A colonel who saw 13 of his soldiers killed during one tour of Afghanistan stressed the importance of the poppy appeal in the wake of the row over England footballers wearing them.

Colonel Nick Kitson, who commanded 3rd Battalion The Rifles in Sangin, Helmand province, spoke as servicemen and women past and present joined the Duke of Edinburgh and forces families at the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey to remember Britain’s war dead.

He said: “One of our riflemen who was killed had a young daughter at home.

“She and her mother were the main carers for his parents and soon after he died they discovered the daughter had cerebral palsy.

“She was desperate for a bicycle, but it had to be specially adapted.

“With charitable donations, particularly from the poppy appeal, she got a bike and the pair were helped in looking after the rifleman’s parents.”

Prince Philip opened the 83rd Field of Remembrance in a short ceremony which included a two-minute silence.

The football’s international governing body, Fifa, lifted a ban on England players wearing poppies in today’s friendly match with Spain after the Duke of Cambridge stepped in.

But one World War II veteran at yesterday’s event expressed his disgust over the row.

Former Warrant Officer Daniel Donaghey, 85, from Belfast, said: “I am disgusted. Poppies are respected all over the world - it isn’t just Britain that recognises them.”

“The money from the appeal is desperately needed.”

The Duke, a former Royal Navy officer, arrived at the ceremony in a large blue overcoat with a poppy attached, and a naval cap.

He placed a tiny wooden cross, printed with his cipher and the words In Remembrance 2011, into a large wreath made of poppies at the Graves of the Unknown British Soldiers from the World War 1 and World War 11.

The two simple crosses stood in front of hundreds of small wooden crosses planted in the grounds of the abbey as a mark of respect to those who died fighting for their country.

The Last Post was sounded by two trumpeters and, as Big Ben sounded at11 a.m., a two-minute silence was observed.

Prince Philip then met members of the Royal British Legion and the Poppy Factory, who help set up the Field of Remembrance every year.