Will you be wearing a poppy?

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To support the work that the Royal British Legion do.

Nobody around here seems to be wearing one.

It's not even November yet!

It did get very heated. I agree,
Thats not the issue.
The issue is that she was accused of suicide comments.
She made no reference or inference of suicide.

Thats why PP was baffled and upset at the accusation

Plenty still stand in Australia.

Same here, the whole thing makes me very uncomfortable. 'Never again' worked well, didn't it...

Well. This thread (predictably) disintegrated fast. There are a lot of interesting, considered comments but as to the more vehement posters who have been monopolosing the later part of the thread, a novel suggestion. Why not live and let live? If you want to wear a poppy, wear one. If you don't, don't.

Demanding of absteiners in morally indignant tones 'What is fucking wrong with you?', as at least one particularly aggressive poster does above, or accusations of conformist virtue-signalling from the poppy-wearers on the other side, are not going to convince anyone around to your point of view. People have minds of their own. The suggestion that environmental concerns are a 'pathetic excuse' is also particularly ignorant and inflammatory. This is a legitimate concern and no one needs 'excuses' to justify their personal decisions to anyone.

So someone's made a different decision to our own for whatever reason. What of it? They're simply exercising their entitlement to that choice.

It isn't a personal affront.

Yes. I bought a knitted one the other day I don't get on with the paper ones that never stay on, no matter how hard I try pinning them.

I do respect the rights of people to not wear them though. The wonderful thing is we live in a free land where we don't have to wear them if we don't want to.

I wear a poppy every year. Why do people think it's been taken over by the Far Right? I don't think it has.

I will because to me, it's about remembrance. I don't mind if people don't want to wear one, but I would hope it's a conscious and well informed choice either way. I'm a saddened if it's seen as jumping on some sort of bandwagon and I'm equally saddened if it's not seen as relevant today.

I've recently received copies of the war records of a relative who died in WW2. Can you imagine sitting at home for four years whilst your husband is away with these letters intermittently arriving out of the blue onto the doormat. And then the final, dreadful letter. This is why I choose to remember, not just those that died, but everyone who lived through it too.

My parents both served in the RAF in WW2. My father was captured at the fall of Singapore and was a POW for the rest of the war. My grandfathers both fought in the trenches in WW1.
I wear a poppy mainly because it makes me think about their lives, (and partly because I sing in a church choir at the annual Remembrance service where a poppy is expected.)
I don't judge anyone who does or doesn't wear one.

I don't need a poppy to remember them which is why I can write here on mumsnet testifying to the fact that they're there... not a poppy in sight.

They are not related to me nor are the hundreds of thousands of other young men who perished... I remember them because I am grateful for their sacrifice.

I will be wearing a poppy

Well @3dogsandarabbit you're maybe fortunate enough to live somewhere where this isn't an issue, but a look at our local Facebook group would tell you otherwise.

I must admit I have never seen the far right connection and I am currently living in an area where there are some EDL activists. That isn't to say it isn't there.

Of course I will. It's not glorifying war, it's remembering those who have given their lives so people can spout such rubbish freely.

Many in my family have served in various wars so I see the work our amazing military charities do firsthand unfortunately. For example, the therapy for my friend who helped clear mass graves in the Balkans as part of his peace keeping duties.

I always do, I buy an enamel pin badge every year and wear it with pride from November 1st.

At the going down of the sun. And in the morning. We will remember them.

We attend church for the Remembrance Day service too, the children have attended since they were 2.

We’re a military family. It would never occur to me not to wear a poppy.

No. I am a veteran but don't agree with the RBL. It seems to exist for it's own benefit and pays enormous wages for some but relies on volunteers and fund raising. It has huge amounts of money in property and I don't think it supports people enough or fights the causes of war and poverty. Far too many veterans homeless and RBL could easily afford hostels across the country.

You might be glad of the British Military one day! Fast approaching by the looks of things. Army wife, grandchild of people who served in World War One and ex service person myself so yes I will absolutely be wearing one.

Thank you for sharing those letters @Remembering1944. They are both fascinating and heartbreaking to read. It must have been truly awful to receive such devastating news in the form of a short, factual letter. Not that there is ever a pleasant way to receive such news.

They are not 'spouting rubbish'. They've come to a different conclusion from your own, that's all.

My grandfather saw active service in WW2. He had a huge hole in his leg caused by falling shrapnel - it only just missed a major artery - and it was his comrades whose deaths he witnessed. He also happened to be a working-class tradesman from a Yorkshire regiment, who was by no means a member of the officer class.

In retrospect it's now clear to me that a major bout of 'depression' he suffered during my mother's childhood was a form of post-traumatic stress syndrome (easier for me to recognise as I also have cPTSD, obviously for quite other reasons). But by the standards of that day and age, it wasn't 'manly' to talk about mental health issues. Society is much more comfortable sticking with the hero myth.

My grandfather would never, ever talk about it. I never saw him wear a poppy. He also detected a certain mawkishness and glorifying of a conflict he only wished to forget. That was his right. An intelligent, cerebral man, he was the last person in the world who could be accused of 'spouting rubbish'.

Such offensive posts coming from a position of apparent moral superiority. Strangely enough, wearing a piece of folded red paper does not give you first dibs on this.

And what are the British Military going to do exactly?

It’ll be over in seconds

Yes, in memory of my lovely grandfather.

It is lovely to read that some people are wearing a poppy very specifically in memory of a family member who died. Here in NI many people are very specifically NOT wearing one - in memory of a loved one who died. We should all try to understand one another. I haven't time for militant, pompous eejits telling other people what they should or shouldn't do. It's a matter of personal choice.

Tessisme · Today 10:59
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It is lovely to read that some people are wearing a poppy very specifically in memory of a family member who died. Here in NI many people are very specifically NOT wearing one - in memory of a loved one who died. We should all try to understand one another. I haven't time for militant, pompous eejits telling other people what they should or shouldn't do. It's a matter of personal choice”

Well said.

My papa was injured in WW1 and never fully recovered, my uncles served in WW2 and my aunts were in the Wrens and the Wraf. None of them ever talked about it because it was too traumatic.
I wear a white poppy and a purple poppy. Lessons haven't been learned and "never again" has been completely forgotten about.

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