Lest we forget
November 2011
In 1919, an American school teacher called Moina Michael was inspired by John McCrae's poem In Flanders Fields to sell poppies as a way of raising money for ex-service men at the end of the WWI. It was an idea that caught on.
The annual Poppy Appeal is organised by the Royal British Legion, and the monumental task of producing enough poppies to go around requires a little more manpower than Ms Michael's fi rst enterprising scheme. In 1922, WWI veteran Major George Howson developed a design for a poppy that could be easily assembled by disabled ex-service men and women. He set up a small production factory in East London, but by 1933 demand was so great that the British Legion Poppy Factory in Richmond, Surrey, was offi cially opened. And the factory is still at the heart of the Poppy Appeal today.
By 11 November this year, the 40+ on-site employees and more than 80 home workers will have assembled around 670,000 special poppies, 100,000 wreaths and 750,000 crosses in addition to 41 million standard poppies, made to a design almost identical to the original one used in 1922.
But it's not just the poppy that thrives on good basic design. The Richmond factory has not only brought operations smoothly into the 21st century, it has the original fi re sprinkler system in place – fi tted in 1933, still fully operational and, since 2008, maintained and serviced by Fire Defence.
Martyn Greenslade is the FD Service Manager, and it's a contract he's very proud of. 'Maintaining this system is a bit like working with a classic car,' he explains. 'You just have to fi x the rust once in a while! But it's a very important contract for us. The work done by the Legion is amazing, and when we won the contract we decided not to charge for labour, only the occasional materials at cost. It's our small way of saying thank you.'
Over the years, the poppy manufacturing process has modernised and created extra space within the factory. This space has been transformed into office suits and residential accommodation, all let out to raise money for the charity. Currently, this money is being used by the Legion to offer grant funding to 21 disabled ex-service men and women, helping them back into employment.
The Poppy Appeal plays a central role in helping us remember and honour our Armed Forces, and the factory that supports the operation has both a long and vibrant history and an exciting future role to play. One that Fire Defence is privileged to help protect.
In Flanders Fields by John McCrae, May 1915
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fi elds.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Wartime Defence
By 1941, London had 2000 pumps of various sizes ready to fi ght fi res during the Blitz. Water supplies were crippled, communications constantly down, and the job was dangerous and endless. The Government issued every other house with a portable hand-held stirrup pump, designed to combat 'small incendiary bombs' and advised that every house kept the bath and sinks full at all times to supply the pumps. Small comfort against the might of the Luftewaffe, whose doodlebugs were starting hundreds of fi res each night.
News
