The art installation named Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red has been created by artist Paul Cummins and staged by Tom Piper to commemorate the 100th anniversary World War 1. Planting of the Tower of London poppies began on 17th July 2014 and will continue until 11th November 2014. In that time 888,246 poppies will fill the dry moat of the Tower. Each poppy represents a British military death during the war.

The number of dead is hard to grasp now, but then so is the magnitude of the war itself. Military personnel from all countries taking part numbered over 65 million in total. Almost 60{9bc1cc8a9198725c785dc299d4853e65ac3850b4f9eac8bd629e2a5d8cbd0524} of them were casualties, either killed, wounded, missing or taken prisoner. France, Russia and Romania had over 70{9bc1cc8a9198725c785dc299d4853e65ac3850b4f9eac8bd629e2a5d8cbd0524} casualty rates, Austria-Hungary’s losses were over 90{9bc1cc8a9198725c785dc299d4853e65ac3850b4f9eac8bd629e2a5d8cbd0524}. Commonwealth losses were 35.8{9bc1cc8a9198725c785dc299d4853e65ac3850b4f9eac8bd629e2a5d8cbd0524}. These figures are approximate and sourced from here.

This installation is a very effective representation of the loss of life this country suffered over those four years. One hundred years has passed, but we still need to remember.

This image can be purchased as a digital download or as an art print from my online shop.

This photo of the Tower of London Poppies can be viewed full size on my Flickr page by clicking on it.