At precisely eleven o’clock on the 11th November, households, schools and workplaces fell silent for two minutes. With poppies in place, students at Sutton High School sat in the hushed school hall to commemorate the soldiers who fought for us in World War One.

2014 marked the one hundredth year since the beginning of World War One in 1914. In order to honour the centenary, a total of 888,246 hand-made poppies were installed at the Tower of London over the past few months. This exact amount of poppies was chosen as it is the same number of soldiers who lost their lives in the war. Volunteers began to create the display on the 17th July 2014. Every poppy represents a soldier who died during the war. The display of poppies, with the name of ‘Blood-Swept Lands and Seas of Red’, was created by Paul Cummins.

Members of the public were able to view the installation and pay their respects. It was estimated that a grand total of approximately five million people viewed Cummins’ artwork. After the Roll of Honour was completed at the Tower of London, and following the last poppy being planted, the traditional two minute silence took place.

On the 12th November, volunteers began to take down the installation. However, the remnants of the installation will still be on display until the end of the month. The poppies will subsequently be sent to those who purchased them. Each poppy was sold for £25, which resulted in raising millions of pounds that were donated to a variety of charities, such as Help for Heroes and Cobseo.

The installation was a wonderful tribute to commemorate the centenary of World War One. 2018 will mark the centenary since the end of World War One; who knows what kind of remarkable tribute we will have then?

Francesca MacDonald, Sutton High School