Remembrance Poppies
 

Does anyone know of anywhere to get a Poppy??

And also does the Embassy in Dubai do anything on Remembrance day??

Re: Remembrance Poppies
 

My friend brought me a few over from the UK last week so I am proudly wearing one just now, in fact, I just looked and I have a pin badge one too.

If I remember rightly tho you can get them in the British Council. Failing that and if you want a pint you can get them in Fibbers.

Re: Remembrance Poppies
 

Thank you I will use that as an excuse for a pint and a fry up!!

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Thanks for the heads up, sounds like a quick lunch plan from DIFC. Millhouse, you in town for a poppy and a pub lunch?

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Brought a couple back from the UK. Pin badge is a good shout for future though. :thumbup:

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Has 2017 on it to keep the cheapskates in line.

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Hahahahahahahahaha

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Fibbers should be excommunicated from the list of non Irish owned, international fake Irish bars.

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Why? Have no Irish died fighting for the allies?

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I just checked with Fibbers on facebook and they messaged me back to say yes they have them behind the bar!!

Thankyou, Jam25Mack

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Oh I did check with the Embassy, got two automated messages that someone from the correct department would contact....typical of our Embassy...about as much use as tits on a boar pig!!!

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Anytime!

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I'm in danger of derailing the thread but my issue is not about people remembering WW1, it's about the use of the funds collected. The donations are being used to support all British ex-servicemen in need, I'm not entirely comfortable with supporting servicemen who were involved in other actions worldwide N. Ireland included.

Re: Remembrance Poppies
 

Yes you will derail the thread, but since you pose the question perhaps you could expand your reasons why, and maybe (and I do say maybe) an intellectual debate could be had without name calling and abuse...but given the way some people might feel with regards to support for ex servicemen (and I will admit to being one with 14 years service with the Royal Marines with final rank of Captain), do not expect an easy ride! But hey ho it is a forum to air ones views with a little anonymity making it easier to air feelings that you might not feel comfortable in face to face discussion!

Re: Remembrance Poppies
 

:popcorn:

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The point is why would an ostensibly - well self-proclaimed - Irish pub be selling something that a great many Irish people might prefer not to support. This fundamentally undermines it's pretence to be what it claims to be. Think if The British Bulldog was selling trinkets which were used to fund former German servicemen from WW2 for example.

I say this as somebody who had a parent who was a member of the British Legion (and I can offer my feelings about the uselessness and cynicism of that outfit from direct experience).

Re: Remembrance Poppies
 

I'd be proud that we're bigger than history.

Re: Remembrance Poppies
 

In WW1 (which is ostensibly how remembrance day and the poppy came into existence), over 200,000 Irishmen fought with losses of over 30,000, so my argument that this alone should give Irish people some thought to commemorate at least, if not support!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland_and_World_War_I

Running of the British Legion etc I have no experience of so bow to your inside knowledge

Re: Remembrance Poppies
 

Final update from the British Embassy;;

Hi there

Thank you for your enquiry to UAE consular services here at British Embassy

We do have poppies for sale – from our security front gate here at British Embassy – please feel free to come by and donate

Our Remembrance Service is invite only sadly; do you have any contacts that will be attending that can add you as a guest of theirs?
If not, we can advise that there is a service this Friday 10 November at Jebel Ali Christ Church should you wish to pay your respects – details attached
With thanks
Olivia

Olivia Tom | British Embassy Events Co-ordinator, Dubai
British Embassy Dubai | Al Seef Road | Bur Dubai
Email: [email protected] Tel: +971 (0) 4 309 4365 FTN: 485 4365 Mob: +971 (0) 56 170 5139

Invite only, so how do you get on that list??

Re: Remembrance Poppies
 

:popcorn:

Re: Remembrance Poppies
 

And just one more snippet of history for you, the country with the second highest recipients of the Victoria Cross is Ireland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...oss_recipients

Re: Remembrance Poppies
 

And I must correct myself with the figures I used in my above post with regards to the Irish deaths in WW1;

The most prominent memorial is dedicated to the 49,400 Irish soldiers who died during World War I; this is the Irish National War Memorial Gardens, at Islandbridge in Dublin. It was designed by Edwin Lutyens and first planned in 1919 and was completed in 1938, at a time when Ireland had achieved independence. Despite being a monument to people who fought in the British Army, it received cross-party support, partly because the likes of Major General William Bernard Hickie had been Home Rulers. There are a number of other major monuments relevant to the experience of Irish soldiers in World War I, this time based on the European continent; the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium, for example, features the names of many Irish soldiers.[30][31] A second Belgium-based memorial was opened in 1998; the Island of Ireland Peace Park. There also exists in Thiepval, France, a monument called the Ulster Tower to the men who died at the Battle of the Somme.

