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A couple of weeks ago we went down to Devenport to welcome our son back from a tour on HMS Ocean. Even as far back on our vantage point on the shore, some distance from the approaching ship, we could see the poppies in the lapels (and in the case of one lass, in her hair), of the troops.
We couldn’t make their faces out from that distance, but we could see their poppies.
Perhaps you recall the frivolity Blackadder shifting into poignancy in the final episode with a picture of a sprawling field of bright red poppies. An insane loss of life.
But where did this symbol originate?
The first Legion Poppy Day was held in Britain on 11 November 1921 and the following year Major George Howsen, an infantry officer, suggested to the British Legion that members should make artificial poppies to distribute to the public.
Howsen set up a small factory just off the Old Kent Road, where veterans and their families were able to get much needed work.
As many of the veterans were disabled, this was vital employment, and the poppy was designed specifically so that it could be assembled with just one hand.
A few short months after opening, the workforce was up to fifty and Howsen moved the factory to larget premises in Richmond, close to the current Poppy factory, which dates from 1933.
Today a constant work force of fifty people, many of them disabled and ex-servicemen, manufacture poppies throughout the year, now helped by the use of specialist machinery.
This year over 42 million poppies will be distributed by over 300,000 volunteers!
With an emphasis on raising money for the Afghan Armed Forces and their families, the British Legion this year hopes to raise £36million, to beat last year’s record sum of £35million.
If anyone else has historical information about any aspect of the armed forces, which they would like to share for publication on this site, then please contact us.
Related articles
- Pimp my poppy: a charity symbol reinvented (independent.co.uk)
- Armistice Day 11 November 1918. Wear Your Poppy with Pride (socyberty.com)
- Manchester United to wear poppies on Rememberance Day after complaints (menmedia.co.uk)
