11/11/11

Poppy Day - Remembrance Day - is the day when the dead of two World Wars and other armed conflicts are remembered in the UK. The Armistice at the end of the First World War of 1914 - 1918 was signed on November 11th at precisely 11 am - the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For this reason, Remembrance Day is on the 11th of November each year although church services and many parades are held on the Sunday nearest that date - in 2000 this will be on 12th November.
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, was declared between the Allied nations and Germany in the First World War, then known as "the Great War." Commemorated as Armistice Day beginning the following year, November 11th became a legal federal holiday in the United States in 1938. In the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day became Veterans Day, a holiday dedicated to American veterans of all wars.
Each year the UK as a nation expresses its unequivocal support for The Royal British Legion's charity work through the Poppy Appeal, emphasising the need to help all generations of the Armed Forces and their families.
Everyone wears a poppy on that day and the days before Remembrance Sunday. Everyone except England players on Saturday when they play against Spain. FIFA won't let them wear poppies on their official shirts as they claim Fifa's rules ban use of any 'political symbols' on shirts. This ban has incensed everybody from Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere to Prime Minister David Cameron in the last few days.
"This seems outrageous," Cameron said. "The idea that wearing a poppy to remember those who have given their lives for our freedom is a political act is absurd. Wearing a poppy is an act of huge respect and national pride. I hope that FIFA will reconsider.'

For more information on The Poppy Appeal go here

The Great War