A few weeks ago, I noticed that people are beginning to wear a poppy on their collars. After a few days, I found out that these poppies are worn to remembed those that fell in wars. These artificial poppy are sold by the Royal British Legion, a charity dedicated to helping war veterans.
So, why the poppy? I never find out the reason until this year: Poppies grow naturally on disturbed soil. In World War One, the soil on the Western Front contains thousands of poppy seeds, which were all lying dormant. In normal circumstances, the poppy seeds would lay there for many more years. However, the battles (esp. the battles which the new chlorine gas were experimented by the Germans) being fought there churned up the soil so much that the poppies bloomed like never before.
I know that Australia have their Remembrance Day on the 11 Nov. It is the same date in UK. However, it is taken much more seriously in the UK. The British Legion is hoping to raise £26m of this from this year's Poppy Appeal, which is a great amount considering that the population of the country is only 60m. (These poppies are not sold at a fixed price. Instead, it is relied on donations.) I hope they will be able to reach their target.
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