When I was out shopping yesterday with Robert I had a text from my dad. It said that yesterday was his father’s, my grandfather’s, birthday. My grandfather died when I was very young indeed. My other grandfather, my Mum’s dad, died when I was pregnant with my twins. Both of them took part in World War Two and both of them were changed forever because of it. Both of them missed out on seeing their children when they were small. In fact my mum didn’t see her dad really for the first two or three years of her life. I can’t actually imagine that. Those two men, the same men that fathered my parents, saw things, did things and experienced things that no human being should ever have to. My dad’s father came home a broken, broken man. He was part of the first group that went into Belsen. Please think twice before you do a Google image search for that word. But if you do you’ll see what my Grandad and others saw. When he arrived the people were still there, starving, ill and dying. The horror was still there. It hadn’t been cleaned up or sanitized. My grandad entered hell that day and he never really recovered. He saw things that people had done to other people that I can’t even type out on to my keyboard. And then he was expected to go home to his family, be a husband, work in a regular job and raise his children.
It wasn’t that easy.
My dad says he remembers a time when he was very little and he was sat on the tube going up to London with his parents. And my grandad sat on that public tube weeping. He suffered a breakdown after the war and this was the fallout.
Both my Nana’s were so strong, they were without their husbands for years at a time. It makes the six weeks that Robert spent in hospital this Summer look like the blink of an eye. They held homes and children together and didn’t complain. A cup of tea made it all better. There’s a huge amount to be said for stoicism in an age where the Self-Help shelves of book stores are heaving under the weight of advice. But then again thank goodness we talk nowadays, being able to talk about it may have saved my Grandad.
One of my biggest regrets is that I didn’t ask more questions about the war before my grandparents died. They were heroes, all of them, and when I read in the paper that some of today’s schoolchildren are overheard saying “what’s a holocaust?” it worries me a great deal.
I don’t want to forget about any of our servicemen or women from any war, not just the Second World War. Which is why Poppy Day/Remembrance Day/Armistice Day/Veterans Day is so important. My children will know exactly what our soldiers and all of our armed forces have done for us and continue do for us.
Last December, during the Tuition Fees riots, the Cenotaph in London was vandalized. Perhaps I’m overreacting but if my husband or my children’s father (or mother, there are women out there too) had been lost in combat, blown up by a roadside bomb or was now rebuilding a life after loosing a limb or two I’d want to know EXACTLY why those people thought that was acceptable.
I was contacted by Cath of Cottage Crafts. She makes the crocheted Poppies you see me wearing in these pictures. She doesn’t have to make them, her mum doesn’t have to work her fingers to the bone over the weekend helping Cath get them packaged and sent out. But Cath does, Cath’s mum does and Cath’s family were all roped in to helping as Cath has a terrific amount of orders coming in.
Cath is splitting all the profits from the sale of her poppies between The Royal British Legion and Help for Heroes. As of yesterday she has raised £1100 from the sale of her poppies alone. This means she has exceed her target of £1000.
Her local wool shop, Knit2Together, in Newcastle under Lyme have supported Cath by selling her all the wool at a heavily discounted price and fellow e-bay members princesilk and belloandbellissimo have been selling her other supplies at discount with free postage.
Cath’s Mum taught her how to crochet a couple of years ago, and she has since gone crochet mad. She had the idea to design and crochet some Remembrance Poppies, stick them on Ebay and see what happens. She is now racing home from work, staying up until 1am and working in her lunch break furiously trying to make enough to keep up with the orders. She has even had to book a day off work to catch up on orders and she has enlisted the help of her family to help with printing orders, glueing, bagging, and stuffing in envelopes!
{Cath’s Poppies, waiting to be sent out }
The e-bay link to buy of of Cath’s poppy’s is here
You can find her on Twitter: cottage_crafts
or on Facebook: Cottage Crafts
Or you can e-mail here – cath@cottagecrafts.org.uk or cathfearn@hotmail.com
Cath said “I wanted to raise some money for the 2 charities mentioned, but I am not really built for running marathons (!) and I didn’t fancy being sponsored to lie in a bath of cold baked beans, so I thought “how can I use one of my hobbies to raise money?”
