Pearly Kings and Queens have helped ‘plant’ hundreds-of-thousands of poppies at the Tower of London.
They joined a long list yesterday of thousands of volunteers who have been planting ceramic poppies into the dry soil of The Tower’s moat during the summer to commemorate the First World War centenary.
The planting began in August, 100 years after the outbreak of the Great War.
The volunteers, including London’s famous cockney Pearly kings and queens, are planting 888,246 poppies, one for every British casualty who didn’t return home.
The last poppy is being planted in two months’ time on Armistice Day, November 11.
That is to commemorate the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month—the moment in 1918 when the guns fell silent on the Western Front to end “the war to end wars”.
It had lasted four years and three months, costing 10 million dead across Europe.
Money raised by the online sale of the poppies is going to six service charities.
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