My poppy arrived today!
 

My Poppy from the Tower of London https://poppies.hrp.org.uk was delivered today. I am thrilled.

(I had checked my order # last week and it still showed mine hadn't been processed/packed/sent yet and there was no estimated date)

A stirring display, and fun souvenir.

Mine says it is in transit...can't wait!

Janisj, this was a wonderful thing to do.
IIRC, it goes to a very good cause.

Hi JANISJ, also received my poppy this week. Beautiful - but the red color is deeper than I expected. I will treasure it always.

Looking forward to your trip reports for yoru upcoming jaunts to London this year.

Glad it arrived safely Janis. What a special thing to own. May your poppy bring you, and others who have purchased one, many years of joy and remembrance.

Not long now till Belgium.

I got my poppy today, but it arrived broken. The packaging was perfectly intact. One petal was broken off and then a small piece of that petal was also broken off. I could glue the small piece back on, but the petal itself does not even match where it is supposed to be broken from and therefore can't be attached. I am really disappointed, but have emailed them to ask what I should do. AAARRRGH!

Oh - that is too bad jane. I'd be very upset.

Let us know what you find out.

that's great jj.

Jane - you are not alone in this - I think that they are offering to replace broken ones - here's the info on the website:

http://support.britishlegion.org.uk/...ies-order-faqs

Wow. We were in London and visited the Tower. What a beautiful, moving display the poppies made. We NEVER saw any opportunity/display to purchase said poppies.

I searched the site and was unable to find a contact in order to be placed on any kind of mailing list for possible future purchases.

If anybody can send me the link (which clearly I've missed), I would be grateful.

"We NEVER saw any opportunity/display to purchase said poppies.

I searched the site and was unable to find a contact in order to be placed on any kind of mailing list for possible future purchases."

AFAIK purchasing was on-line and they sold out last Fall.

But check the websites to be sure

https://poppies.hrp.org.uk
http://www.britishlegion.org.uk

I believe all the poppies were sold by the end of October last year.

janisj--

Last October we visited some of the Somme battlefields and I was very moved by the thousands of poppy wreaths, crosses, etc., that people had placed on monuments, cemeteries, battle sites, churches, etc. The sad thing is that when I wore on November 11 the little plastic poppy I had acquired at one of the visitors centers, most here had no idea what it was, let alone what it meant.

Most of our history has been put down the memory hole, and you know the saying about those who forget the past. May God help us.

dwdvagamundo: "The sad thing is that when I wore on November 11 the little plastic poppy I had acquired at one of the visitors centers, most here had no idea what it was, let alone what it meant."

It is always striking -- in the UK just about everyone wears a poppy leading up to 11/11 and Remembrance Sunday

Thanks for the link annhig. It took me to the email to which I have already sent a message. I'm sure it will take a few days for them to get back to me.

that's good, jane.

Let us know how you get on.

A quick update. I got an email response from them, referring me to another email address. I have sent off a note to the new address and hopefully will hear back in a couple of days.

I had an email today from the appeal to say that all poppies have been dispatched. I got mine back before Christmas, but then I am in the UK

"I had an email today from the appeal to say that all poppies have been dispatched. I got mine back before Christmas, but then I am in the UK"

The e-mail I received today said all were sold but not all sent yet:

"To date over 860,000 poppies have been delivered to their new owners. We are making the final few UK deliveries over the next week, with all international deliveries expected to be completed by the end of April."

The good they are doing is amazing: "Each of the service charity partners has received a staggering £1.2m and you can find out here how they are already using this money to help their causes. We anticipate that this figure will rise even further once we complete our accounts"

Wasn't there some problem with the original shipper and that contributed to the wait for people to receive their poppies? I remember reading something about that.

there was a lot of trouble at the beginning when Yodel were delivering them - there was even a report of one driver throwing the package into the recipient's garden, leading to understandable ire when the poppies were found to be broken.

I suspect that they have solved the problem by having some more made to replace the broken ones.

Yes,I'm sure if I get a replacement, it will not likely be one that was part of the original installation. Ah, well, hopefully I will at least get the replacement.

Poppy update; I finally heard back from the email address to which I was referred. They asked me to send it back using a UK delivery service. I wrote back explaining I am "out in the colonies" so they have asked for photos of the poppy, the label and the packaging which I have sent....fingers crossed. I certainly get the sense that they are trying to do the right thing.

POPPY UPDATE: I got my replacement poppy today...intact, thank goodness. I was afraid that it might not have been part of the original installation, but it actually has some dirt and cob webs on it, so it certainly appears to be original. Anyway, I am delighted to have it.

Terrific!

great news jane.

I hope that it brings you much pleasure.