A Nation Falls Silent on Armistice Day 2014

To mark Armistice Day this year and 100 years from the start of WW1 the last ceramic poppy is planted at the Tower of London display by 13 year old cadet Harry Hayes. There are 888,246 flowers, one to represent each of the 888,246 lives that were lost in the Great War. As the last post was played just before 11am the nation fell silent in remembrance.

Source - Daily Mail

There have been calls for the display to remain up longer but tomorrow hundreds of volunteers will start gradually removing the art work. The poppies that have been sold to individuals will then go to be cleaned and packaged up for sending out and another portion is set to go on tour around the country before finding a permanent home at the Imperial War Museum. I think the decision to remove them after Armistice Day is the right one. It is a marvelous piece of art work that has touched millions and achieved in my opinion everything it set out to do in commemorating those lives lost and just as those lives were cut short far sooner than life would normally have demanded, so this art work in it's full form has reached the end of it's life span. The gradually removing of the poppies to me represents the tide of life that was lost over the period of WW1 and to me is as poignant as the full display.