Andre Hartslief
So few of us have any thoughts on the significance of Armistice day or as it became popularised as “poppy day” on the 11th of November. I was just a kid in the 1950’s when my late grandmother, Ena, used to dress us up in our Sunday best, to go and visit the Cenotaph memorial in Johannesburg, South Africa on that day every year. It was a fun thing, my brother and I got to do. At the Cenotaph there were many people and lots of soldiers and marching bands.
We all had a paper poppy flower pinned to our chests, and at some point, the bands would play and there was a 12 man gun salute. To me the highlight was that mournful sound of the lone bugler, playing The Last Post at the end of the activities. It was years later, that I got to find out, what the significance was of this annual international event. This video does an excellent depiction of that particular day in November.
