In the UK, the second weekend of November helds the tribute to those British soldiers who died in the Great War (1914-1918) under the name of 'Remembrance Sunday' It is celebrated the second weekend of November because it is the closest Sunday to the 11 of November, the day when the war finished in 1918. Different acts had place today, such as the two-minute silence at 11.00 am in London or Birmingham, parades or especial mass services.
To remember the people who fought and died, those who survive and their families, the initiative of the Poppy Appeal was created by The Royal British Legion, an association that supports the Armed Forces. The Poppy Appeal is a fundraising that consists of donating money to help support the survivors of the First World War. By donating money you get the paper poppy (the one I'm wearing in the picture below). Everybody here wears one (even me!) I got mine while visiting a church in Westerham, Kent. There was a little box with lots of them ready to take after having given a donative.
Why a poppy?
Why a poppy?
Scarlet corn poppies (popaver rhoeas) grow
naturally in conditions of disturbed earth throughout Western Europe. The
destruction brought by the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th Century
transformed bare land into fields of blood red poppies, growing around the
bodies of the fallen soldiers. In late 1914, the fields of Northern France
and Flanders were once again ripped open as World War One raged through
Europe's heart. Once the conflict was over the poppy was one of the only plants
to grow on the otherwise barren battlefields. The significance of the poppy as a lasting
memorial symbol to the fallen was realised by the Canadian surgeon John McCrae
in his poem In Flanders Fields. The poppy came to represent the immeasurable
sacrifice made by his comrades and quickly became a lasting memorial to those
who died in World War One and later conflicts.
My Poppy Appeal's paper poppy
CROWN OF POPPIES, in Westerham Parish Church
Poppies in a bus in London
TRAFALGAR SQUARE in Westminster
TRAFALGAR SQUARE in Westminster
London WC2N 5DN
THE BULLRING, in BIRMINGHAM
Birmingham B5 4BU
Y cómo no, ¡mi Bullring!
xx
BLOOD SWEPT LANDS AND SEAS OF RED
in TOWER OF LONDON
London EC3N 4AB
Tower of London pays its own tribute to the centenary of the Great War since the 5th of August by the creation of this impressive 'sea of blood' around the castle. Almost 900.000 hand-made ceramic poppies are the responsible of this simbolic and spectacular display.
Each poppy represents one British man death during the Great War. Anyone can buy a poppy for 25 pounds. The money will be used to help different charities in the UK.
The display was expected to end the 11th of November, but, due to its huge success it will end by the end of November.
I saw it the 26th of October. I was there at 4.00-5.00 pm aproximately when a man standing up in the middle of the poppies began to read some of the names of the British men that died in the war. I don't know how often they pay this specific tribute, I just know that they did it that day! It was really impressive to see millions of people around the castle, in silence, while the man was reading each name.
For more info, click here
