why are poppies in particular chosen to remember the 1st world war?

Answer 1

Because poppies only grow on disturbed soil when the war ended and the fighting stopped the battlefields which had been churned up by all the bombing bloomed into a sea of red Poppies. considering all the blood that was shed the colour was very appropriate

Answer 2

The poppies are worn because in World War One the Western Front contained in the soil thousands of poppy seeds, all lying dormant. They would have lain there for years more, but the battles being fought there churned up the soil so much that the poppies bloomed like never before. The most famous bloom of poppies in the war was in Ypres, a town in Flanders, Belgium, which was crucial to the Allied defence. There were three battles there, but it was the second, which was calamitous to the allies since it heralded the first use of the new chlorine gas the Germans were experimenting with, which brought forth the poppies in greatest abundance, and inspired the Canadian soldier, Major John McCrae, to write his most famous poem. This, in turn, inspired the British Legion to adopt the poppy as their emblem.

The American Moira Michael from Georgia, was the first person to wear a poppy in remembrance. In reply to McCrae's poem, she wrote a poem entitled 'We shall keep the faith' which includes the lines:

And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.

She bought some poppies, wore one, and sold the others, raising money for ex-servicemen. Her colleague, French YMCA Secretary Madame Guerin, took up the idea and made artificial poppies for war orphans. It caught on.

In November 1921, the British Legion and Austrian Returned Sailor's and Soldier's League sold them for the first time.

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.

Fourth stanza of 'For the Fallen' by Laurence Binyon (1869 - 1943)

Answer 3

One of the characteristics of the poppy is that it tends to grow where the land has recently been disturbed.
The Great War (What you call the 1st world war.) devastated vast areas of the countryside, villages, towns and cities, of northern France, all of Belgium, and a substantial part of Holland. On the devastated ground, every spring, poppies grew in great profusion. In the minds of those who witnessed the carnage, the red colour of the poppies became associated with the blood of the millions who had fallen.
That is why.

Answer 4

If I remember correctly,form History lessons,(way back in 1970's)
The battle of Passchendale was amongst the most horrific ones of the whole war.
Hundreds of thousands of British men died(along with other nationalities) ,and the poppies that grew in the fields,after the war had ended,were used as symbols of those whose blood was shed.
At the going down of the sun we will remember them .

Answer 5

poppies were shocked into germination by the shelling and places like Flanders field in the summers became a carpet of poppies. It was then considered a fitting way to remember the fallen in the great war.

The poppy now symbolises all the fallen and injured Commonwealth troops in any conflict anywhere in the world.

Answer 6

When WW-One ended, the battle fields were literally full of red field poppies, nodding in the light breeze. Each poppy was said to symbolise a dead soldier.

Wear your poppy with pride.

We will remember them. Ninty years ago last week, the battle began.

At Remembrance, watch the events staged at the Royal Albert Hall on the Saturday evening, leading into Remembrance Sunday. At the end of this event, hundreds of thousands of poppies are dropped from the ceiling.

When the Chelsea Pensioners march down on to the stage, think of our nation and of the great sacrifice made by our people in two world wars and of those who continue to fight in wars.

When the Royal Air Force, Battle of Britain Flight, do their fly past, hundreds of thousands of poppies are dropped from the Lancaster Bomber, escorted by a lone Spitfire and a Hurricane.

When you are in London, spare a few moments and visit the Merchant Navy War Memorial opposite the Tower of London.

If you go into St Paul's Cathedral, visit the American Chapel behind the Great Altar. There you will find the Book of Rememberance to our American war dead. All 28,000 names of those who died in battle, that we shall be free.

Some of the young boys now have visited the graves in Flanders of their great grand fathers, who fought and died in that terrible war.

One boy I saw, aged 13, wept at the grave of his great grand father.

The ages of the soldiers on some of the graves are quite a shock. Some only 16.

Answer 7

Poppies grew in abundance in the fields of war after it had finished. A sure sign that peace had descended over that place. This is the main reason. Then people went on to say it represents the blood spilled from our men in action. Both are really good reasons to buy one next time round! x

Answer 8

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Answer 9

As most say...because the poppy was the first flower to bloom on the battle fields.
When arranging flowers never but never put red and white flowers together because they represent the blood and shrouds of battle.

Answer 10

coz poppies were the first flowers to grow in the somme after the war