Last Monday I was down in London for a meeting and had an hour spare to nip down to the Tower of London to see the poppy installation where 888,246 ceramic poppies have been laid out in an act of remembrance for all those who died in the First World War.
I found it incredibly moving. The atmosphere was one of humble quiet reflection. You know when you normally go to things, people can be pushing and shoving and trying to get the best view. Actually, here, everyone was respectful, giving each other space, despite the massive crowds.
I think what got me more than anything was seeing that this huge sea of red, made up of individual stems, symbolised one part of one side who lost their lives in the First World War.
Here are some of the pictures I took on the day. The one above is from the bridge on the east side of the Tower.
My first view came from the subway after I got off the bus. You can see how many people were there in the middle of the afternoon. It was the same all the way round.
You can see some of the individual poppies here. That affected me quite a lot. I know from recent, frightening experience what it’s like to have someone close in a potentially life-threatening situation. I can only imagine what it must have been like for those families with loved ones away fighting for years. That dread that someone was going to turn up with a telegram must have been awful.
And you can see in this one how they make up their sea of red:
The Shard as the sun goes down. I always think it looks a bit other worldly.
And a closer photo of the poppies themselves
While I’m sympathetic to the idea that the installation at its prime should be open for a bit longer, I do feel that the most shocking bit is yet to come. The symbolism of that sea of red being there one day and gone very quickly thereafter should make us think even more about those young lives who were cut short and the families and loved ones whose futures were changed forever without them.
We will remember them.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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3 Comments
Thank you Caron, a refreshing, appropriate and lovely post.
The facts of the deaths and casualties in World War 1 are almost beyond belief.
The 888,246 poppies represent each British military fatality during the War.
As if that figure is not staggering enough, the total number of military and civilian casualties was over 37 million.
There were over 16 million deaths and 20 million wounded.
It is perhaps worth remembering that the British Army in World War 1 was made up of people of all colours and creeds from all over the world,
see —
http://www.1914-1918.net/faq.htm
For example, more than one and a half million troops of ‘The Indian Army’ served in the war, providing more than one in eight of the ‘British troops’ who took part.
Lovely post, Caron. I went twice and was greatly affected. I disagree completely with the few who regard this as some sort of glorification of war. The two words at the forefront of my mind were – never again.