Field of Remembrance Westminster Abbey - geograph

The Field of Remembrance is a memorial garden organised annually by the Poppy Factory in

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, London. For eight days, from the morning of the Thursday before Remembrance Sunday until the evening of following Thursday, the lawn of St Margaret's Church, Westminster, between Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament, is marked out with 250 plots for regimental and armed services associations. Participants are able to buy a wooden token of remembrance (originally remembrance crosses, now a variety of shapes for different religions, including for 'no faith') decorated with a remembrance poppy. The token is generally marked with the name of a member of the armed forces who was

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

and planted in the appropriate plot. The packed lines of remembrance symbols in the separate plots can resemble a temporary military cemetery. After the Field of Remembrance closes, the crosses are collected and burnt, and the ashes are scattered at the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

battlefields in northern France and Belgium. Any money raised at the event is traditionally donated by The Poppy Factory to The Royal British Legion. The Field of Remembrance was first held in 1928, organised by George Arthur Howson, an officer in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

in the First World War and founder and chairman of the Poppy Factory. In the first year, there were only two memorials: one dedicated to " Tommy Atkins" (a nickname for a rank-and-file soldier in the British Army); and one to Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, founder of The Royal British Legion, who had died in January 1928. The ANZAC Field of Remembrance at St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, Australia was established in 1952, inspired by the Field of Remembrance in London. For the 90th anniversary of the Poppy Appeal in 2011, other Fields of Remembrance were established at

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, and

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. A Field of Remembrance was also created at Lydiard Park in November 2011, close to Royal Wootton Bassett, in the shape 11-11-11-11, commemorating the 93rd anniversary of the Armistice with Germany at 11 am on 11 November 1918. File:The Guides to the Field of Remembrance Westminster Abbey - geograph.org.uk - 1575001.jpg, Noticeboards with guides to the plots on the Field of Remembrance at Westminster File:The Corps of the Royal Engineers memorial in the Field of Remembrance Westminster Abbey - geograph.org.uk - 1575007.jpg, An example plot, commemorating soldiers of the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

File:Lest_we_forget_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1581547.jpg, Ranks of remembrance crosses at the Field of Remembrance File:Field of Remembrance Young Family 2009.JPG, A young family look at the crosses planted in the ANZAC Field of Remembrance in

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

File:AJEX,_Westminster_Abbey_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1580201.jpg, Tokens of remembrance in the plot for the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women (AJEX), at the Field of Remembrance at Westminster

References

Field of Remembrance
The Royal British Legion
Field of Remembrance
PoppyScotland
Scotland's first field of remembrance opens
PoppyScotland, 7 November 2011

The Poppy Factory
Trauma and the memory of politics
Jenny Edkins, Cambridge University Press, 2003, , p. 22
The Great War and medieval memory: war, remembrance and medievalism in Britain and Germany, 1914-1940
Stefan Goebel, Cambridge University Press, 2007, , p. 35 {{coords, 51.4999, -0.1276, display=title Monuments and memorials in London The Royal British Legion