The Royal British Legion (RBL), sometimes called The British Legion or The Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants.
Service in the military is no longer a requirement of Legion membership.[1] The Legion has an official membership magazine, Legion, which is free to all Legion members as part of their annual subscription.[2]
According to Mark Garnett and Richard Weight, it was established and run by Britain's upper class and became genuinely popular with a broad membership. They argue:
It was a product of the First World War and the combination of altruism towards, and fear of, the working class.... The social dislocation caused by veterans' mental and physical trauma, coupled with the industrial unrest and disillusionment with war as an instrument of foreign policy, made the need to bring officers and men together in one body seem more pressing.[3]
A Royal Charter was granted in 1925, accompanied by invaluable patronage from royal circles. During the Second World War, it was active in civil defence, providing officers to the Home Guard. Its membership grew rapidly from veterans of the Second World War, reaching 3 million in 1950. It declined to a half million elderly survivors by 2003.[4]
Perhaps best known for the yearly Poppy Appeal and Remembrance services, the Legion is a campaigning organisation that promotes the welfare and interests of current and former members of the British Armed Forces.
The Legion support nearly 36,000 War Disablement Pension cases for war veterans and make around 300,000 welfare and friendship visits every year.[citation needed]
Legion campaigns include calls for more research into: Gulf War syndrome and compensation for its victims; upgrading of War Pensions; the extension of endowment mortgage compensation for British military personnel serving overseas; and better support for British military personnel resettling into civilian life.
The Legion holds a fund-raising drive each year in the weeks before Remembrance Sunday, during which artificial Remembrance poppyred poppies, meant to be worn on clothing, are offered to the public in return for a donation to the Legion. The Poppy is the trademark of The Royal British Legion, RBL states "The red poppy is our registered mark and its only lawful use is to raise funds for the Poppy Appeal".[5] The paper poppies are manufactured at the Poppy Factory in Richmond. Other products bearing the Poppy, the Trademark of The Royal British Legion[6][7][8] are sold throughout the year as part of the ongoing fundraising.[9]
Festival of Remembrance
The 2015 Festival of Remembrance
The Legion organises 'The Festival of Remembrance' in Royal Albert Hall, London on the Saturday before Remembrance Sunday. Originally featuring composer John Foulds's World Requiem it now includes military displays by current members of the armed forces, choral works, and prayers.[10] It culminates with Servicemen and Women, with representatives from youth uniformed organizations and uniformed public security services of the City of London, parading down the aisles and onto the floor of the hall. There is a release of poppy petals from the roof of the hall.
On the day there are two performances. The matinee is open to any member of the public. The evening event is open only to members of the Legion and their families, and is attended by senior members of the Royal Family; starting and ending with the British National Anthem, God Save The Queen, and includes the three cheers led by the Garrison Sergeant Major at the finale. In 2007, the second half of the evening event was aired live on BBC Radio 2. BBC One showed the event an hour later.[11]
Most parts of the Festival are of a formal, thought-provoking, and solemn nature. In recent years, the items have included more contemporary performers to attract a younger audience. They have included family members of serving military personnel (e.g. The Poppy Girls and the Military Wives choir); singers Gregory Porter, Joss Stone, Jim Radford and James Blunt, the latter two of whom are both military veterans; and the animatronic horse used in the war film War Horse.
Honour the Covenant is a campaign launched by The Royal British Legion in September 2007, which calls on the UK Government to honour the Military Covenant. The campaign aims to seek public support for the issues identified by the Legion and to encourage their Members of Parliament to act to ensure that Government policy is changed.
The campaign accuses the Government of failing to meet its commitments under the Covenant. The Legion highlighted the case of a 23-year-old paratrooper, injured in battle, who was awarded £152,150 despite injuries requiring care for the rest of his life. It also criticised the practice of treating soldiers in wards alongside civilian patients.[12] In his conference speech that October, Conservative Party leader David Cameron referred to the Covenant and said "Mr. Brown, I believe your government has broken it."[13]
Medical care
Responding to the Royal British Legion's campaign, the former Secretary of State for HealthAlan Johnson announced in November 2007 that armed forces veterans would get priority treatment on the National Health Service, and those injured would be treated immediately in hospital rather than go through waiting lists. Prescription charges would also be waived.[14]
Gurkhas
In upholding the claim of six Gurkha soldiers for the right to settle in Britain at the end of their service, Mr Justice Blake's judgement in September 2008 recited the Military Covenant before observing that granting them residence in Britain "would, in my judgment, be a vindication and an enhancement of this covenant".[15]
Online assistance
The Legion sponsors a website, CivvyStreet.org, which assists Service leavers and members of the ex-Service community and their dependents with information, advice and guidance (IAG) on resettlement, learning and work. Specialist services are provided by partner organisations. Opportunities for funding may also be available to those who qualify for assistance. The website has been designed to give a single gateway to the services and support that partners provide for resettlement, learning and work.[16]
Controversies
Donations
In September 2009, the Legion accepted a donation from Rachel Firth, a member of the British National Party (BNP). She raised money by spending 24 hours in a cardboard box, giving half to the BNP and half to the Legion. Initially, the donation was rejected, but, after Firth gave an assurance that its giving would not be "exploited politically", it was accepted.[17]
In August 2010, Tony Blair pledged the proceeds of his memoirs, A Journey, to the Legion, "as a way of marking the enormous sacrifice [the armed forces] make for the security of our people and the world". This included a £4.6million advance, making it the largest single donation in the charity's history. Chris Simpkins, the Legion's Director General, said he was delighted with what he called "this very generous" offer and the Legion announced that it would be used to help fund its planned "Battle Back" challenge, a project to provide state-of-the-art rehabilitation services for troops returning from the frontline with serious injuries. Amongst the generally favourable reaction to the news, some anti war campaigners and families of soldiers killed during the wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan claimed the donation was "blood money" and a public relations stunt. They were not widely supported[18][19][20]
Subscriptions
In 2015, the administration office announced that the practice of subscriptions being paid informally within clubs by cash would cease, and that in future all subscriptions would need to be paid either via online payment, direct debit, cheque or in cash at PayPoint.[21][failed verification] In North Wales this prompted a number of associated clubs to leave the Legion, including Colwyn Bay and Conwy, with others voting on also doing so.[22]
Bands
The Kings Norton Royal British Legion Youth Marching Band in 2006.
