Each evening in the Belgian town of YpresA town in the Belgian province of West Flanders surrounded by many cemeteries, memorials and war museums honouring the battles of World War One. people line the road that passes through the vast monument called the Menin Gate. Its walls carry the names of 54,896 soldiers who were killed on a nearby battlefield in World War One, and whose bodies were never found.¹

In Britain the memory of those who gave their lives is focused on 11 November. This is the anniversary of the armisticeA truce or agreement to stop fighting for a certain amount of time. which ended the war. Its symbol is the red poppy.

The poppies are made by the Royal British LegionA British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the Armed Forces.. The money raised from selling them goes to veteransPeople who used to serve in the army. ' organisations. Some people, though, refuse to wear them, while others prefer ones of a different colour, which commemorate specific groups who contributed to the war effort.

The poppy tradition was inspired by a poem, In Flanders Fields, written in 1915 by John McCrae. It begins: "In Flanders fields, the poppies blow/Between the crosses, row on row..."

The Royal British Legion says that the poppy "honours those who serve to defend our democratic freedoms and way of life."

Not everyone is convinced. Writing in The Guardian, Suzanne Moore explained that for a long time she refused to wear a poppy. She had read poems like Wilfred OwenA famous English poet and soldier of the First World War.'s Dulce et Decorum Est, and felt that poppies glorifiedPraise or honour someone or something. war.

But she later changed her mind: "The act of remembranceThe action of remembering or commemorating the dead. is significant because forgetting is what destroys us. One does not end conflict by shouting about how war is wrong. It is ended by diplomacyThe art of dealing with people in a sensitive way. , compromise and talking to the enemy."

Yes: It presents those who fought as heroes of whom their country should be proud, rather than as victims whose deaths - like those of the enemies they killed - we should be ashamed of.

No: It reminds us of the terrible waste of life and legacy of suffering that conflicts bring, from World War One with its millions of dead to the victims of the present war between Hamas and Israel.   

Or... While all the victims of war deserve to be remembered, those who volunteered to risk their lives fighting for a cause they believed in deserve a special place in our hearts.