We won’t ever forget, but when we were in Knaresborough, Yorkshire for a few days last week they were just starting to get the Remembrance Day displays set up. I was surprised to see purple poppies around a tree, so had to take a closer look. Apparently they’re to commemorate the animals that have died in war. Particularly horses in World War 1, but dogs and birds also did their bit for the war efforts – not that they could have refused.
As you can see the soldier silhouettes in the photo below hadn’t yet been placed properly when we were there. If you look carefully at the fence you can see the purple silhouette of a dog.
I’m glad all those animals are being remembered, too. Is this a new thing?
Joan,
It seems to be a new thing although the suffering of the animals has been acknowledged for a long time. I think Michael Morpurgo’s book War Horse highlighted the horrors that the horses went through in World War 1.
That is so interesting! I also like what seems to be a recent trend of poppies that don’t die. The Duchess of Cambridge sometimes wears an interesting jeweled poppy, I think.
Constance,
The poppy jewellery has become more popular in recent times and you can buy enamelled brooches at the stalls that ‘sell’ poppies. It’s fine as long as people remember to donate money to the Poppy Fund at this time of the year if they are just going to wear last year’s brooch, as the money goes to invalided servicemen and women.