The Poppy Appeal has begun …
With Halloween out of the way, we can move from orange and black to red poppies.
The Royal British Legions’ poppy appeal happens every year from the end of late October till the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, when hoomans in the UK falls silent for two minutes to remember those who had died during the two great wars as well as those who have fallen in more recent battles.
Leading up to that moment, hoomans wear red poppies to remember as well as to help raise funds for the servicemen and women and their families.
Some hoomans mistakenly think that the red flowers represent bloodshed. Instead poppies represent new life. After the First World War, Western Europe was a scene of chaos and complete devastation. They became fields of mud and horror – they were bleak and barren – little or nothing could grow. The first flowers to emerge were these delicate poppy flowers. Thousands of them grew on the freshly-dug graves of dead soldiers on Flanders Fields.
That’s why we wear the poppy flower at this time of the year till the 11 November – in the memory of the fallen and for the future of the living.
May’s comment: Canadian Doctor John McCrae was the first person to notice and he went on to write the poem In Flanders Fields – recalling the scene. It inspired the use of silk poppies as a sign of remembrance and to symbolise remembrance and hope.
This year Remembrance Day (11th Nov) falls on a Friday and Remembrance Sunday will be on 13th November.
Bought these Poppy Dog Name Tags from the Royal British Legion Shop.
Darcy wears a medium sized tag while George wears the smallest tag.
One Response
I love that poem by Dr. John McCrae. When I used to teach about the First World War, we would always study In Flanders Fields.