We will remember them

"A nation that forgets its past has no future" (Sir Winston Churchill)

For many people, the Royal British Legion is synonymous with support work in the assistance of those who served during the two world wars. The Legion has been of invaluable assistance to many who have approached it for help.

I assure you, many of them are in great need and the Poppy Fund may very well be their one and only hope - a fund, which, as the name implies, raises much needed cash through the selling of poppies on Remembrance Day. This special day is commemorated on the nearest Sunday to November 11 each year. This year it is being commemorated next Sunday.

Thanks to the poppy, Remembrance Day is also known as Poppy Day, because it is customary to wear an artificial poppy on this day. These poppies are sold by the Royal British Legion, a charity dedicated to helping war veterans, who also welcome donations towards this end.

The motto of the British Legion is "Remember the dead; don't forget the living," who are also campaigners for issues relating to war veterans, especially elderly ones.

Poppies are worn because in World War I the Western Front contained in the soil thousands of poppy seeds, all lying dormant. They would have lain there for years, but the battles being fought there churned up the soil so much that the poppies bloomed like never before. The most famous bloom of poppies in the war was in Ypres, a town in Flanders, Belgium, which was crucial to the Allied defence. These inspired the Canadian soldier, Major John McCrae, to write his most famous poem In Flanders Field, which in turn inspired the British Legion to adopt the poppy as its emblem.

The British Legion is totally committed and continuously extends help to all members of the ex-services community providing them assistance to overcome life's difficulties and at the same time encouraging them to look forward to the future with confidence.

For this reason we once again appeal to your generous donations to fund the ever increasing demand on our welfare and benevolent services.

I am confident that, as in previous years, your generous contribution, which will be gratefully received and acknowledged, will once again be forthcoming.

Please help us to help them.

RMA (T) remembrance service

The 3/11 Regiment Royal Malta Artillery (Territorial) Association will be holding its annual remembrance service at the church of Our Lady of Victories, Valletta, on Friday at 6.30 p.m.

Members and their wives, widows of deceased members and friends are invited to attend.

Lino Camilleri, MBE, is secretary and welfare officer of the Royal British Legion (Malta)