Poppy Day in Brisbane [10 October 1921]

[Editor: An article about the selling of poppies for Remembrance Day. Published in The Telegraph (Brisbane), 10 October 1921.]

Poppy Day in Brisbane.

November 4.

On 11th November, uniting in a spirit of brotherhood, the Allied nations will pay reverence to the heroes of the great world war. In common with the returned soldiers’ associations of the British Empire and Allied countries, the Returned Sailors and Soldiers’ Imperial League of Australia is adopting the poppy of Flanders fields as a national memorial flower to be worn throughout the Commonwealth on Armistice Day. This movement to unite all soldiers under a common emblem was started by the French Children’s League of France.

Its primary object was to have the returned soldiers of each country join in celebrating one day of the year in common with their comrades in other nations. The intention was to have the poppy worn — first, in memory of the sacred dead, who rest in Flanders fields, and, second, to bind together by the wearing of the common emblem the soldiers of all Allied countries, and “lest we forget” to keep alive the memory of the glorious principles for which the soldiers fought. The poppy was immortalised in Colonel McRae’s famous war poem entitled “In Flanders Fields.”

The little blood red poppy that will be worn this year is an exact replica in size and colour of the poppies that grow in Flanders fields. They were made by the war orphans of devastated France, and have been shipped to Australia and other countries in large quantities. It is expected that everyone will wear the poppy on Armistice Day. In order that everyone may have an opportunity of securing his poppy in advance of Armistice Day, poppy day will be held on 4th November. The poppies will be distributed solely through the Returned Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Imperial League and its branches, and the fund will be divided between the relief work of the children of devastated France and the distress fund of the league.

Source:
The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld.), 10 October 1921, p. 2