Last year I wrote a post on my blog Anglophile’s Digest about Poppy Day, I had actually forgotten about what I had written, but when I was going back to check out what I had written about last year I decided to repost it here. As I have mentioned before, my husband is in the Royal Navy so Poppy Day is really important to him and both of our families.
Today is Armistice Day. I didn’t realize until now that this is the one non-religious holiday that America and Britain share. In America, Veteran’s Day is also commemorated on the day of the Armistice. Having experienced both holidays in both countries I am sad to say that America’s observation pales in comparison to the honor which the British bestow upon their veterans on this day. If you asked the average American civilian what date Veteran’s Day is, if they aren’t looking at a November calendar chances are they couldn’t tell you. I am sure this morning when everyone turned the page on their day to day desk calendar, more than one office worker turned to a coworker and commented “Hey, did you know today is Veteran’s Day?” I find it sad that Americans need a small italicized reminder on their calendar or date book to remember such an important day in our history. By contrast, if you asked a British citizen what date Armistice or “Poppy Day” falls on they will quickly answer “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month”.
For about a month leading up to Poppy Day, everyone wears a paper poppy on their lapel. The proceeds go to the British Legion and one of the most amazing things is that every single television personality makes the poppy a permanent part of their wardrobe for the month leading up to Armistice Day. Even the contestants on The X Factor (Britain’s version of American Idol) wear a poppy on their outfits on stage. I guess it could be compared to the American flag lapel pin, no Member of Parliament would be caught dead without one pinned to their suit.
I suppose here both World Wars quite literally hit closer to home. The British isles were heavily bombed by the Germans and there are still reminders everywhere of the death and destruction. Here in the North, one of the biggest reminders is the depressed economy.
Before the World Wars, Hartlepool was a major English port and a hub of industry with several dozen shipping companies calling the port of Hartlepool home, accounting for nearly 250 ships. Hartlepool’s position as a major British port made it a strategic target for the Germans. On the morning of December 16, 1914 Hartlepool became the first town in Britain to be bombed by the Germans. On this day over 1000 shells rained down on Hartlepool from German ships. Guns on the Heugh (pronounced “Yuff”) Gun Battery in Hartlepool fired back around 150 shells with more accuracy than the German ships and initiated the first and only land to sea attack from the British mainland and severely damaged the attacking ships. Despite this contribution, World War I and the following Depression crippled the once robust Hartlepool shipping industry only to be revived again during World War II. Yet again, this prosperity made Hartlepool a prime target for the Nazi forces and Hartlepool was raided from the air 43 times during the course of World War II. This once and for all cut off the Hartlepool shipping industry and it has never recovered since.
Hartlepool’s story is similar to many other British towns, which is maybe the reason that Armistice Day and honoring their veterans is such a hallowed tradition here. Particularly in the working class towns of the North where the economic effects of war are still relevant decades later, these stories still hit close to home and in many cases the people who lived through them are still around to remember.
I am sitting here in my front room, I live in an old Victorian home on the sea front that was converted to flats. I imagine that the residents of this house would have had a front row seat for that first bombing in 1914. As I sit here I can see the peninsula of the Headland much as it would have looked back then. Although it is a misty day I can see a few cargo ships out to sea, but I have seen naval ships out here as well and ships of war look much different from the merchant ships the residents of this house would have been used to seeing from their front windows. I can only imagine what it would have felt like for whoever who sat right here and watched the shells being launched from the German ships onto the Headland from this distance, far enough away that the falling shells probably didn’t make much sound to penetrate the quiet of that early December morning, but close enough to see the flashes and smoke. It must have been horrific to watch.
A plaque at the Headland War Memorial with the names of the men killed in the December 16th Bombardment of Hartlepool. A Remembrance Day service is held at this memorial every year on the Sunday before the Armistice.
If you had by chance forgotten that it is Veteran’s Day, please take a moment to reflect and to remember the veterans who fought for their countries and to protect their loved ones and families back home. I will leave you with the poem (written by a Canadian soldier in WWI) that was the inspiration for making the poppy the symbol for remembering those who give their lives for their country.
In Flanders Fields
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.
— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 – 1918)
Author Info - Lisa Coulson is an American Expat living in the North of England in Hartlepool. She writes a weekly column on Wednesdays about life in the UK. Lisa also has her own blog - Anglophile's Digest Read more from this author
British Pound Exchange Rate
Anglotopia was founded by Jonathan and Jackie Thomas for people who love Britain - whether it's British TV, Culture, History or Travel - we cover it all. Anglotopia was started to get us back to the UK for a trip and it did that in 2009. Now, the goal is for Anglotopia to make our dream of living in the UK a reality.
