During the Great War of 1914-1918 the men in the trenches looked out over the shell torn desolation of No Mans Land and were amazed to see that, even in that hell, something grew. That something was the delicate red poppy, and came to symbolize, in their eyes, the ability of the world to regenerate even from the worst of catastrophes. The phenomena of this poppy was first brought to public attention by the War Poet John McCrae in 1915 in his now very famous poem "In Flanders Fields."

Very shortly after the Great War finished, Field Marshall Earl Haig, who had commanded the British Armies in France, set up the Royal British Legion to look after the millions of physically and mentally wounded and the families left behind by the dead. As a means of raising badly needed funds the Royal British Legion sought a symbol which was poignant and fragile, yet spoke for the need to regenerate. It turned to the Poppy which was written large in the memories of those who had served. Disabled veterans in the Royal British Legion's Earl Haig homes spent all year making paper poppies which were then sold to raise money for the charity. This still happens today and millions of Britons will donate money to the Earl Haig fund and in exchange be given a poppy to wear up to and on 11th November.

As you will all be aware, Veterans Day is on 11 November because at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month the guns on the Western Front finally became silent. In the United Kingdom many still observe a 2 minutes silence at that time as the clocks chime wherever they are; The British Commonwealth calls the nearest Sunday to 11th November Remembrance Sunday. At 11 o'clock on that day Her Majesty the Queen will lead the British people in an act of remembrance at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London.

This act is mirrored at the same moment at the War Memorials in every town and village across Great Britain and much of the British Commonwealth. Great Britain lost more than 1 million men in that Great War alone. We did not suffer as badly as some other countries such as France, Germany or Russia. On those British War Memorials are carved the names of the local men who died. Since 1918 the names of those who have given their lives for their country and the cause of freedom in World War II, and subsequent conflicts, have been added to those memorials.

It is of interest that even since 1945 to the present day there has been only one year when a British Servicemen has not been killed in the line of duty. At each memorial a wreath of poppies is laid in their memory on Remembrance Sunday. This act is also repeated at Commonwealth War Grave Cemeteries all over the world. The Cross of Remembrance is placed at cemeteries such as the beautifully maintained cemetery in Nicosia, Cyprus. That cemetery happens to be in the United Nations buffer zone between the Greek and Turkish lines.Interestingly, it also took place every year in cemeteries behind the Iron Curtain every year of the Cold War. This act of Remembrance and Rededication unites all nations across the globe as we pledge ourselves anew to uphold the principles for which those brave men died so many years ago in Flanders Fields.

So when you see that Vet outside the grocery store or on the street collecting change for which you get a poppy in return you'll know the reason why.

Remember | Flanders Fields | September 11, 2001 | Home