Bless you, Cath. Please think about ordering a Poppy from Cath. I have one, I’m wearing it now, and I will continue to wear it in remembrance of those far braver than me.
Please feel free to leave details of anyone, from any time, that you’d like to be remembered as a comment on today’s post or on my Facebook page. I know I’d love to read about them.
I love you, thank you for reading today and I’ll see you next time.
Cherry x
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Driving to playschool to pick up the grandchildren I was having the exact same toughts as Lisa Fusco. What if my son (in his early 30′s) had decided to join the army. I would have done everything in my power to stop him. One feels the wars nowadays are man made by politicians with ulterior motives whereas the second world war was cut and dried. We fought the invasion of a mad dictator. I hope this blog reaches our boys in Afganistan and they know just how appreciated they are. And as for defacing war memorials it is a disgrace, what are their parents doing about it? Just like the rioters in London and other British cities recently, I wouldn’t send them for a slap on the wrist to prison for a couple of weeks I’d put them with real men on a tour of duty in Afganistan.
They’re so beautiful, I wish you’d posted this earlier so I could get one in time for this Sunday! But I will be purchasing one to support the charities anyway
Would love to see a white poppy like this, which symbolises peace and the hope to end all wars and also remembers those who died serving their country http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_poppy_(symbol)
What a lovely version of the poppy. I shall buy some for my two daughters and I and wear them with pride. Thanks Cherry x
Just ordered my poppies.
So much longer lasting than the paper ones, I would rather donate a few pounds more for something harder wearing.
Thanks for sharing this Cherry – just ordered my poppy!
My Paternal Grandad (died in 1995) spent the whole of WW2 in Mombassa – didn’t see my Nan or his two little girls for the whole of the war!! My Dad was a post-war baby. I have his photo album from his time there and it is one of my most treasured possessions!
Now for something that is hard to admit – my son George who will be 15 next week has talked of nothing but joining the Marines for the last two years!! With every fibre of my being I dont want him to. It breaks my heart just to think about it ( crying now) – he’s my boy – how can I give him my blessing to do this knowing he will almost certainly at some point be posted to Afghanistan!! How am I supposed to let him go??? I’m sure it sounds completely un-patriotic but I can’t help it!! I’ve told him he’ll be the only Marine in history with his Mum hand-cuffed to him!! What do I do?? Once he gets to 18 I can’t stop him – but the thought kills me! I wish, wish, wish he wanted to be a dentist, road-digger, green-grocer – anything but that!! How do other Mother’s cope with it??
xxx
My grandfather fought in the first world war,the horror of what he went through stayed with him everyday for the rest of his life – we must never forget what we owe these brave people.
My Great Granddad fought in the Second World War. He was a prisoner of war all through out the war. He died a few years ago now. I don’t think he ever talked about it either.
Really pretty poppies. I have just ordered mine.
XxX
You have touched on a subject Cherry that is very close to my heart. My darling 27 year old sister is a Captain in the Army and is based in Belsen with her regiment having done a tour of both Iraq and Afghan. When I visit her and all of her friends who are in the Army and see how wonderfully positive they all are and just what they are trying to work for it brings tears to my eyes to see how brave all of our servicemen today are.
I personally think the youth of today who think it ok to doss about and show such little respect should be sent away on National Service – teach them that they’ve never had it so easy.
Having just read the most heartbreaking book on POW of Japan it really made me question would our Great Grandparents and Grandparents have fought and sacrficed so much if they knew what our society would be like now? The Forgotten Highlander is a book that changed my outlook and makes me realise even more so how lucky we are to come from such strong and brave ancestors.
I wear my poppy with a huge amount of pride.
x
I cried all the way through this post Cherry, Thank you. I have to rush out now to pick up the grandchildren whose great grandfathers fought in the war. I have two ” I,m helping our heroes ” stickers in the back of my car. Will rush back to read all the comments.
great post today cherry it really makes you think.
I’ve just ordered 2…one for me and one for my teenage daughter who was privileged enough to visit Auschwitz this year and had a life changing experience. It made it real for her and made her humble…if only all teenagers could have that experience we would have a very different youthful society.
