Red Poppies All Over Huntingdon - Remembrance Day

We are but a few days away from remembrance day on the 11th November which falls on a Friday this year and from Remembrance Sunday on the 13th two days later. Remembrance itself is always held on the 11th with two minutes silence observed at 11am across the country. The main observance is on Remembrance Sunday which is always held on the second Sunday of November. These are more formal events which take the form of the laying of wreaths, gun salutes and parades.

The day was specifically dedicated by King George V on 7 November 1919 as a day of remembrance of members of the armed forces who were killed during World War I.

The red poppy is the familiar emblem of Remembrance Day. Poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, and the brilliant red of the poppy is seen as the appropriate colour and symbol for the blood that was spilled in the war or indeed for all the wars since then. Today poppies are worn to remember those service men and women who lost their lives in the wars.

Remembrance Day has taken on more significance for msot people in the UK in the last few years with our troops being active in Iraq and now Afganistan. I would say general that the British public has fallen back in love with our armed forces. It certainly seems that vast numbers of poppies are being worn in Huntingdon and indeed throughout the country.

Don't forget to pick up your Poppy.

Photo: DaveCrosby