By Blind Pew

I’ve always supported the Poppy Appeal. I had several reasons for this. First, having studied history in general and World War 1 in particular, I have always been appalled at the cost in human lives that this conflict brought about, especially because the reasons for the war were little more than the conflicting ambitions of colonial European rulers.

The Second World War, certainly more justifiable from Britain’s perspective, resulted in even greater loss of life, among civilians as well as combatants. Such waste needed to be commemorated, if only to serve as a reminder of the horrors of war.

Another reason was more personal. My father served during World War 2 and was severely wounded. When he was eventually discharged, he was classified as disabled but the help he received from the UK Government was minimal at best. That’s one reason why I always thought the Poppy Appeal was important because Britain has a long and not so proud history of discarding its ex-service personnel and tossing them on the scrapheap rather than welcoming them into its much lauded "Land Fit For Heroes".

Some might argue that the passing of time means that the funds raised by the Poppy Appeal are going to men and women who have fought in less worthy wars but I do not subscribe to this view. It is politicians who declare wars, not soldiers. The men and women of the Armed Forces have no say in when or where they will fight and if some of the wars Britain has engaged in over the years have been morally dubious, that is not the fault of the front line combatants. For those who return with physical or mental wounds, the Poppy Appeal must be great help.

But recent years have made me think twice about giving unswerving support to this Appeal. That’s not because the cause of helping injured veterans is any less valid but because the symbol of the Poppy has come to mean something that is at odds with one of my principal reasons for donating every year.

Symbols are important but they can be appropriated and used to represent something quite at odds with their original meaning. The most notorious example is the swastika which used to be a good luck symbol until it was appropriated by the Nazis. The Poppy obviously hasn’t gone that far but in recent years it has come to represent the glorification of war rather than the commemoration of loss. Poppies are painted on warplanes, refusal to wear one is seen as unpatriotic, T-shirts are issued to children with legends proclaiming their intention to join the armed Forces and have a Poppy emblazoned on them. The Royal British Legion, who run the appeal, have links with Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest arms manufacturer which must be one of the most distorted world views imaginable. The message of the Poppy is not so much, "Let us remember so that it never happens again" but "Keep contributing because it is most definitely going to happen again and more lives will be blighted and require help".

I’ve never been a great one for attending ceremonies. I prefer to remember in my own way and not just on one day a year but every day. This year, I’ve put some money in a Poppy Appeal box but won’t be wearing the Poppy itself. That’s a sort of a compromise but I’m not convinced it is the right one. I expect I shall still be in a quandary next year but one thing I am certain of is that I will not wear a Poppy so long as the UK Government uses it as a symbol of militaristic pride.