Lest We Forget

Yet again we approach that special day when we remember all those who have made and continue to make the ultimate sacrifice in defence of the Free World the vast majority take so much for granted.

The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month, the time and date we set aside to honour the fallen with two minutes silence.

This year, 2014, marks the 100^th Anniversary of the start of what was to eventually become World War One. The War they dubbed the War to end all Wars, and looking back on the horrors of those years so it should have been.  Yet even as you read this we realise how forlorn a hope that was as one hundred years later mans only achievement seems to be how to kill our fellow humans with more efficiency.

Of course as dark as Man’s past and possible future looks there are always tiny rays of hope, events that try, against all the odds stacked against them, to bring the message of how wasteful of life War can be.

As any visitor to our fair land and Capital city will recognise this is the Tower of London, a symbol of our illustrious violent past if ever one was needed, yet this year this very symbol of War has been handed over to message of remembrance that I hope will live for a long time in the hearts of all who see it.

Since August this year the Tower’s famous moat has slowly been filling up with ceramic poppies, created by ceramic artist Paul Cummins with the setting created by stage designer Tom Piper.  The plan is that by Remembrance Day the moat will be filled with 888,246 poppies, each poppy representing a British military fatality during the First World War.

Eventually the poppies started to encircle the iconic landmark, creating not only a spectacular display visible from all around the Tower but also a location for personal reflection.  All of the poppies will be sold off and the money raised shared equally amongst six service charities.

I will say no more as these pictures say it so much better than I ever could.

That’s Kate and William strolling with Harry through the poppies.

The Tower from above before ……

and After……..

One of the 888,246 that will fill the moat.

Please, if you are as passionate as this as I am about Remembering  I would appreciate  a few Re Blogs.