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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Lovely post Cherry.It’s very important that this generation do NOT EVER forget the hardships these men and their families endured for our freedom today.
If you don’t mind I will pop the link to the poppies on my blog. FAB idea!xx
Also Abi my own father was part of one of the most humanitarian acts of the second world war. He helped in the Berlin Airlift where British and American troops dropped food parcels to starving Berliners. This is the kind of thing Real Men do aswell and this country believes in Freedom of Speech so people like you can contribute to this forum without fear of being dragged off by the secret police and tortured. Did you or your parents contribute towards the second world war to stop us becoming a dictatorship? I’d love to hear.
Abi it wasn’t Cherry who used the term “Real Men” it was me. And I will use it again. The British troups on the front line are Real Men with capital letters.
Such a wonderful post, Cherry, and lovely little poppies. We must never forget.
HI Cherry,
I have just ordered my poppy, what a moving post. I always wear my poppy with pride and think of what these brave men and women have given up for us to enjoy the life that we have.
Our son is 9 and this year he beat us to it and bought his own poppy at school, he is also looking forward to the Sunday service at church, when with his cub group, etc., they pay their own act of remembrance along with us.
Take care
Maureen
we should never ever forget, my children ( now in their 20s) have worn poppies from being babies, i would fasten one to their prams, and we all go to the cenataph in town, it breaks my heart to see men young and old cry silent tears.my sons friend has been to afganistan and is waiting to see if they are going back.
my daughter and son in law also went Auschwitz this year and coud not believe the vastness of the place, she said you have to stand there yourself to understand! how could one man inspire people to do such evil wickedness…
mum had an uncle who fought against japan and who was never the same happy young family man who went off to war…he would sit on his bed for hours staring, remembering, reliving, and my mum, a little girl at the time, couldn’t understand why he had no fingernails! he would never talk about it to anyone,
no, we should never ever forget!
Thank you for this post Cherry – I have just bought myself one of these lovely poppies. It may not arrive in time for this November 11th but even if it doesn’t I will keep it for years to come and wear it with pride.
Beautiful – just ordered one. x
My Dad, who died just on two years ago, went to the Korean war at 19 and came back completely changed. He was a lovely father, but with many fears and worries
brought on by that time. He never spoke about his war experience or joined any service groups. Everyone should buy a poppy to remember those who came back suffering as well as those who died.
Such a poignant post. My grandads were lucky as such as they were miners. My nana did work in the munitions factory though. We did WW2 at school and I’m so glad we did as I think its important. My friend’s son went to Afghanistan last week….so I’ve bought one of Cath’s poppies for him, and all who have been in conflict.
Lovely post. My husband is in the British Army and I’m so proud of him. I live on an army patch and honestly, I feel so lucky and blessed to be surrounded by so many positive, strong, just plain amazing women. I’ve ordered a crochet poppy what a fab idea.
Louisa Blackmore
My Great Great Uncle Edward gave his life on the Somme and is buried somewhere in an unmarked grave. My Great Uncle George took part in the DD landings, was captured and was sent to an Italian prisoner of war camp. His wife was told he was lost in action, only to have him return home thin and emaciated 4 years later.
I want to remember my ancestors who gave their lives with a grateful heart and also to commend their brave, brave wives, mums and sisters who were left behind, wondering, worrying yet carrying on with the rigours of day to day life during wartime.
Ordered my crocheted poppy and wearing it with pirde for the 2 mins silence with my class today
What a stunning picture they make.
Cherry – my grandfather was also one of the first in to liberate Belsen. He seldom talks about that day but told me a little of his experiences when I was writing my university dissertation on the legacy of the Holocaust. He has recently celebrated his 90th birthday and is no longer as physically strong and stable on his feet as he was but I look at him and see such incredible strength and I feel such pride. My fiance recently returned from a six month tour of Afghanistan and his experiences have changed him immeasurably. I wear my poppy with pride and remember all those who have died for our freedom and for the freedom of those in other countries round the world. I’m off to buy one of Cath’s poppies now.
Hi Cherry
I think this has to be one of my favourite posts, I absolutely love the poppies and have ordered one and now putting the link on my Facebook page as I am an army wife and I know my other miltary WAGS will love them too.
My paternal great-grandfather was posted in Singapore during WW2 when it was invaded by the Japanese. His family, including my grandmother, managed to get out on one of the last boats but he was captured. My great-grandmother received a letter when she was back in England that he was missing, presumed dead. It was years later that she found out he was alive, in a Canadian hospital, after being liberated from a POW camp. He didn’t come home for another 6 months as he was just 6 stone. He had endured the most inhumane treatment, he was tortured and forced to work on the Burma railway which they say, for every sleeper laid, it represents a man that died. They dug their own graves and not many men came home. He died of bone marrow cancer, quite possibly a reaction to the atomic bomb going off.
My maternal grandfather was in the navy during WW2. He didn’t like to speak about it, except to say that when you fired those guns you needed a mountain of toilet paper behind you! What breaks my heart, is the thought of him silently crying on Remembrance Day He’s dead now but not forgotten.