Re: Remembrance Poppies
 

I genuinely apreciate your engagement with this subject because I've seen how ugly and emotive it can easily get (coins thrown at James McClean for not wearing a a poppy ffs).

Allow me to please give you some more nuanced context for why this troubles some of us. Ireland was (an unwilling) part of the UK during WW1 so naturally we supplied much of the cannon fodder for that stupid, avoidable conflict. The Irish soldiers came disproportionately from the northern Unionist communities, who would remain in the UK after the brutal war of independence that was fought against the British forces in Ireland. That war was initiated and given legitimacy by the 1916 Dublin rising against the British government. The UK government, at war with foreign powers, saw the "home" rebellion as high treason and executed all the leaders (except DeValera - yes, Snape - who was an American citizen). The military campaign for independence would never have taken off but for the very brutal treatment of the captured combatants in the 1916 rebellion which turned public opinion sharply in favour of the militants (IRB/IRA).

Hence in Ireland there is a very ambivalent view about WW1. The governments of the Irish freestate and later Republic were dominated by veterans of the 1916 conflict right up until the 1960s and the origin of the state is rooted in the mythology of the 1916 rising. Though there is now a much more nuanced view about this, when I went to school it was clearly taught as the brave historic act that finally liberated Ireland again as an independent nation for the first time in a millennium: A terrible beauty is born. Then following the revival of the IRA in the 1950s and '60s, due to the UK government turning a blind eye to the NI government's massive systemic and crushing discrimination against the minority community in Northern Ireland, the troubles kicked off. This gave rise to a whole new set of negative perceptions of the role of British armed forces in Ireland.

Hence, selling poppies in Irish pubs or expecting Irish footballers to wear poppies in some craven act of submission to the "popular will" seems inappropriate, to say the least. I'd also be opposed to Fibbers - or anywhere - selling Easter lillies (SF/IRA commemoration of 1916).

My father, whose father was a member of the IRA and fought in the 1916 rising (so guess which parent wasn't in the British legion), used to take me to the Islandbridge gardens and also to the memorial to the Republican war dead in Parnell Square - foreshadowing by four decades the brilliantly planned and executed itinerary of the queen when she reconquered Ireland (just hearts and minds this time) a few years ago.
I am fiercely proud of my British mother's medalled service in the WACS during WW2, a brutally necessary conflict. I am also ashamed that the Irish government has never acknowledged the service of thousands of citizens of the Irish freestate who fought fascism in the Spanish civil war and WW2. I disagree with Ireland's neutrality. I admire John Redmond. I still couldn't wear a poppy.

Re: Remembrance Poppies
 

What are your thoughts on poppy onsies and the like?

Poppy Shop Poppy Onesie

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Miss Anne Thrope
And I appreciate and respect wholly your stance on the subject, the Great Wars were fought to defend freedoms that we took for granted, and one of these was the freedom of speech and the expression of it!

Your eloquence on the subject is to be admired as well, as you so rightly pointed out it can easily develop into pettiness and name calling!

I will be wearing my poppy with pride, and remembering in the 2 minutes of silence comrades that I have known and are sadly no longer here, and I might utter a little prayer for a fenian from these pages!!

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Now you send it after I have had my blazer dry cleaned!!

If the money goes to a good cause then I am all for it, have to keep abreast of the times and all that shite!!

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Sadly, the times seems to have forgotten the very essence of respect, which IMO should be kept solemn and reflective.

https://twitter.com/giantpoppywatch

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And, just to be completely contrarian, I am always glad to see people wearing poppies (unless it's some kind of stupid tribal badge) as I support the original underlying purpose.

Now, can we please get back to mudslinging, mischaracterisations and insults before I get completely disoriented!

