General Chat

So have I, thought it smacked of going through the motions that's all. If they really had thought it out we'd have had more on the home page and at least 1 poppy would adorn it. Slip shod to say the least. There are still 2 more days until the 11th for you to reconsider putting up a poppy.

We will not forget because we remember GR.

Today people from all walks of life, proudly wearing a Poppy, will gather around the Cenotaph in Whitehall, they will bow their heads in silence at 11:00am to remember all those members of the armed forces who fought in all wars - this solemn moment will be reflected throughout the country and in many other distant places - the sacrifice of the fallen and injured must never be forgotten <3

Today at 11:00am, I hope the senior management of GR, will bow their heads in shame for this unforgivable omission :-|

unforgiveable indeed and this morning I have an email from GR


" Hi Ann,

Welcome to your November Genes Reunited newsletter.

This month, Let's Remember Together with Imperial War Museums and pay tribute to those who fought in the First World War."


Absolutely disgusting GR - as has been said "We will remember"

The poppy police seem to be out in force again this year. Wearing a poppy and respecting the war dead is a personal choice. I have made mine and have been wearing my poppy with pride. On 1 September I went to France for the sole purpose of laying a poppy wreath on the grave of my 17 year old great uncle exactly 100 years to the day of his death. My cholce. What other individuals or do or do not do is entirely up to to them. Get used to it.

Well, Denis, what a comeback :-|

Yes, it is an individual's choice whether to wear a poppy or not, but you have seemed to have missed the point, if not the plot!

This is a site which many members actually pay to use. It also has a Military Board, where many members seek help.

To not put a poppy on here, whilst 'they' can on Facebook, the free site which, if you had read the threads, many of us are not members of, is an insult.

Most other sites of which I am a member of have actually managed it.

And to tell us to 'get used to it' beggars belief.

I am sorry to hear about the death of your great uncle at a very young age, but my great uncle also died early in the war, 7th November, 1914, at Ypres

As I said, to wear a poppy or not is an individual's choice, but to not display a poppy on a family history site when so many members have also lost relatives in all conflicts, is downright disrespectful

Rupert Brooke
The Soldier


IF I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by the suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

When you go home
Tell them of us
and say for your tomorrow
We gave our today......



Soldiers past and present who lost their lives in order for us to go forth <3

For my Uncle who died 26/09/1917 age 25 years


The Soldier by Rupert Brooke

IF I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by the suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

well said Allan - an apology might help Denis

I doubt that it will happen AnnC :-| :-|

Today, of all days :-0

............................"We will remember them"..........................

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

<3 <3 <3

GR don't seem to have got the full message. Yes, it is 100 years ago that WW1 began - but since the introduction of the Poppy & Remembrance Day we have had other wars and other casualties - some so very recently.

The Poppy is for ALL our fallen, whatever the conflict.

Everyone taking part in those conflicts and their families at home were ALL heroes - so no Genes, it is not that I may have had heroes in my family - I DID have heroes in my family.

me too - an uncle aged 19 in WW1

well said alan

denis you can show off the dead can not

sally w <3

GR say "the need enough notice" - well we all knew Rembrance Day was coming, as we do every year - d'you think maybe they've missed the poppy fields at the Tower of London?

Makes you wonder if they're so busy 'managing' their FB page, they've forgotten the paying members on GR.

I notice Denis has been a member since 2005 and made 610 posts.
I wonder how many were for help with his tree?

I wonder how many GR members - who are the paying member, but unpaid 'helpers' and the substance of this site - indeed the site would be useless without them - said to him when he asked for help:
'I can't be bothered to help you, and you'd better just get over it'?

Why couldn't the "techie" who added the poppy to the Findmypast website have edited the GR homepage at the same time - after all both sites belong to the same company? I'm sure they can edit it quite easily and don't need a "technical release". My son has his own website and often edits it within minutes.

This site has gone down the hill in recent times - it's no wonder so few people seem to use it these days.

Kath. x

I agree that the site has gone down hill in recent years, the only thing it has to offer is the invaluable assistance given to people researching their family history, and it is not GR that offers that - it is those members who voluntarily give up their time to do this.

The GR tree facility has serious flaws, support is more or less an autocue, the standard answer when you contact them, is usually along the lines of "we are aware of the problem and are working hard to resolve it" and that sort of response is supposed to help you :-S

This failure to place a poppy on the homepage is just another GR example of how not to cultivate good customer relations :-(

Collective relatives from my tree who gave their lives in The Great War.
All were either blood relations or husbands of blood relatives.

John A Allan 1897-1915
Isaac Beattie 1892-1916
Henry H Bell 1896-1916
Robert Burrell 1897-1917
Peter Campbell 1893-1917
John R Christie 1892 1918
James Davidson 1896-1918
Jacob Fyfe 1884-1918
John D Fyfe 1888-1918
Richard Fyfe 1890-1918
Archibald F Hamilton 1892-1918
Patrick Jordan 1897-1918
John AC Lewis 1891-1918
Percy C McCubbin 1893 1918
James B Pollock 1887-1917
Richard F Pollock 1885-1915
Ernest Reed 1885-1917
Alfred Smith 1883-1915
Robert W Wybar 1893-1917

( UK, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand regiments)

Lest We Forget