Will Ulster be wearing Poppies

[Rooster]

Baggy, there was no conscription in Ireland during WWI. All were volunteers. The difference was that those from the South, influenced by Redmond, thought they were fighting so that the government would grant home rule for the whole of Ireland at the end of the war, whereas those from the North were fighting so that the Northern counties would stay within the UK. Lloyd George did plan to introduce conscription to Ireland in 1918 but backed away from this at the last minute.

True rocky they were volunteers but the pressure put on by the public at the time meant that some who volunteered did so because of those around them more than their own free will

[Cap'n Grumpy]

I feared for many years that acts of remembrance were taking on less meaning and would eventually wither away to a relatively small few as fewer and fewer survived having remembered what went before, or having lost loved ones in the services.

I'm pleased that my fears were ungrounded (although perhaps this is due to the number of casualties being taken in Afghanistan and the publicity etc).

My daughter is a teacher in a school which offered the opportunity for lessons to be suspended at 11.00am yesterday morning. The pupils normally wear their uniforms in the most haphazard way possible and rebel at any given opportunity(didn't we all?) - but yesterday just before the 11.00am silence they asked permission to stop and when granted, they stood up, buttoned up blazers, straightened ties etc so that they could observe the silence more respectfully - something they then did impeccably for two minutes.

My faith in the next generation is renewed

[BaggyTrousers]

Baggy, there was no conscription in Ireland during WWI. All were volunteers. The difference was that those from the South, influenced by Redmond, thought they were fighting so that the government would grant home rule for the whole of Ireland at the end of the war, whereas those from the North were fighting so that the Northern counties would stay within the UK. Lloyd George did plan to introduce conscription to Ireland in 1918 but backed away from this at the last minute.

True rocky they were volunteers but the pressure put on by the public at the time meant that some who volunteered did so because of those around them more than their own free will

Just back to this thread after overdosing on HC over the weekend. Maybe didn't make it clear Rocky but I was talking about the generality of War dead rather than Irish, North & South.I think there is something in the conscription by public opinion theory but certainly there were many volunteers of conviction I am quite sure and I don't believe there was quite the same attitude of "canonfodder" about the WW2 battles as the madness of the Somme & the likes where 10000 men to gain 100 yards seemed about par for the course.

My father was a southern volunteer during WW2 as matter of conviction as a reaction to Fascism and there were many like him despite Ireland's neutrality. I am no expert but my feeling is that those who volunteered in WW2 were doing so in a slightly better informed position than the previous generation or two. Never should it be forgotten either that many many guys have become soldiers rather than stay in impoverished communities with few prospects.

[Rooster]

The Turnips were out in style on Sunday as well
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 583&type=1

[Snipe Watson]

A few of the visitors were also wearing poppies on saturday

[Surrey Red Hand]

A few of the visitors were also wearing poppies on saturday

Strange that - I had loads of French fans ask me what a poppy was (that I was wearing) they didn't appear to have a clue about it's significance ?

[mikerob]

A few of the visitors were also wearing poppies on saturday

Strange that - I had loads of French fans ask me what a poppy was (that I was wearing) they didn't appear to have a clue about it's significance ?

The poppy is very much a UK & Ireland thing (because of the Royal British Legion), some of the Commonwealth countries and I don't think it is used elsewhere. I worked for a few years in Australia and don't recall ever seeing poppies being worn there (and of course the commemorations there are on ANZAC day in April)

[Rooster]

A few of the visitors were also wearing poppies on saturday

Strange that - I had loads of French fans ask me what a poppy was (that I was wearing) they didn't appear to have a clue about it's significance ?

The poppy is very much a UK & Ireland thing (because of the Royal British Legion), some of the Commonwealth countries and I don't think it is used elsewhere. I worked for a few years in Australia and don't recall ever seeing poppies being worn there (and of course the commemorations there are on ANZAC day in April)

According to someone who should know they wear it in Northern France and Belgium if they can get them bought, some on trips to UK others purchase online from RBL

[Snipe Watson]

A few of the visitors were also wearing poppies on saturday

Strange that - I had loads of French fans ask me what a poppy was (that I was wearing) they didn't appear to have a clue about it's significance ?

I wasn't suggesting that the French wear poppies. Just making an observation. Some may well have asked what the are and then purchased. One of the Clermont fans dancing in the beer tent has one behind his ear in the video they made and one of the group wearing mortar boards is wearing one. Go have a look.

[mikerob]

And the Australians do most certainly remember 11th November as well as ANZAC day

Definitely not to the same extent. ANZAC day is a public holiday; 11th November isn't. In Melbourne, the city centre shuts on ANZAC Day for a service and parade and this doesn't happen on 11 Nov. Even Wikipedia agrees: "In recent decades, however, Remembrance Day has been largely eclipsed as the national day of war commemoration by ANZAC Day"

[Snipe Watson]

And the Australians do most certainly remember 11th November as well as ANZAC day

Definitely not to the same extent. ANZAC day is a public holiday; 11th November isn't. In Melbourne, the city centre shuts on ANZAC Day for a service and parade and this doesn't happen on 11 Nov. Even Wikipedia agrees: "In recent decades, however, Remembrance Day has been largely eclipsed as the national day of war commemoration by ANZAC Day"

It is the same thing on the same date. I don't see why highlighting the slight difference in emphasis serves any purpose other than being pedantic

[mikerob]

MikeRob:

I worked for a few years in Australia and don't recall ever seeing poppies being worn there

Maybe you were just not that interested................................

errr no... Australians probably treat their commemorations even more seriously than the UK does - ANZAC Day is a public holiday after all - but as I said, the poppy just doesn't feature in public life the way it does in the UK. The poppy in the UK is very much for Royal British Legion fundraising but the Australian equivalent, the Returned Services League, has a different approach to fundraising - they run licensed clubs with slot machines (called pokies, if you've ever been in one....)

[mikerob]

Oh and Backpacking and trying to shag any sheila that spoke with you in a pub.............. is not "Working" MR

Well you got one part right YM, I was younger than I am now... Not backpacking though, I was headhunted from the UK by an Australian company who arranged a permanent residency visa for me so I could have stayed there but I came back for family reasons.

[mikerob]

Ever been inside a RBL ?

Nope, and if you are going to tell me they have slot machines as well, the difference in Australia was that RSL clubs were just about the only places allowed to have these machines until fairly recently when states relaxed gambling laws. RSL clubs in Australia are more like pubs used by the entire community, particularly in the country and city suburbs.

[Cockatrice]

Been to several RSL clubs and always thought that the food was good value for money and that some of them were very well equipped even seen a swimming pool in one. The monument in Melbourne was inspiring and certainly made me reflect.

As for UR I still feel that they could have afforded 1 or maybe 2 minutes of their time to stand in silence before the game as was the case with some matches. Many thousand Ulstermen give their lives in both wars and indeed in other conflicts and for me for what they give is worth one minutes of anyones time.