Afghanistan fighting makes sure poppy is still a potent symbol

Published on Friday 6 November 2009 21:46

IT HAS been a momentous year for our armed forces. Not only did the last man to fight in the trenches die, but the young men and women of today's army have suffered a bloody time in Afghanistan.

The symbol that links these events also unites the nation; the humble red paper poppy. It seems that as long as we have conflict, there will always be poppies to remind us of the human cost – and the poppy has been overworked of late.

When Canadian surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae sat down with pen and paper during a lull in the 1915 Battle of Ypres, he could never have guessed the poem he would write would have such a lasting legacy.

It begins with the haunting: "In Flanders fields the poppies blow, Between the crosses row on row." From that moment on, remembrance had a symbol.

It was 1921 before the first Poppy Appeal was launched but when the little red blooms appeared, it was a runaway success. Worn by young and old, rich and poor, they have gone from strength to strength ever since

Poppies grow best on broken ground, as any First World War soldier could have told you. They are stubborn, indomitable flowers which are, above all, deeply symbolic, representing blood, death and a kind of defiant rebirth, war and peace.

Although it has its roots in Flanders, the poppy has become far, far bigger than that.

It will always have an emotional link with the First World War but it became quickly associated with the Second World War and the many conflicts since; Palestine, Korea, Malaya, Cyprus, the Falklands, Bosnia, Sierra Leone, and Northern Ireland to name just a few.

The veterans will all be wearing the poppy this month knowing it represents their fallen comrades too.

Today the Scottish Poppy Appeal is enjoying a long run of record years, raising 2.1 million last year, enabling its organiser, PoppyScotland, to give 777,000 to 1,434 needy individuals and 427,000 to nine organisations that support the veterans' community.

The cost of our military past is a price that we must continue to pay and in this respect the poppy has transcended symbolism to become a core fundraiser. Countless acts of benevolence would have been impossible without its humble inspiration.

The 2009 appeal looks set to be its most successful yet, and its abiding relevance is confirmed with countless news reports from the dust of Helmand.

The public has reacted with rising observance to the returning bodies and the funerals receive wide coverage. For the first time in generations, military units are holding homecoming parades in their recruiting areas – and receiving large welcomes.

How many times have the voices of commanding officers been broadcast this year paying tribute to a now late member of the regiment? The acknowledgements are almost daily.

The war's victims and families will need support for years. It is with this in mind that this year the Scottish Poppy Appeal's adverts feature two young men who had to cope with physical and mental scarring on active service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The First World War soldier-poet Richard Adlington wrote of us: "You are the future of a far-flung past, you are the generation for whom we wept and died."

This is the crux of remembrance, from long ago to the present day. This is why we continue to remember and why, like millions of other Scots I am wearing a poppy. It's the least I can do.

&#149 Neil Griffiths is press officer for the Royal British Legion, Scotland