Have you won one of the Mail’s 3,000 ceramic poppies?
IT was a hauntingly beautiful memorial to the sacrifice of our forefathers 100 years ago.
With each poppy symbolising a British or Commonwealth soldier killed in the Great War, the sea of red surrounding the Tower of London captured the public imagination.
And as millions flocked to catch a glimpse, the Daily Mail commissioned its own tribute to this historic work of art and the sacrifice it commemorates.
In November we gave readers the chance to own their own hand- crafted ceramic poppy – worth £28 each – and donated £15 to the Royal British Legion for every one given away.
Now, after picking at random from nearly 70,000 entries, today we reveal the 3,000 lucky winners online. Our poppy giveaway has raised £45,000 for the Legion.
Several readers have spoken of their delight at receiving one of the stunning creations, made by Which ford Pottery in Warwickshire, which also made tens of thousands of the Tower poppies.
Amanda Price, 35, from Tollerton, Nottingham, said her poppy would be a mark of respect to her greatgrandfather who died just over a week before Armistice Day.
Private James Garfield Fernley was serving with the 17th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers when he was injured in an assault on the Germans in the Belgian village of Kerkhove.
He died of his wounds a day later aged 27 on November 1, 1918, leaving behind a widow and three young children.
At the time, i t was recorded that his parents and sisters were informed of his death ‘amidst all the rejoicing over the Germans signing the armistice’. Miss Price, who works in mergers and acquisitions at Rolls-Royce, said: ‘I entered the Daily Mail giveaway after seeing the Tower of London memorial.
‘The poppy is lovely, really pretty. It’s nice to have it as a mark of respect for the soldiers – for all those who are fighting today too.
‘The paper ones are so easily lost and damaged, it’s nice to have something that you can have year after year.’
For Hazel Morris, her poppy is particularly poignant after her father, who fought with the South Wales Borderers, died this year aged 92.
The 57-year-old, who works in a nursing home in Stratford- on-Avon, said: ‘For me, this poppy is not just about the First World War, it’s about all the soldiers who fought. My father, William Henry Evans, was part of the D-Day landings, but he was too unwell to go to the 70th anniversary this year in June and died in August. This poppy is very poignant and will be a lovely way to remember him.’
The Mail’s competition was in partnership with the Royal British Legion. The Poppy Appeal has been a lifeline for past and present members of the Armed Forces and their families for the best part of a century.