Poppies have been since World War 1 the national and international symbol for British airmen, soldiers, sailors and marines who perished while serving their country in world wars and the Korean conflict. When we mourn our dead in Remembrance Day ceremonies each November, we think of a flower - a poppy. Why ? Because of the following immortal lines from a poem - "If ye break faith with us who die, we will not sleep, though poppies grow in Flander's fields." The poem expressed McCrae's grief over the "row on row" of graves of soldiers who had died on Flanders' battlefields, located in a region of western Belgium and northern France. The poem presented a striking image of the bright red flowers blooming among the rows of white crosses and became a rallying cry to all who fought in the First World War. McCrae's poem had a huge impact on two women, Anna E. Guerin of France and Georgia native Moina Michael. Both worked hard to initiate the sale of artificial poppies to help orphans and others left destitute by the war. By the time Guerin established the first sale in the U.S., in 1920 with the help of The American Legion, the poppy was well known in the allied countries - America, Britain, France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - as the "Flower of Remembrance." Proceeds from that first sale went to the American and French Children's League. Guerin had difficulty with the distribution of the poppies in early 1922 and sought out Michael for help. Michael had started a smaller-scaled Poppy Day during a YMCA conference she was attending in New York and wanted to use the poppies as a symbol of remembrance of the war. Guerin, called the "Poppy Lady of France" in her homeland, and Michael, later dubbed "The Poppy Princess" by the Georgia legislature, went to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) for help. Following its first nationwide distribution of poppies in 1922, the VFW adopted the poppy as its official memorial flower. However, a shortage of poppies from French manufacturers led to the idea of using unemployed and disabled veterans to produce the artificial flowers. In the years immediately following World War 1, governments and the whole of society, had not accepted the responsibility for those incapacitated and left bereft as a result of war. In Britain, massive unemployment accentuated the problem. ....... Earl Haig, the British Commander-in-Chief, undertook the task of organising the British Legion as a means of coping with the problems of hundreds and thousands of men who had served under him in battle. I stood on cold corners in Liverpool for many years with trays of poppies ... and it's always something that brings a lump to my throat ! ... I've collected different ones through the years .... most are gone now ... what with all the moves etc ... but I thought you may like to see a few .......
This Silk Poppy is actually one of the original poppies sold in London on the First Poppy Day Armistice Day in 1921
