Visits to World War I battlefields have surged in recent years as more people trace their family history - evidence suggests. World War I left over eight million dead. The French and Belgian countryside still bears the scars of this conflict, whether in the shape of the innumerable war cemeteries that commemorate the fallen or in the sombre remains of crumbling trenches. If you can't get there maybe you could collect something like the Commemorative stamps ... or research the soldier in your family and collect as much information as you can about where he was and then read everything you can about that place or about that battle ! The Passchendaele stamp is in a sheet with four others which represent the sacrifice of each country in the United Kingdom. It is unmistakably a blood-red corn poppy in full bloom ..... but closer inspection reveals silhouettes of struggling soldiers emerging from its centre. This striking design has been chosen for a special first-class stamp commemorating the 90th anniversary of the First World War battle of Passchendaele, the Belgian village whose name is synonymous with the carnage and futility of war.
