Proud to wear a poppy

LIKE Bel Mooney (Mail), I have visited many military cemeteries in France and Belgium and can’t help but be moved by the sacrifice of the soldiers of all nations.

We must thank the Belgians for carrying out the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate, Ypres, every day for the past 90 years.

When I attend the ceremony, which I have for the last ten years, I think of my cousin, Corporal Marc Taylor, killed in Iraq in 2004.

It is politicians like Tony Blair who start the wars and people like my cousin who pay the ultimate price. For his sake and the millions of others who have died in wars, wear your poppy with pride.

CHRIS PATE, Worcester. MY GREAT-UNCLE, Private William Wright, 2nd Battalion, King’s ( Liverpool) regiment ( aka the Liverpool Scottish), was 26 when he climbed out of a trench and walked towards German machine guns during the Battle of the Somme.

He is buried in the Dantzig Alley British Cemetery, near where he fell.

I am astounded that some people think I am racist for wearing a red poppy to honour his memory and that of the hundreds of thousands who gave their lives to keep us free.

Some may prefer a white poppy as a symbol of peace, but I steadfastly refuse to wear anything other than the traditional red poppy that honours the fallen.

I hope to go to that cemetery and stand among the heroes. They must never be forgotten.

PHILIP CODD, Manchester. IT IS regrettable that some police forces say they will not marshal Remembrance ceremonies (Mail).

As a retired policeman, I would be willing to take their place. I am sure many serving officers would attend on their day off if it wasn’t for the fact they have had the life squeezed out of them by the authorities. ROLAND GRIFFITHS,

Nantwich, Cheshire.