'Remembrance Day' Commemorative Strike

'In Flanders fields the poppies blow, Between the crosses, row on row ... '

This is the start of the world-famous poem, written by the Canadian soldier John McCrae, describingthe victims of the First World War on the blood-soaked battlefields of Flanders. Based on the poem, red poppies have represented the blood of the fallen since 1920. The 'remembrance poppy' is now themost recognisable memorial symbol for soldiers who have died in battle. 2014 was the year of the 'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red' art installation, when 888,246 ceramic poppies filled the moat of the Tower of London - each poppy representing one British or Colonial soldier killed in the war.

Each year we honour Remembrance Day or 'Poppy Day' with a two minute silence at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, to mark the end of the First World War. As on that day at that hour, on the 11th of November at 11 am, the weapons were finally rested -after 4 years of murderous war! Remembrance Sunday is held each year, usually on the second Sunday in November, to commemorate all those who lost their lives fighting for our country. There areceremonies at war memorials, cenotaphs and churches throughout the country. The Royal Family and top politicians gather at The Cenotaph in Whitehall, London, for a the National Service of Remembrance.