Dear Cherry, I am usually a ‘silent’ reader of your blog but this entry today has caused me to step out of hiding… I have 2 children who are 8 and 5 and they both wear their poppies to school (in France) with pride and knowing exactly what they stand for. I orgnaise the Royal British Legion poppy collection in the South-West of France where I now live. It is so important for me to be able to show my children how wonderful our armed forces have been in the past and continue to be in the present.
One of my Grandads was a photographer in WWII, crouching down in the very back end of the plane and flying over German warships taking aerial photos whislt being shot at. My other Grandad was a foot soldier in the jungles of Burma. He woke up in a cold sweat about once a week until he died at the age of 72.
I am so very, very proud of them, and what they sacrificed for us.
Thankyou for sharing this today.
A proud poppy wearer in France xx
Just bought one on ebay. The story of your grandad really moved me. I’ll be down at my local monument on Sunday with my son who has recently joined the Beavers and I’ll make sure he knows why that day is so important.
Bless you.
xx
Lovely post, Cherry. Just ordered my poppy!
I would like my husband John to be remembered. He didn’t serve in the forces but fought his very own dignified battle against bowel cancer. Sadly the cancer won and he died on the 18th December 2009 aged 39 just 11 months after our first baby was born. John was a kind, funny, intelligent and loving man with so much to give and it breaks my heart that he didn’t get the chance to watch his son grow up. He was the love of my life and I miss him every day. xx
I won’t ever forget the moment I was on the bus home from work, and bumped into a friend who lived im my street. We played together when we were younger, making dens, and we were later in Cadets. We were catching up, and He then told me, He was going to Afganistan the next day, to serve.
Rememberance Sunday now, even more means so much to me, knowing that I know someone who is out there. And when I here that another solider has been killed, It makes me hold my breath.
Thank you Cherry, we must never forget those who make the ultimate sacrifice. I will be remembering Thomas Keys, I went to school with Tom, a Royal Military policeman killed in Iraq by a mob in June 2003, he was 20. Whilst I had not seen Tom since school, I think about him every year and remember his bravery. Cx
i have just ordered one .. which when it comes i’m sure my kids will want some too! It scares me that we have a generation who now don’t know about the war. I’m currently reading a book on Hitler and my 11 year old didn’t know who he was, how on earth is that possible? She knew nothing about the war. If we forget i feel we are in danger of repeating Hitler’s mistakes, i feel it’s so important we remember because it is only by remembering we won’t make the same mistakes again
Couldn’t agree more. We make a point of wearing our poppies in this house, even my teenage boys buy their own. This year it will be more significant for us as my Grandfather died at Easter. He was too young to fight in WW11 but his older brother did and shortly after the war my Grandad did his National Service. He was a wonderfull warm, loving, funny man, who all the Grandchildren and great grandchildren called Bappy. He never missed attending his local Rememberance Service while he had is health. So for my Bappys memory I will pin on my poppy with pride.
what a wonderful woman… just purchased one I will wear it with pride….
This is amazing! It is so important to educate the children about this so generations can keep on remembering.
Gemma x
p.s meant to say. My little girl always wears a poppy,and when she was tiny, I made one from felt and loosely stitched on to her outfit so I didn’t have to worry about bits in her mouth or pins sticking in her.
War is a horror, but it shouldn’t be forgotten.
x
those poppies are gorgeous.
My grandad fought in WW2. His life was pretty grim, and though I can’t say he enjoyed the war, he certainly made good friends for life. He died in the 90′s from cancer, and is now buried beside his wartime best friend, who happened to be his brother in law too. Sad, but oddly comforting.
I once asked my grandad questions about the war for a school project, and he shared a lot of info about it. Not nice at all.
They were brave men, and one of my favourite photos is of my grandad, standing smiling in his uniform.
x
How beautiful are they! I am on my way to Ebay…….
I always think Remembrance Day is really important. Life wouldn’t be as we know it if it weren’t for the bravery of those men. It broke my heart last year when there were protests during the minutes silence