It took months in the planning but on Friday, the 11th October 2024 our purple poppy covered coat was put in place on the Featherstone War Horse Memorial.  Members of the Murphy’s Army team were joined by local Dignitaries including Deputy Lieutenant Paul Lawrence attending on behalf of the Lord Lieutenant and the Mayor of Featherstone Councilor Dwain Longley, representatives from two of our beneficiaries Fireside K9 and Railway Dogs Benevolent Fund along with their retired and currently serving Police Dogs,  and PH Seth and PH Lola of West Yorkshire Police Mounted Section.

Operation Joey – a joint venture between Murphy’s Army Purple Poppy Campaign and Featherstone Town Council – and the idea of founding member Bev Alderson, inspired by the success of the purple poppy coat which has adorned the Horsforth Horse for the past years.

The team embraced the challenge, and a challenge this has been as the stunning War Horse measures some five meters tall, and nine meters in length. The coat is made up of mesh panels, covered with purple poppies which have been lovingly crocheted by kind volunteers who flocked forwards to help. Purple poppies came pouring in, not only from helpers across the UK, but from our lovely team of Nutty Knitters in L’Absie, France too. The support really has been quite remarkable.

Nearly 4,000 purple poppies have been lovingly crocheted and used in total, including 353 red poppies as a mark of respect for the Featherstone soldiers whose lives were lost in the First World War. And equally remarkably, each one of these has been individually sewn on to the coat by Bev herself. Over twelve hundred hours have been spent on what can only be termed a labour of love.

There is also one very special purple poppy placed on the coat and that is the one which belonged to Murphy.  Murphy the husky who was stolen in 2014, and reunited with his family some three months later.  Murphy – the diva, the legend, our boy, who captured the hearts of the nation but sadly passed away peacefully on the 2nd  September at the grand old age of 14.  Without him, or his humans, neither our army nor our purple poppy campaign would exist. In the coat and in all that has been and will be achieved, his legacy will live on.

There are so many thanks to express – to the kind people who donated wool or made donations towards, to the amazing volunteers who crocheted all the poppies, to local firm Andrews Access who helped us place the coat in position, to Gerry Slade for capturing the days events, to Featherstone Town Council for being so exceptionally kind and supportive and of course to Bev.  An exceptional achievement by all, and we really cannot thank them enough.

They have helped, in such a remarkable way, to make sure that the efforts and sacrifices made and continuing to be made by our service animals are not forgotten. They too served, and they too should be remembered.

Mrs. Alderson said “For the past three years we have dressed the Horsforth Horse statue in Leeds which has received superb feedback.  We were aware of the Featherstone War Horse and thought what a wonderful way it would be to raise awareness of the purple poppy, and its significance as a symbol of remembrance for animals.  We are extremely grateful to Featherstone Town Council for giving us permission and hope that the coat will be used for many years to come.”

The late Councillor Graham Isherwood, then Leader of Featherstone Town Council, said “We are delighted that Murphy’s Army have chosen the War Horse to inspire this project, and are very much looking forward to the official launch on Friday”.  We were so very saddened that Councilor Isherwood was not able to attend the unveiling but fellow Councilors were able to share the highlights with him  We hope he was proud of our efforts…