ON SATURDAY morning (May 25), civic leaders joined veterans and cadets at Llandudno war memorial gardens for the unveiling of two metal poppies made by car giant, Jaguar Land Rover.

The poppies were fabricated at Jaguar Land Rover’s Castle Bromwich site, where a significant proportion of the 22,000 Spitfires were built between 1940 and 1946.

In addition, more than 300 Lancaster bombers were also constructed there.

Jaguar Land Rover has committed to re-training and employing former military personnel and, in the last 10 years, has helped more than 1,000 veterans transition from service to civilian life.

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The project to design and build the poppies was initiated by Brian and Jack Traynor, along with Bradley Griffin, of Jaguar’s Halewood plant on Merseyside.

Gregg Niblett, a former Royal Engineer and Armed Forces Community Network Champion at Jaguar Land Rover, was on hand with the Mayor of Llandudno, Cllr Michael Pearce, to unveil the poppies.

One of them is dated 1914-1918 to commemorate the First World War, while the second honours the fallen of the Second World War.

On being revealed to the public, they were blessed by Royal British Legion Padre, The Reverend Canon Philip Barratt OC.

Chairman of Llandudno Royal British Legion, Peter Kingston MBE, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Jaguar Land Rover for their generosity in making these poppies which will be a focal point in the war memorial gardens for years to come.

“As a former sponsor of the Invictus Games, Jaguar Land Rover’s commitment to the armed forces community is steadfast and are a signatory of the Military Covenant.”

Later Llandudno Royal British Legion President, Cllr Frank Bradfield, presented Jaguar Land Rover with a commemorative plaque to place in their memorial garden at the Castle Bromwich factory.

Assistance in unloading and positioning the poppies was given by Conwy County Borough Council’s Open Spaces team.

The unveiling followed a short memorial service organised by Llandudno Royal British Legion to commemorate the Llandudno victims of the Wormhout massacre that occurred 84 years ago this week, as soldiers of the Territorial Army Royal Artillery battery were making their way to Dunkirk for evacuation.

In the French village of Wormhout, they were captured by a German SS unit herded into a barn and killed.

Llandudno has been twinned with Wormhout since 1988.