A founding member of the Murphy’s Army charity carrying out the purple poppy project for the Featherstone War Horse memorial – Operation Joey – has given an update on the coat’s progress, including plans for when it will be unveiled.

Operation Joey is a project to create a 3,500-strong coat of crocheted poppies for the Featherstone War Horse memorial.

Bev Alderson, a founder of Murphy’s Army, the charity behind the project, said four of the five panels have now been completed and plans are in place to install the coat on the memorial on the morning of October 11.

Speaking about the project’s progress, Bev said: “It’s quite exciting. A lot of hard work and a lot of poppies [have] gone into it.”

Mayor of Featherstone 2024/25 Coun Dwain Longley with purple poppy project organiser Bev Alderson (right of the Mayor) with members of Featherstone Town Council and Murphy's Army volunteers at the Featherstone War Horse memorial.

placeholder image — Mayor of Featherstone 2024/25 Coun Dwain Longley with purple poppy project organiser Bev Alderson (right of the Mayor) with members of Featherstone Town Council and Murphy's Army volunteers at the Featherstone War Horse memorial.

The Murphy’s Army Purple Poppy Campaign has run since 2016 and commemorates animals lost in service. The charity also supports retired service animals such as the Fireside K9 charity for retired police dogs and the Railway Dogs Benevolent Fund.

Speaking about Murphy’s Army’s purpose, Bev said: “[It is] to remember all the animals that have served in the wars and police and fire brigade and various other places – once they have retired there is no help from the government.”

Around 25 people are currently involved in creating the poppies, which are then sent to or collected for Bev to attach them to panels. Each panel is one meter by five meters long.

The director of a Bradford-based machinery hire business will also donate his time to help install the coat onto the memorial using a cherry picker on the morning of October 11. Members of the Featherstone Town Council are also expected to attend for the unveiling.

Bev Alderson (right), founding member of Murphy's Army, with other volunteers as they work out the number of poppies on one of the five panels which will make up the coat for the Featherstone War Horse memorial in October.

Murphy’s Army was responsible for the purple poppy coat which has dressed the Horsforth horse statue for the last three years, and approached Featherstone Town Council about the Operation Joey project after discovering the Featherstone War Horse memorial.

The memorial was unveiled in 2018 in Mill Pond Meadow to commemorate the 353 soldiers from Featherstone who were killed in the First World War, and measures around five metres tall and nine metres in length.