There are over 50 Legion bands around the world, each run and funded independently. They include full concert show bands, brass ensembles, pipe and drum bands, marching bands and youth bands.
The Central Band of the Royal British Legion is the Legion's flagship band. In existence since 1944, the band was recognised as the Legion's premier band in 1983 and gained its title of "The Central Band of the Royal British Legion" three years later.[23]
Clubs
Beacon Hill, Surrey, Club
The Royal British Legion has an extensive network of Social Clubs called Legion Clubs throughout the United Kingdom. The Royal British Legion also has branches in the Ireland.[24] Other branches are spread around the world, mostly in mainland Europe, but also in the United States, Thailand, Belize, the Falkland Islands and Hong Kong.[25]
The Royal British Legion Riders Branch (RBLR) is a specialist worldwide branch of The Royal British Legion for motorcyclists. Its members hold events such as Weston Bike Night in Weston-super-Mare and rallies such as the RBLR 1000,[26] a 1,000 mile in 24 hours sponsored ride, all to raise money for the Poppy Appeal. Many RBLR members attended the repatriation ceremonies in Royal Wootton Bassett.[27][28][29] Ex-services members of the RBLR often wear medals and head-dress with their leathers and motorcycle kit.
Scotland
RBLS badge
Within Scotland, a sister organisation to the RBL, the Royal British Legion Scotland, operates on the same basis as the RBL functions elsewhere within the UK, and is a Registered Charity within Scotland, (SC003323).
In June 1921, Field Marshal Earl Haig formed the Royal British Legion Scotland (Legion Scotland) as it is now known, by bringing together several charities that had been established to assist those returning from the horrors of the First World War and residing in Scotland.
Around the same time the Royal British Legion, as it is now known, was also formed to assist those returning and living south of the border.
Earl Haig also established two poppy appeal funds. One was organised and delivered by the Royal British Legion in all areas other than Scotland. The second was delivered by the Earl Haig Fund Scotland, now commonly known as Poppyscotland. Whilst the Scottish Poppy Appeal is heavily supported by Legion Scotland with about one third of the annual can collection raised by its members, the appeal is owned by Poppyscotland not Legion Scotland.
↑ Mark Townsend, "Army inquest backlog grows: Widows must wait longer for results because coroner has yet to receive promised funds", The Observer, 9 September 2007, p. 2.
Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states. Remembrance Day has been observed since the end of the First World War to remember armed forces members who have died in the line of duty. Following a tradition inaugurated by King George V in 1919, the day is also marked by war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries. In most countries, Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of First World War hostilities. Hostilities formally ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month", in accordance with the armistice signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. The First World War officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919.
"In Flanders Fields" is a war poem in the form of a rondeau, written during the First World War by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend and fellow soldier Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, who died in the Second Battle of Ypres. According to legend, fellow soldiers retrieved the poem after McCrae, initially dissatisfied with his work, discarded it. "In Flanders Fields" was first published on December 8 of that year in the London magazine Punch.
Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held at 11am on the second Sunday in November. Remembrance Sunday, within the Church of England, falls in the liturgical period of Allsaintstide.
The Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association, best known simply as the RSA, is one of the largest voluntary welfare organisations in New Zealand and one of the oldest ex-service organisations in the world.
The Royal Canadian Legion is a non-profit Canadian ex-service organization founded in 1925. Membership includes people who have served as military, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, provincial and municipal police, Royal Canadian Air, Army and Sea Cadets, direct relatives of members and also affiliated members. Membership is now also open to the general public.