My maternal Grandmother, also now passed away, was in the land army and i am so PROUD of her. I look in awe at the treasured photos i have of her in her uniform and think about all my own anxieties and worry and wondered how the hell she got through it. I have been with my husband through two tours, one Iraq and one in Afghanistan. I have friends out there now. We have a child now and so the stakes are much higher and i personally feel that families in the forces have been forgotten by our government, we don’t even have the security of a job at the moment, we will find out on thursday if the army want us anymore, but with all of these cuts, who knows. Despite this, i wear my poppy with absolute pride and urge people to go to a local memorial service on Sunday, it’s the least we can do to remember them.
[...] Remember with Cherry of CherryMenlove.com [...]
In the primary school where I work, the current topic for the year 2 children is Remembrance Day. We have watched little bits of film of WWI and WWII and today we have been sketching and painting pictures of poppies. Some of the children have brought in medals and photos of grandfathers/great grandfathers. It’s been fascinating to watch the children so absorbed in something which is so far removed from them in time and comprehension. Your blog post today has made me stop and think. And that’s good.
Wonderful post and very moving, tears running down my face. Now going on to Ebay. What a lovely person to give her time. Such a deserving cause. Where would we all be without those heroic people. I too shall wear my poppy with pride. Thanks Cherry, xx
Cherry – thank you for this great post. My paternal grandfather was shot and wounded in the First World War. They patched him up and he returned to the Front – only to be shot a second time. He lived for just a short time afterwards and my dad was left without a father from the age of 5. My grandmother was a widow with three sons and suffered tremendous hardship trying to provide for them. I always try to contribute as generously as I can to the annual Poppy Appeal and I will also hop over to Cath’s link and by one of her lovely crochet poppies – what a great initiative. Thank you again for posting about this. I do love your blog and read it regularly & wish you well.
My Dad served during WW2 in the Navy. He was under age when he signed up but wanted to follow his older brother so lied about his age. He was in the convoys that sailed into Russia. He told me that it was so cold the men couldn’t touch the railings on the ship as their flesh would freeze onto the metal. He also told me a story about a being in a convoy of ships that were torpedoed and his ship being one of the lucky ones who saved some of the injured men that were in the sea. They could only pick up a few of the men, and when I asked him what happened to the others he said simply “We had to leave them there”.
No, we should not forget, and we should ensure our children learn the history of what their grandparents did so that they can live without fear or suffering.
What a moving post. Really makes you remember what is important. I know that my great uncles were involved in the war, but unfortunately they passed away when I was too young to really ask any questions. My Mum’s mum had 5 kids before and during the war, and then my Mum the year after it ended, and was bombed out of 4 houses. The last time she moved she said ‘that’s it – we’re staying put this time’ and they did – they lost their windows and doors, but they did stay put, and that’s a house I have such vivid memories of.
It strikes me when I think of this that we just have no idea what it was like and hopefully never will, but it makes it all the more important to remember and be thankful to those people for what they went through, and those that are going through it now, such that we may have the lives we live today.
I’m off to order a poppy now.
Thanks Cherry, take care, Bex.x
i am disgusted with your choice of words ~ real men.COWARDS would be more appropriate.There are NO threats to you people except by your own government and the corporations that run the show. Real men don’t SHOOT AND RAPE AND GO ON KILLING SPREES.Perhaps you want to wake up and visit a real man by the name of David Icke and learn the real truth about your darling boys in the middle east.Oh and by the way cherry i know vindiction is not a word – i just wanted to see if you would have the good grace to acknowledge the mistake. I have no desire to visit your biased website again – there is no love in your heart cherry except for your own and that you have clearly shown.
Shocked and dismayed by this comment! Isn’t he the guy that thought he was the son of God? And aren’t her opinions biased because she is unwilling to understand that Cherry’s grandad went to war for his country. Terrible things happen to both sides during war! That’s why we need to remember those that lost their lives and try to prevent such terrible things happening again.
Ah this is a wonderful post. Although my father was not involved in the war I’m weeping as I type because it was 4 years ago to this very day that I lost my Dad-my hero. I was heavily pregnant with my first precious son and it was the most devastating thing that ever happened to me-I just thank God every day that he knew he was going to be a grandad. He would’ve made a great one. Thinking of everyone who has lost a loved one during this time. A massive well done to Cath for her poppies-they are beautiful and for an amazing cause.
Much love x
I’ve been looking out for a speicla poppy this year and hey presto Chery came up trumps! I’ve just bought one..
We recently had uproar where i live, as a member of staff in a local store was sent home from work and threatened with losing her job – for refusing to remove her poppy!! Complete craziness which was thankfully resolved, but it highlights that many now don’t understand the signifcance of the poppy and what it stands for.
Gillian xx
What a truly wonderful and thought provoking post today, I have ordered my poppy to wear with pride and will be remembering many.
My grandfather died in January of this year aged 92, he fought for our country and was one of the lucky ones to flee the beaches, last year before he died he was able to return to Dunkirk to put ghosts to rest. His sister also did her bit in the 2nd World War, she celebrated her 98th birthday last week and has the most amazing memories of the people she dealt with but do know that sometimes she wonders what it was all for, their brother died fighting for us in his early 20′s.
I also have friends whose husbands are out in Afghanistan currently, (some doing their final tour of duty before leaving the army) many of whom have seen things that our generation would be appalled by,
It makes you realise that the materialistic society we now live in is not what our family and friends fought for…..