Lest We Forget!

Each year I and many, many more people across the UK buy a poppy ready for the 11th November at 11am. This year was no different, and at 11am on 11.11.11 our factory fell silent for 2 minutes in respect for those men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice over a variety of wars for almost a century.

Whatever your views on the rights and wrong of the battles fought, those that lost their lives deserve to be remembered.

It got me thinking about the history of the poppy. I've always known it was symbolic of the fields in Flanders in Northern France where so many soldiers died, but how did it get to be the symbol of rememberance?

Intigued, I turned to my trusty laptop and started Googling. I came across a website and, to my surprise, read that it was an American lady that wore the first poppy as a symbol of rememberance, I had always thought the British Legion was responsible for the introduction of the poppy, but they simply followed the lead in 1921, 3 years after Moina Michael wore the first poppy in New York.

I remember the poppy-appeal lost some momentum as many of the war veterans from the 2 world wars grew ever older and died, the memories of the horrors of war dying with them. The validity of continuing the annual appeal was questioned, then the modern day wars began to be considered and the numbers of injured service men and women returning home from the Falklands and the Middle East conflicts began to revive the general public's passion for Poppy Day.

And so tomorrow, I and many, many more will remember!

http://www.greatwar.co.uk/article/remembrance-poppy.htm