Ambassador plants poppies in Vienna to commemorate First World War centenary
Symbolic flower sown in the grounds of the British Embassy in Vienna as part of centenary commemorations marking the start of WW1
Last week, on the eve of the outbreak of the First World War, Ambassador Susan le Jeune d’Allegeershecque planted poppies on the grounds of the British Embassy in Vienna as part of a range of events taking place in the UK to commemorate the centenary.
The Ambassador said:
As the flowers grow and bloom each year, they will be a lasting tribute to the victims of war around the world. All over the UK, and in British embassies around the world, a whole range of events have been planned to remember World War 1.
It truly was a global conflict, it shaped the last century and we are still feeling the effects today. This small gesture, planting these poppies, goes a little way towards remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
After the First World War, poppies grew in abundance across the ravaged fields of Europe. The deep red of the flower came to symbolise the fallen soldiers on all sides of the conflict. Each year in the UK the long-standing charity, the Royal British Legion, makes and sells paper poppies to raise money to support soldiers and their families affected by loss in conflict.
You can read more about the First World War Centenary commemoration events here. They include #LightsOut on 4 August, marking the start of the war for the UK and based on the then foreign secretary Sir Edward Grey’s famous remark on the eve of the outbreak of the war. He said: “The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our life-time”.
You can even track events as they unfolded 100 years ago on Twitter by following the @WW1FO account run by the FCO historians. It also features the then Ambassador to Austria, Sir Maurice de Bunsen.
You can make your own charitable donation and collect your poppy every November from the British Embassy.