I couldn’t agree more. Our family really enjoyed the temporary WWII exhibit at the Museum of Hartlepool. War seems so distant to the average American; I can’t imagine what life was like for the British during both World Wars. But it certainly explains why they honor their veterans in a much more sincere manner!
I agree with pretty much everything you’ve said here- I was taught in primary school that Armistice Day (or Remembrance Day) was the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, and every year we have a minute’s silence at 11 o’clock, as well as the minute’s silence on the Remembrance Sunday services if you happen to go (I was in the Guiding Association for most of my life so I did). I like that everyone on TV and in politics wears a poppy for the month before; it keeps it acknowledged and important, which it should be. There is at least one monument in every town in the UK with the names of the soldiers who died in battle who were from that town, and every single town has a service, puts wreaths on the monument, has important figures from the town there (the mayor, etc) as well as veterans.
I think it is so, so important, that we remember, and that we keep remembering. So that we honour those that died to keep us safe, and fought for us. I heard this poem at a Remembrance Sunday service this year and got a bit teary:
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”
That’s my favourite bit of the poem.
Sorry, I got a bit over-emotional there and went on a bit. I am very interested in this topic so I’m afraid I ramble. Just take it as a compliment that I am so interested in your post that I’m typing all this! The one thing I would dispute about your post, though, is the mention of the economy and that being the reason why we take so much notice of Remembrance Day. I really think economics are not the issue. People don’t remember it because they are still poor and their areas are still seeing the effects, they remember it because they have been told, since they were old enough to go to school, about the meaning of Remembrance Day, the importance of it, and they are taught about the First and Second World Wars several times through school. Then there are so many TV history programmes about it still, parents tell you about it, poppies are sold and seen everywhere, and even comedy programmes like Blackadder show their respects when they bring it up (the end sequence of the last episode of that made me cry). I also went to Omaha Beach, and the sheer scale of the graveyard there from that one battle is astounding.
World War I and II are still extremely in the public consciousness, and it’s because of all I have just said, as well as the fact that during WWII in particular we were attacked in our own country, they actually came into Britain, and so it was much more immediate and real and important, and when we were all fighting the Nazis it was absolutely vital that we did not lose. WWII affected everyone in the country- not just soldiers, but ordinary people all joined the Home Guard, the Land Girls, who took over from farmers who became soldiers, the RAF and WAAF, became air raid wardens, fire fighters, worked in munitions factories children were evacuated, every house had a bomb shelter or access to a public shelter, food and everything else was rationed until the 50s, and the country became poorer and poorer battling to win this war. Can you imagine having to hide in the Anderson shelter in the middle of the night as you listened to planes flying overhead and bombs falling? The war affected everyone and everything. There are so many books, TV programmes, etc, about it that we know how hard it was, how determinedly we had to fight, and how awful the consequences would be if we stopped. But we won (not just the British, I mean all the Allied forces and EVERYONE), and we are free and British (and others, again) because of it.
I think that is why we remember and repect the people who fought for us. Not because of the economic reminder.
I didn’t mean to suggest that people remember those who have died in war because of the economy. I was only pointing out that the devastating effects of the war are still very relevant to present day Hartlepudlians. I suppose its a matter of frame of reference, in the US the war was a profitable time for America so I thought it was important to point out that it wasn’t a boom time for everyone fighting on our side. I think it does serve as a reminder though, buildings can be rebuilt and the generations that lived through the wars aren’t going to be on this earth forever, but the way the wars have reshaped the livelihood of the people in this town is something that still effects generations of children who weren’t even born during WWII. Its just not something we see in the US, it seems like another time and place to most Americans, but here it is still very real and it isn’t necessarily about money but how war has altered the way of life for the people of this town.
I think the reason armistice day is so much more prominent in the UK than in the US is because it seems that is the only time we are able to respect the armed forces, in the US there is this culture of respect which we sadly don’t have in the UK due to the recent Iraq and Afghan wars. You also have all that flag waving and ‘pledge of allegiance’ stuff in schools.
We can never forget the Great War, Briton lost 800,000 men and another 200,000 from the Imperial family. Even the smallest village has a war memorial commemorating the lost generation of young men, then there was double or triple that number again wounded for life. 20,000+ men lost in single battles, the beginning of the end of the Empire, the war which redrew the map all over the globe. It truly was the Great War, WWII seems more important in the US but the first war had a huge impact on Britain.
You should also mention the grave of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abby and the Cenotaph in London.