The Royal British Legion
Poppy Appeal
The Royal British Legion
The Legion (as it is fondly known) is a UK charity that provides financial, social and emotional support to millions who have served and are currently serving in the Armed Forces, and their dependents.
Founded in 1921, the Legion is a voice for the ex-Service community and over 380,000 members continue to ensure that this voice does not go unheard. The needs of the ex-Service people have changed over the years but the Legion is still there to safeguard their welfare, interests and memory
The Legion is probably best known for its role as the nation's custodian of Remembrance and for the Poppy Appeal, which is organised annually
Poppy Appeal
Some of the bloodiest fighting of World War One (WWI) took place in the Flanders and Picardy regions of Belgium and Northern France. The poppy was the only thing which grew in the aftermath of the complete devastation. At the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, WWI ended. An American War Secretary, Moina Michael, inspired by the 'In Flanders' Fields' poem (see below) began selling poppies to friends to raise money for the ex-Service community.
In 1922, Major George Howson, a young infantry officer, formed the Disabled Society, to help disabled ex-Service men and women from WWI. Howson suggested to the Legion that members of the Disabled Society could make poppies and the Poppy Factory was subsequently founded in Richmond in 1922. The original poppy was designed so that workers with a disability could easily assemble it and this principle remains today.
The current theme of the Poppy Appeal is 'Serving those who Serve', which emphasises the increasing need to help the men and women who are serving today, as well as ex-Services and dependents.
The Legion is needed all year, every year! So please visit the donation page and give generously.
In Flanders' Fields
John McCrae, 1915
In Flanders' fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders' fields
Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high,
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders' fields
If you would like more information on the Legion's work visit www.britishlegion.org.uk
ROYAL BRITISH LEGION ©