Found in a cupboard, the poppy my war hero dad gave me... 92 years ago
AS A girl of four, Catalina Bateman wore a red cotton poppy in her hair, as this sepia photo of her at a party shows.
Now 96, she still has the poppy and believes it is one of the world’s oldest surviving examples of the symbol of remembrance.
Given it is at least 92 years old, the poppy is in remarkably good condition – having been stored away with her war veteran father’s medals.
Mrs Bateman found the poppy again when she moved to her new home earlier this month.
She has revealed its existence as the nation prepares for Remembrance Sunday and the Royal British Legion launches this year’s Poppy Appeal today.
The great-grandmother first wore the poppy at a fancy dress party in 1927 in Chile. She was born in the city of Punta Arenas, where there was an English community because of the cotton trade.
Her father Bernard Buckley had been born in the Falkland Islands and imported cotton from Manchester, before serving in the First World War, where he was wounded at the Battle of the Somme. He then settled in Chile for a spell.
When the Second World War broke out, Mr Buckley joined the RAF to work on barrage balloons in 1939 and served at Dunkirk.
Retired nurse Mrs Bateman, a mother- of-two from Manchester, said: ‘On Armistice Day, they always had a collection to raise money, which we would send back for veterans in the UK.
‘We would hold a fancy dress party and a lot of people would come to our community for that occasion.
Poppies were all handmade in those days and sent over from England.
‘There can’t be many others from that period still in existence. With the poppy being made from cloth and having the Earl Haig stud in the middle, I do believe it must be one of the oldest in the world.
‘I forgot about it and it was only recently that I found it again, tucked away in a cupboard. I’m amazed it’s been so well-preserved.’
First World War general Earl Haig, who founded the Royal British Legion, was persuaded to adopt the poppy as its emblem in 1921.
That year, the legion ordered nine million and sold them on November 11 in the first ever Poppy Appeal. It raised £106,000 to help provide veterans with housing and jobs.
Last year, the annual appeal sold more than 40million poppies and raised £50million.