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Tell me about Frankfurt. I may need to go there at the end of this month. We won a project I really don't want to have to work on and the kickoff is there.

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Of course Ms Deep Throat, normal service is resumed!!

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Like I said I'm not against the poppy as a symbol that the horrors etc. of war should never be forgotten lest they get repeated over and over again.

I'm against the donations funding ex-servicemen who served in places I don't agree they should have been in. Obviously soldiers don't get to choose their battlefields but I'm certainly not interested in donating to someone who contributed to the situation in Northern Ireland and historically Ireland.

Re: Remembrance Poppies
 

You took your cue!

I was going to send you a PM but realised I have nothing much interesting to say. Frankfurt is "nice", lacking the edge or energy of Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg or even Munich. I haven't really gone out there since the late '90s I guess. The old town, Sachsenhausen, is fun in a kind of sanitised way but nothing gay there. I guess you'll catch the start of the xmas markets which will add to the atmosphere. What I recall about the "scene" is that US service guys are very evident which adds a bit of diversity. Things were spread out a bit, mostly in the central area (north of Sachsenhausen). It was the usual mix of intimate "stubes", one of which was pretty cool as I recall and was the most famous venue - likely still the same I guess, and nightclub/discos - pretty lame except for the American drag queens!

Strasbourg is easily reachable from Frankfurt and is worth a visit if you haven't - not least because you can go and protest all the lovely Euro stuff there! I'd guess it will have a very nice atmosphere for xmas also.

Re: Remembrance Poppies
 

Family spent Christmas in Strasbourg last year. Rented a flat and all that. It was pleasant. I liked Strasbourg. Colmar, mind you, was sheer touristy hell (even if I did have a good time).

Can you summarise the difference between Frankfurt and Cologne? Google map says it's two hours away but what makes it edgy that Frankfurt isn't? Could do a day trip there if time allows.

I'd forgotten the Christmas markets. That could make for a fun evening. Getting drunk on mulled wine and trying to seduce some friendly Germans ;)

Edit: just realised it's Germany end of November, NYC mid December and then two weeks at home end of December ;) you won't see much of me on here in December except the odd hour at the airport waiting for flights.

Re: Remembrance Poppies
 

Frankfurt is Birmingham to Cologne's Manchester - anyone having that?

Cologne to me is very "West Germany" whereas Frankfurt is bland European. Aside from that unintelligible differentiation (to anyone not inhabiting my imagination), Cologne has a huge leather/bear scene - maybe even the biggest in Europe and is (I have heard) prone to getting pretty wild... And the cathedral's alright as well though almost all the rest of the centre was destroyed and rebuilt after the war (hence the 1970s West Germany vibe I guess). And Aachen is definitely worth a day, which you can do easily from Cologne but not from Frankfurt I think. Dusseldorf is nice as well with the old city and the river but probably not worth the effort to get to from Frankfurt though it is close to Cologne. I've not been to Bonn, also in that area, but I would guess that is pretty interesting to see all that frozen-in-time stuff from the BRD. In the other direction Heidelberg should be a manageably decent day trip from Frankfurt.

Oh, and be aware, the A5 which looks like a terrific artery is pretty much a car park for much of it's length and much of the day. Trains are generally a better option.

Re: Remembrance Poppies
 

oh....DXB & MISS ANNE been smoking the peace pipe...Mashallaah:thumbup:

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Only a few months late to figure that out - better than your VAT plan I guess!!

Re: Remembrance Poppies
 

few months? you two were at each others throat not to long ago

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That was Scamp and D2D, keep up!

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did i make the cocktail party list:unsure:

Re: Remembrance Poppies
 

Hello! I made my cue.

Interestingly I agree with your point, but almost end up complicit whenever you do anything with ex-service people then? My sister's Sandhurst buddy set up a charity for injured / amputee ex forces to go competitive sailing and I helped at a few events and things. Fantastic charity, great work and an phenomenal bunch of guys and girls benefiting....but, they're predominantly Afghanistan / Iraq service, which is a war many people disagree with...so where do 'you' draw the line? Do 'you' donate your time / money / efforts to that but not the Great War? Do 'you' donate to Vietnam war vets?

Genuine question because I get your logic and wonder if it extends beyond personal experience.