I have been struck by the effectiveness of this year’s Poppy Appeal.
The poster campaign and the involvement in the press launch of a young war widow and the 22 year old vetran blinded in Iraq gave this campaign (for me at least)an immediacy that others may have lacked. It felt that an important shift has started, as the service men from WW2 are now passing on in large numbers, the Legion has perhaps decided to place greater emphasis on its work with those involved in more recent campaigns. The next few years will be a critical time for the Legion with many of its most active supporters no longer available and the decline of the World Wars in the national consciousness.
There is no doubt in mind so long as our politicians send our countrymen to do dirty work around the globe that it should continue to play an important role in this country.