THE many members of the British military that have been killed in battle over the years are rightfully remembered with a red poppy.

Hundreds of thousands of animals have died alongside them as part of war efforts waged across the globe but these sacrifices often go unrecognised.

Purple poppies are a fairly new way of righting this wrong and ensuring that our four-legged friends and fearless flying messengers are not forgotten.

Drove Vets' push for people to knit purple poppies received so much support that they raised £1,500 for the Royal British Legion.

They were so inundated with the crocheted flowers that they still have hundreds of poppies left to sell next year.

Director Lynn Gaskarth said: "The response was amazing and overwhelming, all the staff got involved and it was great fun.

"It created a great atmosphere around all our surgeries, it was a big team effort and everyone really embraced it.

"Everyone we talked to about it was so enthusiastic and it brought people together to knit and natter.

"We didn't know if we could keep up demand for the wool and the cards.

"The red poppy is the most important, of course, but this is a nice add-on and we will definitely do this appeal again next year."

Social media snaps of cows, tortoises, cats, dogs and other animals at Drove Vets wearing the knitted poppies went down well online.

The vets' main hospital near Wroughton received knitted purple poppies from as far as Scotland after publicising their appeal.

The Royal British Legion does not officially recognise purple poppies but has no issue with them being sold or worn with its traditional red poppies or the Peace Pledge Union's white poppies which symbolise peace and remember all victims of war.

April Porter from the Swindon RBL said: "People don't realise how many pigeons, horses, dogs and other animals died have died during wars so the purple poppy is a nice way of recognising what they did.

"Around this time of year, people are so generous when donating to these appeals and we are always so grateful for the support."

Approximately 16 million animals 'served' during the First World War.

Of the million horses and mules recruited by the British Army, nearly half died as a result of injury or enemy fire.

Hundreds of dogs and messenger pigeons used to carry messages and sniff out enemy soldiers were killed while carrying out these important duties.