(13-01-14, 07:55 PM)VNA link Wrote: Over my dead body will I wear Lady Bloody Haig's poppy.
Not for me.
While I agree with no one should be made to wear a poppy your referenece to "Lady Haig" is not quite right, it had nothing to do with her what so ever see below taken off the Poppy Factory web site
The origins of the Remembrance poppy lie with two women:
Moina Bell Michael, an American teacher, was so moved by Colonel John McRae’s poem “In Flanders Field” that she bought poppies with money collected from her colleagues and sold them to raise funds for U.S ex-Servicemen.
Madame Guerin, a Frenchwoman, took up the idea and in 1921 made and sold millions of poppies throughout the US to raise funds for the rehabilitation of areas in France devastated by the First World War. She persuaded Earl Haig to adopt the poppy for the British Legion and sent French women to London to sell them.
In 1922 Earl Haig accepted Major Howson's offer to supply poppies. The rest as they say, is history-
Personally I wear my Poppy with pride like you my family paid the ultimate price so far I've identified 11 of my family who were killed during WW1 spread across France and Belgium two on the first day of the Somme. I was shocked when I got into the research just how many of my family were evolved and this is very, very common it is said "every" family lost someone. An example a very good friend has an extremely rare name in the UK their family originate from Guernsey and there are only 35 registered with their name living in the country "today". They accompanied me to Passchendaele while I was researching my family as you probably know that is the site of one of the worst WW1 battles and is now the location for Britain's largest military cemetery "Tyne Cote".
As you can guess while there they looked up their own name and sure enough the name was there! On returning I helped them research the person and sure enough it was their great grandfather they had no idea as no one ever spoke about him.................and that is the whole point!
For me it's not about the war it's about the millions who died in it, for most with no more than a name on a block of stone. As time passes and records become available we can now see the truth behind most of what happened which time and time again has proved not to be what popular history was telling us. Many aspects of it weren't even known e.g. the underground war fought in tunnels, the utter disgrace of shooting shattered men/boys or children as young as 12 who were not returned to their parents after lying about their age to join, the list goes on and on.
To me the above is why it's important not to forget, these people deserve their story being told. That said I do think there is a ever growing commercial element taking over which must be controlled to ensure the money goes to Royal British Legion to help ex service man and woman then I'm all for it!
Bring on the Ring of Red
Later