Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day, also known as Poppy Day or Armistice Day, is observed on November 11 in the United Kingdom and several former British colonies. It is a holiday in honor of the cessation of fighting in World War I at "the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month" in 1918. Today, it is a day to honor all members of the armed forces who have ever died serving their country. The United States similarly observes Veterans Day on November 11 which honors all veterans of the American armed forces.

The red poppy flower is the symbol of the blood spilt during the violence of WWI. These flowers bloomed on the battlefields of Flanders, Belgium where some of the highest casualties of the war were sustained.

Since the end of October, poppies made of paper and plastic have been available in stores around Oxford and the rest of the UK. You make a donation which will go to the UK armed forces and then take a poppy. Many people pin the poppies to their coats as November 11 approaches.

I got my poppy while we were in Cardiff at the Doctor Who Experience. For some reason mine is all curled up while everyone else's seem to lie flat. I'll just blame it's less than perfect appearance on the rain.

Caitlin, Amy, Libby and I happened to be on a train at 11:11 a.m. on November 11. I was expecting someone to come on to the train's intercom and announce a moment of silence. I sat with only one headphone in so I would listen for the announcement. I kept checking the time, but 11:11 a.m. came and went. There was no collective moment of silence on the train at all.

This was really unexpected to me as we had been led to believe that Remembrance Day is an extremely important holiday that is observed by most English people. I had expected almost everyone I saw today to have a poppy but there was probably only one out of every thirteen people actually wearing one. It almost seemed like us, the Americans, were trying harder to respectfully observe the holiday than the British citizens were. However, they probably do more for Remembrance Day than we do for Veterans Day in the United States.

While in Bournville visiting Cadbury World, we did see a memorial to soldiers of WWII outside of the Bournville Baths. Six wreaths of plastic poppies were displayed in honor of those who died serving their country.  

WWII Memorial in Bournville

More information about Remembrance Day can be found here.