It may seem 'over the top' to some this year but it is the 100th anniversary of the 'Great War' and the 'Blood Swept Lands and Sea of Red' at the Tower of London has really done more than anything I can remember to publicise the poppy. They actually appealed for people NOT to visit this week as it was causing traffic chaos at Tower Hill and many surrounding roads, clearly the public has generated the interest and, hopefully, it will continue in future. I think it is marketed through social media much more heavily and can seem like it is everywhere but that is the way things are nowadays...
Well pointed out col. Also worth making the point that the Royal British Legion does massive amounts of good work with retired and injured ex service personnel. They pick up a slack that in truth should not have to come from a charity. As for McClean, I can't help but feel, what would I do if my actions could cause trouble for my family. Given the sound of his background (and my knowledge is only coming from what's been said in this thread) I'd think very hard about it and probably come to the same decision as him. It's just sad that he has to make that choice in the first place.
Fair enough ro remember the victims of the mass slaughter of the Great War and those who died fighting Nazi-Fascism in WW2 and perhaps even the innocent conscripts of the early post war period. Personally I feel to include the career soldiers of the Gulf Wars and the Falklands in the same category as those heroes is a misuse of the memories of those for who the Poppies were originally worn. As always we have to be very careful of the hijacking of such symbolism as in the case of the fascists of Brritain First who tried it on just yesterday in Rochester. Good to see Tories joining the Left to stand up against the fascists there: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...ff-against-far-right-group-Britain-First.html
Every Halloween the trees are filled with underwear Every Spring the toilets explode Every November a debate about the politicization of the poppy Extra point for identifying the fillum reference.
remembrance sunday for ww1 and 2 maybe a Wednesday in march for any other soldiers to be remembered muppet
I think Imaz has a point Kiwi. WW1 & WW2 are totally different animals to more recent conflicts like Iraq. There are just wars and unjust wars you know?
You're wasting your breath with some of the nationalists on here. My dad was in the army and both his brothers and my mother's brother were killed, my dad himself was shot in the face and lost an eye. Even my grandmother was wounded driving an ambulance. Before the usual racists start up they were fighting in British Army and RAF. One is buried in Italy near Anzio and the other In India near Imphal, my mother's brother was never found, presumably lost over the Channel.
Bloody hell! Respect to your Clan Imaz. You're more than qualified to give opinions on these matters mate. Speaking of serving in India, I thought this clip of Billy Connolly finding out about his Irish great grandfather's carry on was funny: Skip to 19:25 [video=youtube;PJi1GmVvpkI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJi1GmVvpkI[/video]
My mistake, he's buried at Kohima, not Imphal. I'm not big on military stuff. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kohima
do the armed forces get to choose which wars they get to fight in tell the politicians to piss off the poppy is not for them
This is exactly the point. No matter how justified or otherwise a conflict is, the soldiers just go where they're told. They should all be remembered imo.
Agree about the respect totally I would prefer a society however that doesn't just put aside one day I would also introduce the black poppy and make the politicians were it These would be oversized to say fit a mans head and be made of cast iron and fixed directly into the skulls with nails on those deemed to wear one Less they forget
Fair point Kiwi. If you're talking about the soldiers themselves then of course they must be remembered equally. Each one of them is some mother's son. I guess the poppy doesn't commemorate the actual conflicts, rather the troops who simply do their duty. Point taken
To a point yes but not totally COL. You would then for example be exonerating all the Nazi soldiers for their evil deeds simply because they were following orders. I know if you're in the Army and you're ordered into combat, you are duty bound to follow those orders. However, if you felt your side is in the wrong and many innocent people would die because of a dubious (murderous?) decision taken by politicians then you could refuse to take part. There would be consequences of course but it has been done.
Swords, if you require any more information here's the address and phone number for The Royal British Legion in Dublin, I'm sure they would be more than happy to assist wiith any questions you may have..... Republic Of Ireland Office Address The Royal British Legion Suite 313, The Capel Building Mary's Abbey Dublin 7, Ireland Tel: 1 800 992294
During WWII my Father maintained a certain level of respect for the troops of the regular German army (Wehrmacht), who were doing their job, but definitely not the SS units. After the NaziâSoviet non-aggression pact ended in June 1941, Dad was involved in the training Russian tank crews at Bovingdon Camp in Dorset and they were subsequently shipped back with tanks via the northern route to fight on the Eastern front. Dad always said the men of these Russian crews were very good people to work & socialize with, but they were always extremely wary of their political commissars who generally accompanied them, lest they say or do something they shouldn't and be punished on their return home. Regarding regular soldiers carrying out orders, I recently read a story on the Balkan campaign where a young German soldier was ordered to shoot young partisans rounded up in a village - he refused to obey this order and was lined himself and shot along with the partisans - there was a photo posted of this event - brave lad for sticking to his principles. I wonder how many of us would have been brave enough to forfeit their life for that? Just found that article:- please log in to view this image German soldier Josef Schultz drops his gun to stand besides partisans about to be shot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Schulz