The Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red

Tower Poppy buyers - when yours arrives, it seems that you will receive the petals only with no stem or centerpiece. These can easily be added and adapted to suit ones own needs. There are already people saying this is 'ridiculous' or 'bad drills'. Am I so terribly out of step with the rest of the world that I don't see it as an issue and that we take should take comfort in the fact that a lot of money has been raised for charity and that, for a short time, people were involved in a unique event either by actively installing or uninstalling, or donating.

Some poems and words to consider. To remember?

Rudyard Kipling

Tommy

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
    O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
    But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
    The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
    O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.
 
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
    For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
    But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
    The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
    O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.
 
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
    But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.
 
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
    While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
    But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
    There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
    O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.
 
You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
    For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
    But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
    An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
    An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!

Wilfred Owen

Dulce Et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.

GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

John Magee 

High Flight

 Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
 And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
 Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
 of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
 You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
 High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
 I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
 My eager craft through footless halls of air....

 Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
 I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
 Where never lark, or even eagle flew —
 And, while with silent lifting mind I have trod
 The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
 - Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

Colonel Tim Collins
Before entering Iraq in 2003

We go to liberate, not to conquer.
We will not fly our flags in their country
We are entering Iraq to free a people and the only flag which will be flown in that ancient land is their own.
Show respect for them.

There are some who are alive at this moment who will not be alive shortly.
Those who do not wish to go on that journey, we will not send.
As for the others, I expect you to rock their world.
Wipe them out if that is what they choose.
But if you are ferocious in battle remember to be magnanimous in victory.

Iraq is steeped in history.
It is the site of the Garden of Eden, of the Great Flood and the birthplace of Abraham.
Tread lightly there.

You will see things that no man could pay to see
-- and you will have to go a long way to find a more decent, generous and upright people than the Iraqis.
You will be embarrassed by their hospitality even though they have nothing.

Don't treat them as refugees for they are in their own country.
Their children will be poor, in years to come they will know that the light of liberation in their lives was brought by you.

If there are casualties of war then remember that when they woke up and got dressed in the morning they did not plan to die this day.
Allow them dignity in death.
Bury them properly and mark their graves.

It is my foremost intention to bring every single one of you out alive.
But there may be people among us who will not see the end of this campaign.
We will put them in their sleeping bags and send them back.
There will be no time for sorrow.

The enemy should be in no doubt that we are his nemesis and that we are bringing about his rightful destruction.
There are many regional commanders who have stains on their souls and they are stoking the fires of hell for Saddam.
He and his forces will be destroyed by this coalition for what they have done.
As they die they will know their deeds have brought them to this place. Show them no pity.

It is a big step to take another human life.
It is not to be done lightly.
I know of men who have taken life needlessly in other conflicts.
I can assure you they live with the mark of Cain upon them.

If someone surrenders to you then remember they have that right in international law and ensure that one day they go home to their family.
The ones who wish to fight, well, we aim to please.

If you harm the regiment or its history by over-enthusiasm in killing or in cowardice, know it is your family who will suffer.
You will be shunned unless your conduct is of the highest -- for your deeds will follow you down through history.
We will bring shame on neither our uniform or our nation.

(On Saddam's chemical and biological weapons.)

It is not a question of if, it's a question of when.
We know he has already devolved the decision to lower commanders, and that means he has already taken the decision himself.
If we survive the first strike we will survive the attack.

As for ourselves, let's bring everyone home and leave Iraq a better place for us having been there.

Our business now is north.

Its for Remembering not for villifying

I had it in mind to try and write something about the wearing of poppies.  Trouble is, the i beat me to it. And here's that link again :)

Like many other people, I simply wear a poppy at this time of year because I want to, with my reasoning being that I can support the work of the Royal British Legion and mark the sacrifices made by millions in times of conflict.  It is my 'choice'. The governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have put in place some restrictive laws over the years but we remain, to all intents and purposes, a free country, a country where the individual can pretty well do as much as they like, say what they like, wear what they like, to choose.

And the reason that they can do this is because those same governments have opted to resist the intentions of others to impose their wills upon us and others. Hence, the wars against the German alliances in the First and Second World Wars, Malaya, Aden, Borneo, Northern Ireland, Falklands - and so on.  Freedom means choice and we should be able to make our choices without fear of rebuke from others. Today I saw my first poppy 'fascist' on Facebook. There are many who, shall we say, nag others to wear poppies but this is the first time I've seen someone implying the wearing of a poppy is pretty much mandatory.

Another year passes and still I find it insulting, the amount of people that are not wearing poppy's (sic)! Yes we are a multicultural nation, but when you live here you respect our traditions and remember all that gave their lives so we could have a better one. I for one will always respect it and I'm immensely proud of them all. - DO

Implicit in this statement is the idea that many non-poppy wearers are not indigenous as the BNP calls them and ignores the fact that a large percentage of the indigenous populace also doesn't wear them. It is possible to respect something without having to wear a badge to prove it.

I wish I could write as eloquently as Simon Kelner who has this piece in the i today, whilst an old (military) colleague posted this on FB:

Poppy supporters, please stop politicising the poppy as a nationalist or Christian symbol. It's not. Support the poppy, but for the right and historic reasons. This xenophobia (look it up) over our poppy just has to stop. Please, Just Remember! If you need a cross to bare (sic), the answer's in this sentence ;) Ta. - PG


It's pretty depressing to see the many corrupted versions of the poppy on eBay associated with political/sectarian groups.

In Laurence Binyon's 'For The Fallen',

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.

Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

Poppies, Body Shop and poppycock

The time of Remembrance should rightfully be an emotional and thoughtful time but sometimes it stirs the wrong emotions.  There are those who seek to disrupt by carrying out actions designed to provoke in the guise of a protest. This year's example  of this is Anjem Chaudary and his punny Hell for Heroes protest planned for Remembrance Day at the Albert Hall. This loathsome man is very successful at getting publicity far beyond that warranted by the scale of his protest. Of course, once the sanctimonious Daily Mail has got wind of his plans, he is onto a winner.

In the past few years the use of social media has escalated and with this comes the ready and rapid distribution of information and news. But that also brings with it the ready and rapid distribution of information that isn't so accurate. Take, for example, the case of Poundland. Poundland has a dress code and in Northern Ireland, a country that is also very sensitive to religious icons one poppy-wearing member of staff was asked to remove it. On a matter of principle that individual left work, stating that they would return to work on the following Monday wearing their poppy. Poundland recanted their policy thereby allowing poppies to be worn should staff so wish.

No-one was sent home.

The same piece of self righteous outrage also says that Body Shop have banned staff from wearing poppies. In fact, they haven't. Nor have they ever. In 2009 BodyCare asked THEIR staff not to wear poppies, but after an MP protested, they too recanted. Indeed, Body Shop have put a statement on their Facebook page to that effect and it should be noted that Body Shop and BodyCare are not connected in anyway.

I guess what it comes down to is that some people want to be outraged. Do the research, people.