Volunteers Start Taking Down London Poppy Installation

Volunteers Start Taking Down London Poppy Installation

Hundreds of volunteers on Wednesday began removing the nearly 900,000 blood-red ceramic poppies from an installation at the Tower of London to honour the UK forces killed in World War I.

The artwork has proved hugely popular, with more than five million people travelling to the landmark to see “Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red” in the 11th-century castle’s moat.

Floodlights have also been kept on for night viewings.

The last poppy was planted by a 13-year-old cadet on Armistice Day on Tuesday, marking the end of the 1914-1918 war when people around Britain held a traditional two-minute silence.

The poppies have all been pre-sold for veterans’ charities and will now be dispatched to their owners, with organisers resisting public calls for the display to be extended.

Parts of the display will stay in place until the end of November.

The 888,246 poppies represent all the identified graves and dead commemorated on memorials of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, who were serving in the United Kingdom forces.

The figure therefore includes troops from British empire colonies, but does not include those from the separate forces of Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa.

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