if you go into the user control panel, then to board preferences on the left hand side, you can change the style from remembrance to subsilver and you will not have to put up with the poppies.

Thanks Jim x

As an ex serviceman ( Royal Navy ) I for one will wear mine with pride.

Toonman

When I see a poppy I think of my Dad who fought in WW2 in Burma, I remember how important the symbol of the Poppy was to him and the Royal British Legion who raise money by selling them to look after service men and women. I never ever think of politics. I'll wear mine with pride too. But I do understand that everyone has their own opinion on it and as stated above you can quite easily revert back to the sub silver theme. We had a lot of complaints one year when we didn't put the theme up.

Sarah

my father in law fought and was also a POW in Burma. To the day he died he couldn't speak about his time there. Subsilver is there for those who dont want the poppy theme( or who might find the colours a bit too bright)

Hi All,
As a ex serviceman I also wear my poppy with pride. But what ever people think lets keep this to a holiday forum as the poppy issue only offends both sides.

Cornish lad

Thankyou for the information, and reasonable replies.

Wear your poppy with pride, we should never forget those men and women who sacrificed all for their country and for us to live in peace. So what if the poppy is displayed on here.My late father fought in the war and always wore his poppy and attended the service of remembrance.

My family lost five in the First World War, and there's only one war grave to visit. I find justjoe's post grossly offensive and disrespectful to the millions of war dead.

Not only that, it's off topic in a big way, what's it to do with Bulgaria? The whole thread should be removed.

Peter

I think the "Themes" that appear on here are one of the things that make this site different from the Commercial Holiday sites, and the fact that you can communicate with "The Management" also adds to the feeling of community.
I have to admit I do usually revert back to the subsilver as sometimes they can be a bit hard on the eyes

I'm absolutely dismayed and disgusted at some of the comments in here.
I really cannot express how angry I am, that someone wants to question HT's small recognition to our fallen personel.

If it wasn't for our soldiers, we would be speaking German (nothing wrong with speaking German) but for a short time and only once a year, can't some people just find something else to moan about. ?

Sorry, I've been a member of this board for a few years now and while everybody has a right to an opinion, I think this thread has really hit the gutter and really shocked me to the core.....
This board is based in Britain, with British users, where in Britain some of us feel great pride in both our country and will forever be eternally grateful to those men and women who were prepared to sacrifice their lives, so that all of us today can sit behind a computer and have an opinion....we wear and display our poppies with pride and so we should.!

Next you'll be saying "don't have the Christmas theme because that might offend someone.?"

I don't know about offending someone, this has definately offended me, BIG TIME.

Sanji

First of all I commend justjoe for having the courage to not only air his views on a potentially explosive subject, but also for expressing them in a reasoned and calm post, perhaps more importantly I defend to the end of my life his right to express his opinion. I have to say that I agree with some of his comments in regard to politicians hijacking the symbol of the poppy for their political ends. As an ex serviceman who now works in a military environment may I make an impassioned plea to everyone, please, please, please do not confuse the poppy and its remembrance of, and support to, past and serving men and women, with the support of any war or military action in which we are currently involved. The poppy, just like the Help For Heroes organisation and many others are all about the troops and their welfare, leave the politics of the wars to the politicians until you have your voice on polling day. My thanks to all at HT for this show of support for our servicemen and women AND giving our members the choice to not have the poppy background.

John

The poppy, just like the Help For Heroes organisation and many others are all about the troops and their welfare

John
That's why my son last year lost 8 stones in weight, so that he could run his first ever half marathon at the age of 38 to raise hundreds of pounds for Help For Heroes.
Whether it's political, hijacked or whatever, the poppy is the symbol for sleep and death and is associated with our fallen and brave servicemen/women.

Sanji

I dont post much anymore, but this has actually made me bother to log in as I feel so insensed about it.

I find the first post on this thread appalling and I commend HT for having the theme.

Chap I sit opposite at work was telling me yesterday about his late Dad, who when a POW, watched two Frenchmen roast a rat on a stick for their Xmas dinner and then how later on that day went on to observe an English man pass some Cadburys Dairy Milk from his redcross parcel under a wire to a Jew, the Jew was then shot immediately for taking it and the Englishman was then shot for trying to be kind.

These are the real people who lived and died through it that justjoe wants us to forget. How appalling.

