Salonika Campaign Society at the RBL Field of Remembrance

HRH The Duchess of Gloucester opened the 98th Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey on Thursday 5th November 2026. The event, which marks the start of the nation’s Remembrance commemorations, has been held every year since 1928, when the Poppy Factory brought a tray of poppies and a collecting tin to the grounds of St Margaret’s Church. Only a handful of poppies were planted around a single cross, but it began a tradition that has grown over the decades, and now a sea of scarlet poppies covers St Margaret’s churchyard in the Abbey grounds each November.

Chair of the Salonika Campaign Society, Alan Wakefield, represented the British Salonika Army plot. Attending also were Society members Darren Rolfe, Jonathan Saunders and John Taylor.

The Field of Remembrance will remain open until daily Sunday 15th November, and members of the public are invited to visit and to plant their own tributes.