Purple Poppy Day

COMMEMORATING OUR WAR ANIMALS

Bringing up the guns, Guns of the 101st Australian Battery moving up at the Battle of Passchendaele. (1917). Harold Septimus Power. National War Art Collection. Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

No known copyright restrictions.

Purple Poppy Day is commemorated on 24 February every year. It honours and remembers the animals that have served during wartime. Animals had many different roles during war time, pigeons carried important messages, dogs helped to find the wounded and donkeys carried the wounded to field stations.

Mascots also played an important role throughout times of conflict. They served as emblems for units, participated in parades and provided companionship for many soldiers and nurses who served during the First and Second World War.

LAY A POPPY OR LEAVE A NOTE

Please feel free to leave a message or lay a purple poppy to commemorate those war animals who served and supported our military personnel. You can also add notes into individual records of those personnel who served Aotearoa New Zealand in time of conflict by searching Online Cenotaph.

Further Reading

Romano, Gail. A collie for the srvice corps. Auckland War Memorial Museum - Tāmaki Paenga Hira. First published: 18 February 2022. Updated: 7 March 2022.

Prasad, Mini. Caesar the Anzac dog. Auckland War Memorial Museum - Tāmaki Paenga Hira. First published: 29 November 2016. Updated: 26 April 2018.

Downie, Heather. A Menagerie of Mascots. Auckland War Memorial Museum - Tāmaki Paenga Hira. First published: 17 February 2020. Updated: 21 February 2020.