He says he dosen't want to be disrespectful which is a cope out as of course he does and couldn't care less about the people who lived as above so that he can actually be in a society that means he can afford a holiday every year, and can go onn holiday boards at his leisure.

If you dont like the setting change it, it ain't rocket science. We have Xmas and Easter as well, suppose you object to this as well incase it offends certain religious groups.

Great posts as usual Sanji.

sanji wrote:

Whether it's political, hijacked or whatever, the poppy is the symbol for sleep and death and is associated with our fallen and brave servicemen/women.

Well said Sanji, my thoughts entirely. A PM to one of the mods, asking if the theme could be changed would have sufficed in my mind.

With losing so many of our serviceman over the past months surely it is especially important to wear the poppy this year. It shows respect and reminds us of those who did not come home.

My nephew is an RAF reservist and was sent to Iraq a couple of years ago - thankfully he returned home but he had aquaintances who did not - he saw sights that will stay with him for the rest of his life.

Wear the poppy with pride please.

Pippa

didnt realise what this topic was about untill I clicked into it....when I was a very small child and all through my growing years I was taught the relavance of the poppy ...what it represented...and why it would be important to me all my life....and why I needed to pass what I had learnt onto my children ...and defend its right to continue......WITHOUT A POPPY EVEN BEING MENTIONED,

My grandfather who served in France in the first world war and the merchant navy in the second gave me hours and hours of his time patiently telling me stories....about himself ..his brothers...his friends...his comrades....the rights and wrongs about how men had been used...I learnt what these 2 wars were all about not from a politacal point of view....but from a human point of view by some one who had lived throught.it ...it was not written on a pamflet or in a book that could be lost or destroyed....but deep inside myself...LEST I FORGET...

Time goes by ...and my granfather and those like him are very few now...and will soon all be gone....as will the likes of me who heard their stories first hand.

The poppy is a key ....it makes people ask what its for.....why we bring it out year after year....the answer is for the future....when the likes of me have long gone.....a voice not just for those who suffered but for our voices ...those who care ....and a voice against those who could make it happen again.

Thank you HT for your recognitian of our voices asking for a peaceful world....and the rememberance of those that suffered trying to obtain just that....not just the service men but their families who had to face a life without a father husband or son...

The poppy is the voice of those who care....this is a country where free speach is allowed....the more people who buy and wear a poppy the more voices are heard

I didn't find the post offensive. It was asked, answered and Joe came back to thank us for our responses. We do a few themes over the year and there is always the option to revert back to our normal subsilver theme. This is something that joe was not aware of.

I hope this helps joe understand the response his post has had

But just this once I want to have a rant....
if we were not having this disscussion about the poppy theme and its relevance...then you wouldnt have been able to rant about not being happy about it....instead you would have been hiding from the gestapo or secret police for daring to question if it was the right place to display a swastica (sorry my spelling is awful )

Did we really need the poppies on the board ?....
the people who make the desisions about the HT themes did....they would have considered the feelings of not only HT members but also guest readers....they would not have made this decision lightly....they would have born in mind the response recieved when they did not change the theme against the response when they did.......because of what the poppy represents we are still a democratic country...where the majority will be heard and heeded....its a credit to HT that they have also considered the feeling of the minorities and provided an alternative which was easily accessable .......because of what the poppy reresents we also have freedom of speach ...therefore Joe you were able to voice your opinion...hear others responses...and be given as a consequence the knowledge you needed to make a choice ....and how to change what you were upset about

It has been hijacked by politicians for many years, and has become a very militaristic, and jingoistic platform for them to push their views.....
Ive not really found this to be the case....the royal british legion use this time to focus us as a nation on the fact that their are soldiers and their families needing our help still...and remind us that remembering the past protects our future....the Royal British legion is not a political organisation...though it is redressing the harm that certain politics have inflicted for right or wrong reasons on human beings better know as soldiers and their families...and giving the nation the chance to say thank you for all the benifits we have gained because of there past sacrifices. I personaly have no problem with this and I gladly buy my poppy .

Every person on TV must wear this symbol, regardess of their veiws on it. No dissent is allowed.
it is a personal choice...and at worst they would be indifferent about wether or not they wear a poppy...they cant feel that strongly about it....as no one would get me to wear a swastica....but maybe they value the impression they make when addressing the nation ....and know the stenght of feeling there is about the wearing of a poppy

so hope this helps you understand joe....you cant be blamed for what you dont know