George Alexander Eugene Douglas Haig, 2nd Earl Haig, was a British artist and peer who succeeded to the earldom of Haig on 29 January 1928, at the age of nine upon the death of his father, Field Marshal the 1st Earl Haig. Until then he was styled Viscount Dawick. Throughout his life, he was usually known to his family and friends as Dawyck Haig.
The Haig Fund is a charity set up in 1921 by Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig to assist ex-servicemen. The Haig Fund continues to support veterans from all conflicts and other military actions involving British Armed Forces up to the present day. Its members sell remembrance poppies in the weeks before Remembrance Day/Armistice Day. The words "Haig Fund" are no longer inscribed on the black button in the centre of each poppy; instead it reads "Poppy Appeal".
Royal Wootton Bassett, formerly Wootton Bassett, is a small market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 11,043 in 2001, increasing to 11,385 in 2011. Situated in the north of the county, it lies 6 miles (10 km) to the west of the major town of Swindon and 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Calne.
The white poppy is a flower used as a symbol of peace, worn either in place of or in addition to the red remembrance poppy for Remembrance Day or Anzac Day.
The remembrance poppy is an artificial flower worn to commemorate those who died for their country. Veterans' associations exchange poppies for charitable donations used to give financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the armed forces.
The Earl Haig Fund Scotland, trading as poppyscotland, is a Scottish charity for veterans of the British Armed Forces and their dependants. It was founded in 1921 by Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig as part of the broader British Haig Fund. Its main source of funding is the Scottish Poppy Appeal, organised in conjunction with the Royal British Legion in Scotland, which sells remembrance poppies in early November leading up to Remembrance Sunday. The first Poppy Appeal took place in 1921, and in 1926 Countess Haig established the Lady Haig's Poppy Factory in Edinburgh. The fund merged with The Royal British Legion in 2011 but operates as a distinct charity with the Legion.
The Military Covenant or Armed Forces Covenant is a term introduced in 2000 into British public life to refer to the mutual obligations between the United Kingdom and Her Majesty's Armed Forces. According to The Guardian, "it is an informal understanding, rather than a legally enforceable deal, but it is nevertheless treated with great seriousness within the services". It was coined in Soldiering – The Military Covenant (booklet), UK: Ministry of Defence, April 2000, and has now entered political discourse as a way of measuring whether the government and society at large have kept to their obligations to support members of the armed forces.
Moina Belle Michael was an American professor and humanitarian who conceived the idea of using poppies as a symbol of remembrance for those who served in World War I.
The Royal British Legion Riders Branch (RBLR) was formed in 2004 as a branch of The Royal British Legion, a registered charity that supports past and present members of the Armed Forces. While its membership is dominated by former and current HM Armed Forces personnel, it also welcomes members who support the aims of the Royal British Legion charity, namely of helping and assisting service people, ex-service people and their dependants.
The South African Legion is the oldest military veterans organisation in South Africa. It is referred to simply as the SA Legion or even 'The Legion' and is one of the largest independent military veterans charities in South Africa.
The Poppy Factory is a factory in Richmond, London, England, where remembrance poppies are made. It was founded in 1922 to offer employment opportunities to wounded soldiers returning from the First World War, creating remembrance products for the Royal Family and The Royal British Legion’s annual Poppy Appeal. It is operated by a company that is a registered charity which provides employment support to disabled veterans across England and Wales. The factory makes approximately 36 million poppies each year.
The Field of Remembrance is a memorial garden organised annually by the Poppy Factory in Westminster, London.
The Gibraltar Cross of Sacrifice is a war memorial in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is located west of North Front Cemetery, at the junction of Winston Churchill Avenue and Devil's Tower Road. The Cross of Sacrifice was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield in 1917, and his monument is found in numerous Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries. The cross in Gibraltar was erected by the Royal Engineers for the commission, and unveiled on Armistice Day 1922. The British Pathé film recorded at the dedication ceremony that day represents the first motion picture made in Gibraltar. The Gibraltar Cross of Sacrifice served as the focus of Remembrance Sunday ceremonies in Gibraltar until 2009, at which time the location was changed to the Gibraltar War Memorial.
A remembrance cross is a small wooden cross used to remember the sacrifice of the armed forces in the United Kingdom, particularly during Remembrancetide, the period of the annual Poppy Appeal. Remembrance crosses are produced by the Poppy Factory in Richmond and Lady Haig's Poppy Factory in Edinburgh, which also produce remembrance poppies and wreaths. A remembrance cross is usually decorated with a remembrance poppy and the phrase "Remembrance" or "In Remembrance",
Madame E. Guérin was born at Vallon (-Pont-d’Arc), Ardèche, France. She was the originator of the Remembrance Poppy Day. Prior to this, she was a teacher in Madagascar; a lecturer for the Alliance Française; and a lecturer, fundraiser and humanitarian in the U.S.A., during World War 1. For services to France, she was awarded the Officier d'académie’ médaille and the Officier de l’Instruction Publique médaille. For her services to the U.S.A., for the Liberty Bond, she was awarded the Victory Liberty Loan Medallion.
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