And still they f lock to the crimson ring
MILLIONS had already come to marvel at the spectacle of the Tower of London poppies. And yesterday tens of thousands more were drawn to the memorial as the capital fell silent in remembrance.
As bells rang out at 11am, the vast crowd stood hushed before the hundreds of thousands of ceramic poppies – one for every British and colonial death during the Great War.
A ripple of applause marked the end of the two-minute silence, and five friends paid a very personal tribute to their own war dead.
Serving soldiers Tony Davies and Brian Smith joined retired colleagues Matt Pope, Ross Harrison and Bradley White to uncork a bottle of vintage port in a toast to nine comrades killed in Afghanistan in 2007, and hailed them as heroes.
Mr White, 28, who served as a private in the 1st Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment, said the Tower of London commemoration recalled the ‘scale of the sacrifice’ of an earlier generation of soldiers.
He served in both Iraq and Afghanistan until 2007, when he was shot in the left leg during a Taliban ambush, destroying his calf muscle.
He said: ‘It is the first time I have come to London for Remembrance Day, so it is poignant to remember all those who died serving their country.
‘I saw the poppies a few weeks ago. Seeing it all finished now just shows the scale of the sacrifice. It is quite emotional when you look at the sheer scale of it.
‘When we were out in Afghanistan we lost nine soldiers, and numerous more since. So it does bring back poignant memories from when we were out there.’
The 1st Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment endured a particularly bloody deployment to Helmand in 2007, which was
‘The scale of the sacrifice’
described as some of the toughest fighting the British Army had faced in a generation.
Mr Harrison, who served in the same battalion, said: ‘This is for nine heroes, Chris Gray, Darren Bonner, George Davey, Captain David Hicks MC, Robert Foster, John Thrumble, Aaron McClure, Tony Rawson and Alex Hawkins.’
The poppy installation at the Tower is due to be completed tomorrow on Armistice Day as the final ceramic flowers are planted in the moat, bringing the total to 888,246. The artwork – the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red – has proved so popular, with an estimated four million visitors, that there have been calls to keep the poppies at the Tower until the end of the year.
Volunteers will start dismantling the artwork on Wednesday, but a section, the wave of poppies, will remain in place until the end of the month. This part and the so-called weeping window will also be installed at sites across the UK until 2018 and will eventually go on permanent display at the Imperial War Museum. ÷ In a sign of solidarity, a former German paratrooper laid a wreath of remembrance at a village church yesterday.
Adam Druschel, 95, saw action across Europe while serving with the crack 1st Parachute Regiment in the Second World War.
The one-time unteroffizier was eventually captured by the Americans at Mons, Belgium, in September 1944, and ended up as a prisoner of war in Britain.
He joined his English-born wife, Constance, 84, at St John the Evangelist Church in Lund, near Preston, Lancashire, to honour the fallen of both world wars.
‘It is sad to think that World War One began a century ago,’ he said. ‘I wanted to be here to remember all those who died, of all nationalities.’