach, I have numerous relatives buried in France and Flanders and the red poppies as you say grew there because they like rough soil. They were buried where they fought and died among the poppies and later reinterned in the war grave cemeteries.
My late mother visited her uncle's grave in Flanders and said the red poppies were everywhere.

Dee1012

Just my own opinion but for me it really doesn’t matter what colour poppy you choose to wear, or how or when you choose to wear one. While they are a symbol of remembrance and respect....you may even choose not to wear one, remembering and paying your respects in a different way instead, and that’s absolutely fine. It's the act of remembrance that matters however you choose to remember.

Exactly. Most people just wear a poppy of whatever colour as an act of remembrance without the need to mention it. Some don’t.

I always connect red poppies with summer and picnics and meadows mine only grow in the garden in summer are they really an autumn / winter flower ?

Simplistically, the First World War was mainly an attempt to reign in Germany's growing military power in Europe. It succeeded short-term but increased again under Hitler.

It is a pity that the women concerned about the 'increasing militarisation of the red poppy' did not choose a different symbol to represent peace. The red poppy, inspired by the iconic poem written by a serving Canadian doctor who died in a military hospital in 1918, was chosen to represent the hope, colour and reassurance it brought to those fighting in the desolate battlefields in Normandy, as it was the only living thing to survive.
Following the War, and subsequent wars, the money raised went directly to help those injured in combat and their dependents, and still does.
The money raised by white poppies goes to promote peace.
No reason, as someone said, not to buy and wear both.

When I started working on family trees I found photographs of graves and names on walls for families who had lost family members, they all had names, two were 16,

My granny’s first husband died in WW1 , she was 25 with 3 small children, she did marry again age 28 but died in childbirth age 31, I know from letters she loved her husband Arthur.

Anniebach

How can anyone think of the dead of wars as ‘dead soldiers’,
I am shocked even by you Gloryanny

They died / they were soldiers.
They were also my grandfather / your relatives.

What makes me sad is the rarely mentioned the children kidnapped from Israel and somewhere in Gaza, Ukrainian children still missing somewhere in Russia and many other children in other countries.

Millymay I have no relatives who died in the wars, I researched for other families

Anniebach

Millymay I have no relatives who died in the wars, I researched for other families

I didn’t necessarily mean your relatives as such, I meant the relatives of all of us (including the families you researched for. Sometimes people have different opinions / different views and it’s not a bad idea to stop and think, “Oh, that’s interesting, I hadn’t thought of it like that”, rather then immediately jump into an unnecessarily challenging, combative reaction.

Oreo

Well, it hasn’t happened yet Jackiest has it?
Wearing only a white peace poppy instead of the usual red for remembrance is your choice franbern and while you were thinking about the cries of the children in Gaza I hope you spared a moment to think of the cries of children in Israel on the 7th October cruelly tied up and murdered by hamas.
Also if you stand around in the High St and hand out laminated sheets then you will likely get some remarks you may not like.

And it never will happen unless people start taking a stand against wars.
The white poppy is for all people that have been killed in wars no matter what race, gender or colour they are.

WWI was't fought in Normandy, eazybee. It was fought in northern France and Belgium.

Having said that, our holiday property in France is in Normandy, where the D Day landings took place, and there are many WW2 graveyards there which are beautifully kept and thought provoking to visit. Including the German ones.

There is also the purple poppy which is a symbol of remembrance for the animals who served their country during times of conflict. This year, I have felt the need of white poppies and am part of a yarn bombing group who contributed to a display of those. It takes nothing away from remembrance of those who died but adds a hope for peace.
A few years ago Mr P and I stood at the gravestone of his great uncle on the centenary of his death in France. We were on a tour of war graves, following the route that my grandfather's regiment took during his service in WW1. My grandfather didn't die, but he was wounded three times and his health was poor for the rest of his life. I always think of the survivors too and the terrible conditions that they have endured.

Jackiest

Oreo

Well, it hasn’t happened yet Jackiest has it?
Wearing only a white peace poppy instead of the usual red for remembrance is your choice franbern and while you were thinking about the cries of the children in Gaza I hope you spared a moment to think of the cries of children in Israel on the 7th October cruelly tied up and murdered by hamas.
Also if you stand around in the High St and hand out laminated sheets then you will likely get some remarks you may not like.

And it never will happen unless people start taking a stand against wars.
The white poppy is for all people that have been killed in wars no matter what race, gender or colour they are.

I already knew what the white poppy stood for.
I made the point about it not happening yet as for so many thousands of years wars in some form or another have been going on.Before that, tribe against tribe.
Which people will ‘take a stand against wars’ ? A handful of conscientious objectors? It’s no good saying we wish the world would hold hands and sing, wouldn’t that be lovely, but not human nature.
There will be wars for many centuries in the future is my bet.
Some worth fighting for like WW2 and others def not.

I’ve never seen anyone wearing a white poppy, or seen anyone selling them.

I'll wear my red poppy and I'll wear it remembrance of all who fall in wars, whatever race, ethnicity, nationality, colour, creed, gender, height, weight, soldier, sailor, airman, civilian and animals too. I get so tired of everything and everyone being put in boxes, as if one box is worth more than another.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202311/medium-436073-poppies12.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202311/medium-584945-poppies24.jpg

I think the Tower of London display in 2014 showed us the significance of the red poppy. There were 888,246 ceramic poppies, representing every soldier from Britain and the empire killed in WW1. I bought one and it still sits on my sideboard in a display case.
I think the white poppy is also important and why should there be any conflict? People should wear one or both or neither.

Aberystwyth today held a Remembrance ceremony with red and white poppies

I’ve just seen part of the march past at the Cenotaph this morning. There was a wreath to commemorate working dogs - it was purple poppies, with a red paw print in the middle.

Very poignant to see a group of children, who had a parent killed in war walking by.

AreWeThereYet

I'll wear my red poppy and I'll wear it remembrance of all who fall in wars, whatever race, ethnicity, nationality, colour, creed, gender, height, weight, soldier, sailor, airman, civilian and animals too. I get so tired of everything and everyone being put in boxes, as if one box is worth more than another.

I agree .

Suggesting that a white poppy represent desire for peace more strongly than a red one, tends to diminish the significance of the red poppy. The red blood of so many young men on those fields where the red poppies grow is a real reminder of the brutality of war and the futility of the war to end all wars. If only it had

Whilst a white poppy represents peace, nothing for the grief, sorrow, respect, memories, a red poppy does.

You might like to know that the French wear a bleuet - cornflower because they also thrived on the battlefields.

Wear whichever poppy you choose. The men who went to war were fighting for peace. The money raised through the sale of red poppies goes to help those or the descendants of those who put their desire for peace into actions to obtain it.
Many of those who fought, died in the struggle to obtain peace.
They wanted peace just as much as those wearing a white poppy want peace.
The only comment about the virtue of white poppies that I find objectionable is where they claim
A refusal to celebrate or glamorise war itself.

Apart from the cinema, who do they imply is celebrating and glamorising war?

Anniebach

The red poppy is worn because of the many deaths in poppy fields, no one was buried beneath white poppies .

Yes, that us why, Anniebach 😥

Do you not think that anyone wearing a red poppy prays for peace too, Franbern?

People wearing red poppies were in church praying for peace.

This thread and similar ones each year cause more division where none is needed.

Well said, Mollygo

It is only the film industry, TV, which glamorises war.
No one who wears a red poppy does so.