Stunning fundraising displays across Diss as Royal British Legion prepare for Remembrance Sunday

Volunteers from the Royal British Legion (RBL) have been ramping up their fundraising efforts with a variety of stunning displays in preparation for Remembrance Sunday next week.

November 14’s commemoration will have added significance as it will take place during the RBL’s centenary year, as well as being the first ceremony in two years not to take place under severe lockdown restrictions.

In Dickleburgh, dozens of residents pulled together to design a stunning cascade of poppies – running down the trunk of a tree by the war memorial outside All Saints’ Church, in The Street.

Nicky Blakesly, from the Dickleburgh branch of the RBL, said: “It looks brilliant.

“It was put together by people in the village – we did a shout out on Facebook, and a lot of people got involved in the knitting and crocheting of the poppies.”

Over in Diss, 60-year-old RBL volunteer David Hines pitched up his 1944 Willys MB Jeep on Saturday, as he sold poppies to shoppers along Mere Street.

Mr Hines, who was enjoying his 17th year volunteering for the RBL, sported a US Eighth Air Force Ground Crew uniform – a nod to the American pilots who served in East Anglia during the war – as he sought donations.

“I took the Jeep along with me and it really got people talking and started a conversation,” said Mr Hines, who lives in Denmark Lane, Roydon.

In late 1944, the American-made military Jeep was shipped over from the United States to Australia, where it was used by deployed GIs until the end of the war.

It was then used by the Australian army until the end of the 1950s, when it was passed into civilian hands, before finally finding its way to Roydon after Mr Hines purchased it in 2003.

“It got a really good reception from people,” added Mr Hines, who spent almost nine hours taking collections in the chilly autumn weather.

“It’s great to give up your time to raise money, and a lot of the old vets loved to come up and have a natter.”

Every year, on the second Sunday in November, the nation comes together to honour the service and sacrifice of our Armed Forces community, the British and Commonwealth veterans, the Allies that fought alongside us and the civilian servicemen and women involved in the two world wars and later conflicts.