For Dan's sake buy a poppy this weekend...

Hats off to the Peterborough Evening Telegraph for their front page coverage of a local soldier's story which highlights why should all pay our respects this weekend not only to those who died for their country, but also those who survived.

Time to melt down Butcher Haig and honour the real heroes…

The nightmare carnage of the First World War has often been characterised as “lions led by donkeys”. And I can’t let another Armistice Day pass by without commenting on the man seen by many as the biggest donkey of them all.

Field Marshal Douglas Haig was known by his own side as the “Butcher of the Somme”. And for good reason.

At Loos in 1915, Haig threw two entire divisions of inexperienced volunteers straight into battle as they arrived on the Western Front – with no rest, food, water and crucially little combat training. They were mown down row after row by German machine guns.

Despite his disaster at Loos, Haig was then allowed to preside over the darkest hour in the history of the British Army. On the 1st of July 1916, more than 57,000 of our soldiers were killed or seriously injured. One day. 57,000 British lives, each one a sitting target for German machine guns which Haig had proclaimed were “much overrated”.

That was just Day One. Haig kept the battle of the Somme going for another three months: 400,000 casualties for an advance of barely half a mile.

Incredibly, his command was still not removed from him. And in 1917, for his next disaster, he chose Paschendaele which saw the slaughter of another 230,000 British soldiers.

Haig was also known as the “Chateau General”. As British troops drowned in rat-invested trenches, their Commander in Chief once boasted he never got his boots wet. Instead, he dined in total luxury at a safe distance from the German guns, reportedly even having whole lambs diverted from the front and sent back for his family so they did not suffer food shortages.

AJP Taylor described the callous Haig as preferring

“an unsuccessful offensive under his own command to a successful one under someone else’s.”

Yet after he died a natural death long after the butchery he oversaw, our nation erected a bronze statue of Earl Haig on horseback which today still enjoys pride of place on Whitehall.

I’d recommend anyone in doubt about Haig’s ability to read “The Donkeys” by the late Tory MP and military historian Alan Clark. Almost 20 years ago, Alan Clark supported a campaign to have Haig torn down from Whitehall.

Perhaps it would be more appropriate to replace Haig with a memorial to the ordinary Tommies who were the real heroes of the First World War.

It has even been suggested that the Haig bronze should be melted down to cast medals for the 300 British soldiers under his command who he had shot at dawn for desertion (who were this week granted official pardons).

What a pity Alan Clark died before his battle to remove Haig was won.

Poppycock claims that white poppies are more Christian than red...

Good to see the new Deepings Garden of Remembrance adorned with poppies this weekend.
It’s appropriate that the communities of Market Deeping and Deeping St James should work together to mark Remembrance Sunday – and have an open display where it can be appreciated by as many people as possible – not tucked away in a corner of a churchyard as happened for too many years.

This year’s poppy appeal seems to have provoked more controversy and news stories than usual. We’ve had everything from daft claims that it’s more Christian to wear a white poppy than a red one, to complaints of “poppy fascism” from a TV presenter who refuses to wear a poppy of any colour on air.

This morning, I read of a Welsh priest who angered his flock by refusing to read out names of those in his community who gave their lives in the First World War.

The white versus red poppy debate has been around since the 1930s. To me, those who condemn the white poppy brigade miss the whole point of Remembrance Day.

It is an act of Thanksgiving to those who fought for our freedom. Freedom to choose. I wouldn’t know where to buy a white poppy if I wanted one. But I don’t believe that a white one is more Christian than a red one and frankly I don’t care.

Call me politically correct, but personally, I’m proud to wear a red poppy to mark the sacrifice others have made in service to our nation – both much-loved family members and millions unknown to me. It’s a sacrifice I’ve fortunately never been called on to make.

Red poppies seem most appropriate to me as the symbol of the change from war to peace as marked by the millions of red poppies that covered the Flanders Fields after peace was finally declared in 1918 after four years of trench carnage. The Royal British Legion first adopted the poppy after an American sold real red poppies in 1921 to raise money for injured soldiers of the First World War.

Red is my choice. But I’ll defend the right of anyone to wear a poppy coloured red, white, or sky-blue with polka dots.

Or no poppy at all.

Jon Snow revealed on his weblog that he wears a poppy and marks Remembrance Day in private, but resents what he calls “poppy fascism” so refuses to wear one on air.

Closer to home, BBC Radio Lincolnshire have published CCTV pictures of the thief who nicked the collection box from the reception of their studios in Lincoln and station manager Charlie Partridge went on Look North to declare his outrage.

Football is even doing its bit for the poppy appeal this year. Southampton FC played their game against Sunderland today in special Saints shirts embroidered with poppies to be auctioned off – unwashed to prove their authenticity – to raise money for the poppy appeal.

Personally, I’m disappointed there hasn’t been much – if any – media coverage this weekend to remember the 300+ British soldiers shot at dawn in the First World War who were granted an official pardon this week by the Government – in time to be mentioned at this year’s Acts of Remembrance.

But that's their choice...