POPPY FACISM

Years ago, when I was a lad, Armistice Day was celebrated as an opportunity for the sombre remembrance of those who'd fallen in the 2 World Wars and, in particular, the first of these, universally known as 'The Great War'. It was always remembered that those who had fallen had done so in defence of freedom.

Wearing a poppy was a simple symbol of this quiet time of remembrance. November 11th itself was almost ignored in favour of the nearest Sunday, which day was the focus of the national services, with the annual 'Btitish Legion Festival of Remembrance, taking place on the previous evening. 11th November was a day on which distant guns might have been heard and those who wanted to, stopped for a few moments of quiet reflection, while others carried on as normal.

How things have changed. Today, instead of 1 minute's silence, we have 2; 11th November has become a day on which everything stops at 11:00, as well as on Remembrance Sunday. Today, every organisation tries to make capital out of the event, from the Government with its overblown rhetoric to the Football Association with its ludicrous insistence that its players have a poppy emblazoned on black armbands; one question I have yet to see evn asked is 'Why are our footballers wearing black armbands ?', but I suppose that's now taken for granted.

The wearing of a poppy has become little more than a cipher. It's true meaning has been lost amidst the political and commercial hype which has so invaded our world. Children wear the poppy and chat about why they do so without having the faintest notion of its origins; they relate its use to more recent conflicts such as those in Afghanistan and Iraq while having no knowledge of 'The Great War' at all. Any thought that our servicemen have died in 'the defence of freedom' has long been forgotten, as our forces have been deployed in pursuit of very different objectives.

I always try to observe the silence on Remembrance Sunday; as a family historian, I'm well aware of the sacrifices that were made by many family members, upwards of 2 dozen of whom I know to have perished in 'The Great War' alone. However, I am offended by the way in which the poppy appears on the jackets and tops of every television presenter weeks ahead of the event, in a way reminiscent of the early appearance of Christmas cards and displays in our shops: I am uncomfortable with the way in which the remembrance events have been extended to 11th November to such an extent that this day now seems to have become a near-duplication of Remembrance Sunday itself: I dislike the way in which the wearing of a poppy has, in effect, become a symbol of support for our armed forces, rather than being a symbol of remembrance. Most of all, I am horrified that our politicians have used this time as an opportunity to change the very rationale behind Remembrance Day while doing nothing to ensure that our children understand the true history of their genesis; this subtle distortion is evil in the extreme.

Today, we are all expected to 'wear our poppy with pride'. Why ? I am not proud that our country has taken part in conflicts which cost vast numbers their lives and left many more horribly maimed, I am saddened. I wear a poppy as a sign that I'm aware of the shocking sacrifice made by so many, and am saddened by it. I do not puff my chest out and display my poppy as some sort of national symbol, and neither should anyone else; the wearing of the poppy by football teams this weekend is wrong and the fuss made about it shockingly misdirected.

It is time that the true reasons for wearing the poppy were restored; it is time that Remembrance Sunday was restored to its former place in the calendar and 11th November restored to its. It is time for the 'Poppy Facists' to be put back in their box.