Poppies for peace

SIR – The UN designated September 21 as International Peace Day.

Surely this is when the Peace Pledge Union should be selling white poppies, not in the run-up to Armistice Day. Bob Morrison

New Brighton, Flintshire

SIR – Let me remind the PPU of the poem “In Flanders Fields”, written by the Canadian medical officer Colonel John McCrae at his field dressing station during the second battle of Ypres in 1915. It begins: “In Flanders Fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses, row on row”.

The poppies were red, and about the only thing that did grow: in winter the land was a sea of mud and in summer a plain of baked mud. They became a symbol of hope for the soldiers.

Of course the purpose of Remembrance Sunday is to remind everyone of the sacrifice made by our service men and women in all conflicts; but we also remember those who lost their lives, as well as the wounded. It reminds us of the horror of war, in the hope that nations will find a better way to settle differences.

The money raised by the poppy appeal is used to alleviate suffering and provide help for all ex-servicemen and women, and those still serving. Please help them and remember their sacrifice by buying red poppies. Raymond Hirst

Lancaster Royal British Legion