Poignant poppy is a tribute to all who fought for us

Thousands of people flocked to London to see Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, an art installation commemorating 100 years since the outbreak of WW1.
From left: Coun Cathy Scott, Coun Eric Firth, Deputy Mayor Coun Paul Kane and Roy Williams.From left: Coun Cathy Scott, Coun Eric Firth, Deputy Mayor Coun Paul Kane and Roy Williams.
From left: Coun Cathy Scott, Coun Eric Firth, Deputy Mayor Coun Paul Kane and Roy Williams.

Now one of the ceramic poppies used in the moving display can be seen in Dewsbury.

Coun Cathy Scott and Roy Williams, a former Dewsbury soldier who served in the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, purchased one of the 888,246 poppies which filled the Tower of London’s dry moat last month.

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That number represented one estimate of the number of British and colonial military fatalities in WW1. They were individually hand-made in a factory in Derbyshire.

The pair had intended to gift it to Deputy Mayor of Kirklees Coun Paul Kane, but he said he wanted it to be on display in the town.

“I felt it should be there for the people of Dewsbury,” he said,

“The original display was absolutely wonderful and it looks fantastic.

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“Each of the poppies is unique and I think our country is quite unique in the way that it commemorates and rightly so.”

The poppy was presented for the people of Dewsbury in remembrance of all those who served in WW1 and to the many others who have served their country since and still do so today.

It will remain in the display cabinet in Dewsbury Town Hall for the next four years – until the centenary of the end of WW1. Coun Kane said he would then like the poppy to be donated to the Royal British Legion.