For the Fallen – We will Remember them – Painted Poppies. Today I am sharing a different style of post. In the UK, Commonwealth Countries and many other countries across the world, today is Remembrance Day. By tradition, on Remembrance Day the country stops at 11am for 2 minutes to remember all those who have fallen. The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month marked the end of German hostilities in the First World War. My grandfather fought in the First World War, joining up aged seventeen, being injured at The Somme and then returning to the Front as one of the early members of the Royal Flying Corps. He was one of the lucky ones, making it back home alive, many of those he served with did not.

We Will Remember Them – Where did this come from?

Taken from ‘For the Fallen’ by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), written in September 1914, just a few weeks after the British Expeditionary Force had suffered casualties following its first encounter with the Imperial German Army at the Battle of Mons. In 1939, the poet said that it was the fourth stanza that came to him first, and is probably the best know:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Remembrance day is now a day to remember all fallen in all conflicts, not only the World Wars. Sadly there is almost never a day when there isn’t a conflict somewhere in the world. I have been fortunate never to have had first hand knowledge of what living in a conflict zone is like, but I got a small taste of it during my time in the Royal Navy Reserve while I was serving on Gibraltar at the start of the First Gulf War.

I witnessed at first hand the look of sheer terror in the eyes of too many young sailors who stopped off at Gibraltar on their way to the War. As I was a little older than many of these young men, they found they were able to talk with me about their fear. I would quietly listen to them as they told me they really had not joined the dots between joining the Royal Navy and actually going into a war zone. To this day it sends shivers down my spine to think of those young men and wonder how many made it home. I only hope that talking with me gave them some comfort, it is a time I will never forget.

Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red

In the summer of 2014, I was honoured to take part in the ‘planting’ of poppies at the Tower of London for the major art installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red. This marked one hundred years since the first full day of Britain’s involvement in the First World War. Created by artists Paul Cummins and Tom Piper, 888,246 ceramic poppies progressively filled the Tower’s famous moat between July and November 2014. 21,688 people volunteered to install the poppies. Each poppy represented a British military fatality during the war. The picture below shows only a small part of the installation. To see just how large it was, click HERE to visit the Tower of London website.

WHERE DID THE POPPIES GO?

All of the poppies that made up the installation were sold, raising millions of pounds which were shared equally amongst six service charities. One of them is now on display in our sitting room and is one of my prized possessions.

Ordering Special!

I have an ordering special for qualifying orders placed between 1st and 3oth November that use the following Host Code:

S4XN32TA

Orders of AT LEAST £40 (before P&P) will receive a CLEAR WINK OF STELLA  as a gift from me. This is in ADDITION to my usual Thank You Card, Gift and Reward Vouchers. EVERYONE using the Host Code (or placing an order of £150 or more) will receive the November Customer Card Kits too. Please note that there is only one Gift Pack per customer per month.