Memorial details
- Memorial type
- Composite
- District
- Lichfield
- Town
- Alrewas
- County
- Staffordshire
- Country
- England
- Commemoration
- Non-Specific Conflict
- Ceremony
- Unveiled
Date: 14 September 2013
Attended by: Mrs Amanda Binnie
- Unveiled
- Lost
- Not lost
- WM Reference
- 74412
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Current location
Memorial is no. 418a in Blue Zone on Millennium Avenue.
National Memorial Arboretum
Croxall Road
Alrewas
Lichfield
Staffordshire
DE13 7AR
England
OS Grid Ref: SK 18505 14675
Denomination: Undefined
- Description
- A garden with, as its focal point, a large raised bed in the shape of a poppy flower. The poppy flower bed is bordered by a wall of large stones and topped with a polished reddish-brown granite top. The poppy flower bed is divided with black granite borders into twelve segments, one for each month of the year. The names of the months are engraved in gold lettering on the granite top. Individual everlasting poppies are inserted into the bed as personal commemorations. At the centre of the bed is a roundel of black polished granite on which the words "Lest We Forget" are engraved in gold lettering. An upright poppy wreath made of the same stone and covered in poppies is fixed to the roundel. Set into the grass surrounding the memorial are three tablets of reddish-brown granite with commemorations engraved in gold lettering to three individuals most closely associated with Poppy symbolism: Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander McRae, Moina Michael and Madame Anna E Guerin.
- Inscription
- [Tablet 1]: LIEUTENANT COLONEL/ JOHN ALEXANDER MCRAE M.D.,/ CANADA./ A POET, PHYSICIAN AND SOLDIER/ DURING WORLD WAR 1,/ WROTE THE FAMOUS WAR MEMORIAL POEM/ 'IN FLANDERS FIELD'. [Tablet 2]: MADAME ANNA E. GUERIN,/ OF FRANCE./ RESOLVED TO SELL HANDMADE POPPIES/ AROUND ARMISTICE DAY TO RAISE MONEY/ FOR EX-SERVICEMEN AND POOR CHILDREN/ IN THE WAR-TORN AREAS OF EUROPE. [Tablet 3]: TO THE MEMORY OF MOINA MICHAEL,/ OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA./ THE FIRST POPPY LADY./ INSPIRED BY JOHN MCRAE'S LINES:/ "IN FLANDERS FIELDS, THE POPPIES BLOW,/ BETWEEN THE CROSSES, ROW ON ROW."/ SHE CAMPAIGNED FOR THE RED POPPY TO BE / ADOPTED AS THE SYMBOL OF REMEMBRANCE.
- Inscription legible?
- yes
- Commemorations
- Non-Specific Conflict
Total names on memorial: 0
Served and returned: 0
Died: 0
Exact count: yes
Information shown: Undefined
Order of information: Undefined
- Non-Specific Conflict
- Components
- Sculpture
Measurements: Undefined
Materials: Granite - Wall
Measurements: Undefined
Materials: Granite, Stone - Garden
Measurements: Undefined
Materials: Undefined
- Sculpture
- Listing information
- This memorial is not currently listed. Find out how to nominate this memorial for inclusion on the National Heritage List for England
- More about listing and the protection of historic places can be found on the Historic England website
- Condition
- The Royal British Legion Poppy Memorial
- WMO ID: 255231
- Condition: Good [last updated on 06-10-2018]
- Help update these details if the condition is wrong
- Trust fund/Scholarship
- No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A - Sponsorship
- Corporate,public
Details: Royal British Legion, subscription ns for everlasting poppies from members of the public - Responsibility
- Royal British Legion
This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.
This information is made available under a Creative Commons BY-NC licence.
This means you may reuse it for non-commercial purposes only and must attribute it to us using the following statement:
© WMR-74412
For queries, please contact [email protected].