From Remembrance to Insignificance - Ben Skipper

In October 1920, the Reverand David Railton MC* began a process that would culminate in a nation bestowing the highest honours to one of the Fallen in recognition of the ultimate sacrifice paid by 908,371 'soldiers' as killed in action, dying of wounds, dying as prisoners of war or missing in action. The intention was that every family who had experienced a loss would be able to identify with the Unknown Warrior entombed under 100 sandbags of French soil in Westminster Abbey as possibly being their kith and kin.

The sound of sobbing from 2,000 souls almost drowned out the words of Dean of Westminster, Herbert Ryle, as he committed the Unknown Warrior to his final resting place. This moment of national mourning and Remembrance was a simple act. It would not be until the following year, after lobbying by two American women, Professor Moina Michael and Anna Guérin, that the poppy would be used as a symbol of Remembrance. The use of the poppy was inspired by the poem of Canadian surgeon Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, ‘In Flanders Fields’ in 1915 after his experiences at the Second Battle of Ypres.

One hundred years later, we now deal with a very politicized and commercialized arena, filled with well-meaning intention and naked avarice. The latter can often be found peddling trinkets and tat focused on the now synonymous silhouette of the First World War soldier complete with Brodie helmet, usually accompanied by poppies. Mediocre types sway and influence public opinion by wearing giant poppies as if their size transferred a greater reverence than a simple paper version, thereby making the wearer a better citizen whose act of remembrance was more critical. There are numerous crass examples out there. Indeed, a veritable cottage industry around the poppy has sprung up, drawing in the well-meaning and the nakedly ambitious, like Henry Lyttel, who recently came to blow with Trading Standards (rightly so) for his fake medal and poppy badge get-rich-quick scheme.

Lyttel is not the first to use the memory of the fallen to line his pockets or gain an elevated social status off the backs of the fallen. Tasteless t-shirts flood social media in the month running up to Remembrance. At the same time, ever more deranged mono-chrome Illustrations with flashes of red poppies are deemed to be worthy of praise as high art. Then there are dioramas that some build, almost as shrines, outside their homes. These can feature any number of flags, homemade tanks (The mobility scooter tank is seared upon my mind), and figures placed as either victors or victims in a grotesque, smug and faux superiority grotto. Such is the commercialisation of the poppy it has given rise to the term ‘Poppymas’.

Then there are the Walts, or the Walter Mitty's, who pitch up, invariable as members of the Special Forces, wearing awards they have no right to wear, in union with berets and colours worn by far better than I, all bought from eBay in time to impress the gullible. The inevitability of being outed is almost guaranteed. Yet, for the moment, they are lauded as "heroes" and the "best of us". These individuals detract from the memory of the Fallen and injured. Meanwhile, we are subjected once more to politicians and public faces extolling the virtues of the debt owed to our Armed Forces by society behind a backdrop of the local Christmas Market, whose presence gets earlier every year and now blocks the old march past route that was once lined by the public. Once the church services and gatherings around the local memorials, with numbers of attendees getting lower by the year, are over, and the dwindling number of veterans and supporters have melted away, the moment has passed. Folk quickly return to their lives. For many, the Act of Remembrance simply passes them by. When they realise what they've missed, there follows promises to do something 'next year'. Sadly, these promises are soon forgotten as life's endless chaos takes over.

Added to this, we now have to deal with the politics of division often stoked by individuals whose politics we have fought wars over are now ever-present in our lives and have reached into our Act of Remembrance. These self-appointed gatekeepers claim any deviation from the norm, including how the poppy is worn (there’s no right or wrong way, gang) is an abhorration. The almost incessant virtue signalling in the run-up to Remembrance Sunday is as nauseating as it is ignorant of history, as the media demand fealty and wheel out veterans who boast about policing strangers who chose not to wear the poppy. That’s a level of arrogance and entitlement that I cannot get my head around. It’s a fact that many men and women who fought in both wars chose not to take part in Acts of Remembrance or wear a poppy, regardless of colour or meaning. They fought for that right of democratic and personal choice.

While some acts and behaviours are not quite as brash as others, the commercialization and politicization of the symbolism of the poppy and the accompanying Act of Remembrance, are seemingly at odds with the intentions of Railton, Michael, Guérin and McCrae. If we wish to be true to the Act of Remembrance as it enters its second century, we may need to take a step back and reflect that sometimes less really is more. That is something that I, as a veteran, would far prefer.

*You can read more about this pivotal moment in Trooping the Colour released by Pen and Sword Books, February 2025 (Pen and Sword Books: Trooping the Colour - Hardback)