IN THE lead-up to the Gallipoli Centenary this Anzac Day, students at Warwick West State School were treated to a story by veteran John Skinner.

Mr Skinner is a Vietnam War veteran and President of the Warwick RSL Sub-branch and joined students in the library to tell the story of the Flanders poppy.

The poppy is an internationally recognised symbol of sacrifice and commemoration, with a history stretching far beyond the Anzac story.

"The Flanders poppy is different from others because they have the little black cross in the middle, and grew on the Western Front in the First World War" Mr Skinner said.

"It originally came from Mongolia and wasn't in this part of Europe until the Mongols conquered as far into Europe as Austria."

"They only grow in ground that has been disrupted or ploughed, and the battlefields in the First World War were disturbed enough for millions of poppies to grow."

The poppy grew to prominence due to the poem In Flanders Fields, written on the Western Front in 1915 by Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae.

Now, each Anzac Day, we remember the Australian and New Zealand service men who lost their lives in the war.

Teacher and Librarian Sue Higgins also helped students at Warwick West and at St Patrick's and Allora State School to create a mural of poppies, with each of the 600 poppies in the two locations representing 100 lives of Australian men killed in the war.

"The project was funded by the Southern Downs Regional Council and RADF grant," Mrs Higgins said.

"Art was a really nice way to include all the students so they can remember the Gallipoli commemorations."