Pirates – Mindful of Sunday’s Commemoration

Pirates – Mindful of Sunday’s Commemoration

Mindful of the importance that this Sunday will bring, representatives of the Cornish Pirates are pictured holding a large hand-painted banner that displays poppies.

Sunday will mark 100 years since the end of hostilities in the World War One, when at 11am on the 11th November 1918 the Armistice was signed, and on Sunday morning the Pirates will lay a wreath on the Penzance War Memorial at Battery Rocks, Penzance.

Also, on Sunday, the Cornish Pirates have a fixture in the afternoon at home to Bedford Blues (ko 2.30pm), during which a match day collection will be held in support of the Royal British Legion and a minute’s silence will be held just ahead of kick-off.

The Cornish Pirates fixture against Bedford Blues is a group match in the new Championship Cup competition. Cup matches are ‘All Pay’, with entry for those who purchase their tickets in advance being just £10, sit or stand anywhere on a first come first served basis.

Advance tickets can be purchased on-line at http://cornish-pirates.com/tickets/ or from the club’s ticket office, open Monday to Friday from 9am to 12 noon.

Entry on the day (space still permitting) will be £15 and £1 for children under 16.

Remembrance Sunday Discount for Service Personnel

There is also a special discount admission price for personnel serving in the Armed Forces, the Fire and Ambulance Services, the Police, plus Doctors, Nurses, the RNLI and the Coastguard Service. Admission to individuals wearing their uniform and/or displaying their ‘ID’ card, can on the day (space permitting) purchase a £5 terrace ticket via Gate 4, which is situated in the clubhouse corner of the ground.

Footnote:

The Red Poppy is a symbol recognised as being rooted in the British autumnal calendar as Halloween and Bonfire Night.
In Britain, and to a lesser extent some of its former colonies such as Canada and Australia, the red poppy is the symbol for Remembrance Day, which marks the deaths of armed forces personnel. It falls on the Sunday nearest to Armistice Day on the 11th November, and features services in churches and war memorials across the country.

While the date originated from the end of WW1, Remembrance Day recognises the deaths of all men and women in Britain’s armed forces including recent conflicts such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
The roots of the Remembrance Day poppy are literally in the trenches of the Western Front during WWI. Despite the devastation of battle when landscapes turned to mud under heavy shelling, the red poppy grew in abundance – an irony of life amid death.

In 1915, after losing a friend in the Second Battle of Ypres, Canadian doctor Lt. Col. John McCrae wrote the poem “In Flanders Fields”, which cited the poppies’ growth over soldiers’ graves. Inspired by the poem, three years later US Professor Moina Michael began making handmade red silk poppies which she sold to friends. The poppy was then popularised in England and France by French woman Anna Guerin, who promoted sales of cloth versions of the flower to help the needy.

In its first ever “Poppy Appeal” in 1921, the Royal British Legion – which provides welfare and support to current and former service people and their families – ordered 9 million of the flowers and raised a then huge £106,000.

Besides the red poppy there is a Purple Poppy which is a symbol of Remembrance for Animals that served during wartime in the United Kingdom. It makes a fitting tribute.

Approximately 8 million horses and donkeys died during WW1, and in 2004 a London monument was dedicated to the gallantry of animals in war. The inscription reads: ‘To all the animals that served and died alongside British and Allied forces in wars and campaigns throughout time. They had no choice.’