So many poppies..... So many men lost......

At 11.00am GMT today a two minute silence marks the one of the more formal commemorations Armistice Day in 1918, following the end of the First World War

We visited the Tower of London yesterday and saw the completed Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red. 

Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red 10 November 2014

It was quite a sight against the sun and blue skies and the white walls of the Tower of London. In fact it's so enormous it was a little difficult to take in what it means. I read a comment yesterday that people are so overwhelmed by the impact of the ceramic poppies that they forget for a minute that these represent the 888,246 British military fatalities in the First World War - and that a fitting way of reminding people what that means would be for a tank to come in and break them all up. Which was certainly a comment which reminded me what this installation is all about

The view of the installation in two sides of the moat around the Tower of London

You can see a (rather big) video of the installation below - as seen from the air now the moats are filled.

The Wave -from the entrance to the Tower of London into the South Moat

a close up of the poppies in the sun next to the wall
of the Tower of London

All the poppies have now been sold - for £25 each - for the benefit of the six service charities.

However you can still make a dedication in the Roll of Honour with respect to the name of a fallen soldier

You can view the dedications on the website.

Viewing the Poppies

We went very early yesterday and there were huge crowds at 10am in the morning!

I suspected the crowds would be very big later in the day - as indeed they were - people were standing 5-6 deep around the perimeter of the moat.

The cascade of poppies from the Tower

I understand it will also take until the end of November to dismantle the installation - which obviously needs to be done carefully as all those poppies are now sold!

So if you still haven't seen it get along in the next week or so and you'll see as much as people did back in August!

and finally.... another video - this time by HM Forces News.

(Note:
1. The installation has been created by ceramic artist Paul Cummins. He's be assisted by stage designer Tom Piper.
2. You can read more about the installation in my earlier post 888246 poppies - Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red).