The Brits tend to bury their heads in the sand when you meantion any war really. They stuffed up so bad so many times, it's kind of embarrassing for them. They sent men in places and ordered them to do things that you wouldn't order a dog to do. Those in charge never gave a shit about the soldiers.
Over here the poppies are well known, and for the right reasons. We have what we call ANZAC day. It 'celebrates' New Zealand and Australian soldiers that fought in all the wars, even Vietnam. But mainly it's about WW1. I've never liked calling it the Great War, never made sense to me. We make sure our children know what happened, they need to know and be proud that the men of this little country fought for our freedom. We have incredible respect for our soldiers!