Photo by Mark Price.
So, becoming one of 888,246 people to obtain one of the hand-made ceramic poppies that adorned the moat around the Tower of London last year has been a very special dividend.
Each poppy, created by artists Paul Cummins and Tom Piper, represents a British or Allied soldier killed during the war.
One of those killed was Mr Allan's great uncle Francis Thomas, who died in France in 1915 from influenza.
After the ''Tower of London Remembers'' display, the poppies were sold for about $NZ50 each, as a fundraiser for six charities.
Mr Allan obtained one via his English third cousin Pat Want.
