Designed as a tribute to Britain's World War I dead, a blood-red trench of ceramic poppies around the Tower of London has become a national phenomenon as Britons flock to remember the fallen in generations of war.
Up to four million people -- six per cent of the country's population -- are expected to visit the exhibit dubbed "Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red" before the last flower is planted on Tuesday on the anniversary of the end of World War I.
The poignant display is now also one of London's busiest tourist attractions as 888,246 poppies, one for every British soldier who died in the conflict, have been progressively planted in the tower's moat since August.
Older visitors bring their own memories of wartime while younger ones remember relatives killed in conflict, as they edge politely to the front of the crowd to pose for selfies.
"We lived through World War II -- I was six when the war broke out -- my grandfather was in World War I and was gassed three times, so I have quite a lot to think about," said Ann Household, 81, who had travelled from the southern coastal town of Eastbourne to see the exhibit.
"It's affected every generation of our family."
Her husband Graham explained that his sister, Dorothy, was killed by an Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb at the Tower of London in 1974 -- "so we have another connection".
"If anything tells you about the crazy futility of war, it's this," the 79-year-old added quietly, gesturing at the sea of red surrounding the tower. "We always get involved -- why do we always get involved?"
At peak visiting times officials have had to close the nearby Underground station due to overcrowding, but organisers have resisted calls from politicians and the public to keep the exhibit open longer.
It will start being dismantled on Wednesday and the poppies have been sold off to raise money for military-related charities, although a section of the exhibit will eventually go on permanent display at the Imperial War Museum.
