One of the leading organisations behind these commemorations is the Royal British Legion a charity set up in the 1920's to help injured and disabled ex-servicemen. The symbol of the Legion is the red Flanders poppy which we all wear with pride on Remembrance day each November. The reason that the poppy was adopted was because in the shell ravaged no mans land of the Western Front this was one of the only flowers that thrived (Another was the corn flower which was adopted by the French as their flower of remembrance).
The British Legion have created a data base called 'Every Man Remembered' which anybody can access and make a dedication (for a small donation) to one of the 855,000 men and women from Britain and the Commonwealth who paid the ultimate sacrifice during WW1.
Many thousands of Ceramic red poppies have also been commissioned, one for each of the fallen, which can be bought as a keepsake. All these poppies are being displayed as a cascade in the moat of the Tower of London until after Remembrance Sunday when they will be dispatched to the purchasers. You can also request for the name of your chosen Serviceman or Woman to put on a list to be read out by a Yeoman Warder at a ceremony each evening at 8:30 p.m.
My Sister-in-Law applied for the name of her Great Uncle, George Read who died at the age of 17 in May 1916 near Arras, to be put on this list. His name was to be read out last Sunday evening so we made a family trip to the Tower of London to witness this event. Just before 8:30 p.m. a Yeoman Warder and Bugler from the Guards Division marched into the centre of the moat amongst a field of these ceramic poppies.
The crowd became silent as the Warder began reading the long list of names for this evening. We held our breath as George's name and regiment, one of the last on the list, was read out. At the end of the reading the Bugler approached the microphone and blew the Last Post in remembrance of these brave men and women. It was a very emotional experience and as the last note died down the crowd began to slowly drift away in silence, several of them had tears in their eyes.
