90th Anniversary of the Armistice.

[jaytyger]

Hopefully everybody knows that Sunday the 9th of November marks the 90th Anniversary of the Armistice. I look forward to seing Dulwich ablaze with poppies and I hope everybody attends their local war memorial.

regards

Jaytyger.

[MitchK]

I quite agree but I fear that there is very little sense of history these days. People are more interested in who is winning on X factor or whatever reality rubbish they waste their lives watching. Where is our local war memorial and will there be a service?

[Keef]

Memorial recently restored up on the corner of Dulwich Common. Don't think your attitude is entirely fair. Doubt I'll go to be honest, and I hate reality tv.

[Marmora Man]

I'll be selling poppies again on Lordship Lane - and helping people to remember the casualties of current and more recent wars as well as the dead of the FIrst World War.

[TillieTrotter]

My children and I always wear our poppies. We are also addicted to X Factor.:-S

[Michael Palaeologus]

Hmm - possibility of a new reality talent show:

"I'm a Celebrity, Please Dont Shoot Me" - 12 Z-list celebs are sent to Helmand Province and have to spend an open ended tour of duty.

The winner is the last celeb-standing.

It has already been piloted with the spare-heir Prince Harry.

[Moos]

I'll be wearing mine.

[Ted Max]

I'll be wearing mine.

I waste my life watching Strictly Come Dancing andI have enough sense of history to know where the war memorial is.

[Keef]

Just for the record, I will be wearing a poppy, I just probably won't go the the memorial. I'll probably be in with my feet up watching the Sunday morning edition of Hollyoaks.

[Brendan]

I will be wearing mine as I always have. I only wish that in the UK there were options for which charity you supported by doing so. It?s not that I don?t see the Legion as a good cause. It is a very noble one. I just think that perhaps supporting a pacifist agenda of some kind may be more helpful in creating a future where the sentiment behind Remembrance Day is better realised. That being a future where young men no longer get blown to pieces in wars and institutions like the Legion are non longer necessary.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

This is what you want Brendan: white poppy

Not that I advocate it.

[Brendan]

No that's silly. Why should you have to make a statement that you aren?t supporting the Legion? They didn?t come up with the idea of wearing red poppies of Remembrance Day, they don?t own the idea. Why should I have to break from tradition just because they have ?the market? cornered so to speak?

[Moos]

What charity would you suggest as a better recipient of your poppy money, Brendan?

I see your pacifist point, but the Legion doesn't advocate war, it just supports its casualties. I'm not sure that I can think of a more appropriate recipient.

[SteveT]

It seems to me the Legion has deviated from the noble origins of supporting it's casualties, by supplying cheap booze at their bars for the alcoholics it tends to attract.

I doubt many have ever seen khaki except in dads army.

[Keef]

Fair point, but they're doing what they need to to survive. Basically the old school membership has / basically died off, but they still need to attract custom to keep the charity going and support those who remain.

[Brendan]

I don?t really know really Moos, I would be loathe to take anything away from the Legion.

I still somehow feel that if 90 years after the WW1 Armistice peoples? sons are still getting blown to hell we have somehow missed the message.

[Siduhe]

Keef Wrote:

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> Fair point, but they're doing what they need to to

> survive. Basically the old school membership has /

> basically died off, but they still need to attract

> custom to keep the charity going and support those

> who remain.

The British Legion is still very active in supporting all those who have served and are currently serving in the Armed Forces, and their dependants, not just those of WWI and WWII. That includes people who fought in the Falklands, the First Gulf War and a whole group of people who have been injured on active peacekeeping duties in places like Kosovo. A big part of their current work is offering psychological support and care, because these services are often overlooked by the Armed Forces and social services don't necessarily understand the particular issues of ex-servicemen or have the resources to meet their particular need.

The Legion also fights a large number War Disablement Pension cases for serving and ex-servicemen who would not otherwise have the funds to bring a claim (which is how I know all of this - I have worked with them pro-bono in the past).

[Moos]

Brendan Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I don?t really know really Moos, I would be loathe

> to take anything away from the Legion.

>

> I still somehow feel that if 90 years after the

> WW1 Armistice peoples? sons are still getting

> blown to hell we have somehow missed the message.

Yes, I know what you mean.

[mikese22]

the origin of poppy wearing (according to wikipedia):

The poppy's significance to Remembrance Day is a result of Canadian military physician John McCrae's poem In Flanders Fields. The poppy emblem was chosen because of the poppies that bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their red colour an appropriate symbol for the bloodshed of trench warfare. A Frenchwoman, Anna E. Gu?rin, introduced the widely used artificial poppies given out today. Some people choose to wear white poppies, which emphasises a desire for peaceful alternatives to military action.

Brendan Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> No that's silly. Why should you have to make a

> statement that you aren?t supporting the Legion?

> They didn?t come up with the idea of wearing red

> poppies of Remembrance Day, they don?t own the

> idea. Why should I have to break from tradition

> just because they have ?the market? cornered so to

> speak?

[Loz]

The poppy's significance to Remembrance Day is a result of Canadian military physician John McCrae's poem In Flanders Fields. The poppy emblem was chosen because of the poppies that bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their red colour an appropriate symbol for the bloodshed of trench warfare.

Reminds me of the final scene of Blackadder Goes Forth. Comedies somehow shouldn't leave you wanting to cry, but that had to be one of the finest 10 seconds of television made.

[KalamityKel]

SteveT Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> It seems to me the Legion has deviated from the

> noble origins of supporting it's casualties, by

> supplying cheap booze at their bars for the

> alcoholics it tends to attract.

>

> I doubt many have ever seen khaki except in dads

> army.

Steve what you getting at? I'm not sure if your comment has got me annoyed or not.

[Marmora Man]

The Royal British Legion does sterling work - the impression that it's all about the drinking club is completely wrong. They are a force for good and support all veterans in a huge variety of ways. I remember my father explaining to me that the Legion helped him and my mother with a small loan to buy pram and baby clothes when I was born in the 50's.

More currently the Legion is at the forefront of campaigning for, and providing financial, social and emotional support to, serving and retired military personnel and their families - which, even today, means almost 20% of the British population (10.5 million).

It's website says: The Legion was founded in 1921 as a voice for the ex-Service community and over 380,000 members continue to ensure that this voice does not go unheard. Although the needs of ex-Service people have changed over the years, we are still there to safeguard their welfare, interests and memory. British service people are in action around the world every day of the year. They know that if they need our support - now or in the future - the Legion is always on active duty for them.

See Royal British Legion

[*Bob*]

Loz Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Reminds me of the final scene of Blackadder Goes

> Forth. Comedies somehow shouldn't leave you

> wanting to cry, but that had to be one of the

> finest 10 seconds of television made.

Once they decided to remove the laughter track - present in the first airing.

[Asset]

You could always wear a red poppy and a white poppy

[Brendan]

Nah. Red poppies are the tradition. Why detract from the original imagery. Why can't red poppies symbolise a pacifist agenda regardless of which charity they support?

And surely anybody who as the consequence of war needs charitable support would like to see an end to aggressive military policy.