somerset
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Its the Guardian, are you surprised really?...... anti-everything reporting, simply for effect, simply to look good among the 'right-on' class.
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The Tower of London poppies are fake, trite and inward-looking
- Thread starter Hillian1
- Start date
- Jan 3, 2012
- 16,597
It is certainly a far more complicated issue than you seem to realise........
The point of the original article, and the same writer's further article in the Guardian on Saturday, was that he wanted something that recalled the horrors of war, which a red poppy does not. Some of the more moving experiences I have had have been visiting war cemeteries both in France and at home where several different nationalities might be buried alongside each other.
Going to the cemetery in the Royal Victoria Country Park in Netley, just outside Southampton and seeing graves of German soldiers marked "ein unbekannter Soldat" - an unknown soldier - brings it home that badly wounded soldiers were taken in by the British medics, brought to these shores, looked after, but could still die without anyone knowing who they were, and with their families never knowing their fate.
There is an amazing memorial in the military cemetery in Arras which holds the names of all the British people missing presumed dead just in that theatre of operation during a two year period. It has more than 70,000 -seventy thousand - names on it. Both my wife and I were pointed towards members of our own families whose names were on there.
The writer of the article is trying to avoid romanticising the horrors which led to that. I think he has a point. Incidentally, at one point he commends Caroline Lucas for wearing a red poppy and a white poppy side by side, which is perhaps an indication that a red poppy is only part of the answer.
Just got back, and I would highly recommend that anyone who gets the chance to see it should do so. Aesthetically stunning, but also a very poignant reminder of the cost of WWI. I took a few photos, hopefully the links will work:
Great pics, thanks for sharing. Mightily impressive.
Ah the annual Remembrance Sunday binfest. Wife and I are going up to see the poppies this week, probably Wednesday.
And yes, the last couple of years I haven't worn a poppy as I felt it had become too political and militaristic ("Support our troops, wear your poppy") rather than the remembrance of sacrifice. But this year, given the centenary and our withdrawal from Afghanistan, I shall be wearing it again with pride and gratitude. Thanks for you efforts, Dad.
And yes, the last couple of years I haven't worn a poppy as I felt it had become too political and militaristic ("Support our troops, wear your poppy") rather than the remembrance of sacrifice. But this year, given the centenary and our withdrawal from Afghanistan, I shall be wearing it again with pride and gratitude. Thanks for you efforts, Dad.
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Its not at all, do gooding drips like you invent any complications.
Bold Seagull
strong and stable with me, or...
A great thread where it appears most didn't even read the article that they're decrying.
Err.........what have I done that is so nauseating?
Not you.....
Phew #WipesBrow
Don't do good, be evil, you know it sells arms!
- Jan 3, 2012
- 16,597
Sometimes, when certain people start throwing what they probably consider insults at you, you just know you've got it right!
Fear of the educated, you ?and for the record , I remember OUR war dead , sorry about all the others, but I'm one of those people who was brought up to care about YOUR OWN , perhaps all that middle class guilt at your public school has rubbed off on you.
Or maybe in just a better person than you.
- Apr 5, 2014
- 23,595
I agree with all of the above. Remembrance Sunday has become important to me, but equally 'Armed Forces Day' means little. I hate the thought of the Government using this to further political agendas. I'd just as well wear both the white and red poppies, to remember those who gave their lives for the the noble cause, and pray that future generations will remember such suffering and work for peace.