100th Anniversary of Royal British Legion

For 100 years the Royal British Legion has been helping serving and ex-serving personnel and their families. From those who served in the First World War to the men and women of our Armed Forces today, we believe no-one should suffer for having served others. Today, we stand ready to support the next generation when they need us. 

Founded on 15th May 1921, the Royal British Legion is the nation’s leading Armed Forces charity providing lifelong support for the Armed Forces community of men and women, veterans, and their families, including widows, orphans, families of the wounded, disabled and unemployed.

The British Legion was formed on 15 May 1921, bringing together four national organisations of ex-Servicemen that had established themselves after the First World War:

• The National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers
• The British National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers
• The Comrades of The Great War
• The Officers' Association

The amalgamation of these diverse bodies can be attributed largely to two men: Field Marshal Earl Haig and Tom Lister of The Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers. Earl Haig served as the President of The Royal British Legion until his death.

During the aftermath of the First World War, the founding members of the British Legion estimating that they had responsibility for up to 20 million people. More than 6 million men from Britain had served during the First World War, of whom more than 700,000 were killed and some 1.75 million wounded or disabled. Of this latter number more than half were permanently disabled.

In its early days, the British Legion was also deeply concerned by the rates of tuberculosis (TB) among returning service personnel. Over 55,000 men returned from the war suffering from this disease, and by 1922 18,000 had died. After seeing the community suffer, and wanting to help, members helped to create a dedicated TB hospital and village which opened in 1925. Over the years this led to other hospitals being established which mainly focus on care of the elderly and disabled.

The formation of RBL coincided with the Great Depression: this brought mass unemployment and great uncertainty to the population and in particular, service veterans. Much of the early work of members was focussed on helping those in urgent need of support where a lot of funds from the Poppy Appeal in 1922 were used to feed and educate children of serving and ex-serving personnel. Some of these funds ensured children got the best start to life, such as an education; thereby providing pre-school assistance for the purchase of baby items, essential clothing, bedroom furniture and more latterly, school equipment.

After the British Legion was formed, members organised themselves into local branches and this system is still in place today with over 2,500 branches not only across the UK and commonwealth but further afield with 78 branches worldwide, including as far away as the Falkland Islands and Hong Kong. The Swiss branch was created in 1947.

Women too have also always played an important part in the Royal British Legion since the early days of 1921. The role of women in society had begun to change as a result of the First World War and many men  saw women as a threat. Women had taken on the jobs of men during the conflict and in 1918 some were given the right to vote. Earl Haig spoke of the need to enlist the support of women from 1920, but initially they could not become members of the Legion itself, so they formed the Women’s Section in July 1921. Earl Haig said in 1923: “You will not make a great organisation of this unless you bring your women in.” 

In some parts of the country women found it difficult to get permission from their male counterparts to establish a Women's Section branch. But despite this early opposition, the Women’s Section became a vital part of the organisation. Over the last 100 years the role of the Women’s Section has evolved but the fundamentals have not changed. It was the women’s branches who were the driving force behind the Poppy Appeal. The Royal British Legion Women’s Section still existed until 2019 when it became fully integrated into the RBL.

Membership of the Royal British Legion has been vital to our welfare work since 1921 and members continue to play a key role in supporting and caring for our Armed Forces community and championing Remembrance today. The Royal British Legion is the country’s largest Armed Forces charity, with 180,000 members, 110,000 volunteers and a network of partners and charities; helping them to give support wherever and whenever it’s needed. We continue to need new members especially in Switzerland to keep our branch alive. Ask about joining.

Every year the Royal British Legion leads the commemorating and honouring of service and sacrifice by the Armed Forces. The act of remembrance honours those who serve to defend our democratic freedoms and way of life. We remember those who lost their lives on active service in all conflicts; from the beginning of the Great War right up to the present day, helping and supporting those who have served as well as their families.

An RBL spokesperson said: “Remembrance events encourage communities to come together to remember the sacrifice of all those who served.” And, the RBL unites across all faiths, cultures and backgrounds to remember the sacrifice of the Armed Forces community from Britain and across the Commonwealth. 

During November, the RBL not only helps to co-ordinate Remembrance Day services and parades but also to organise the Poppy Appeal - it is our principal fund raiser. Unfortunately, the Poppy Appeal was badly hit by the pandemic and lockdown in 2020, but this year the Legion is hoping that its volunteer collectors will be out in force again, and that corporations and donors will once again be generous. As well as buying and wearing a poppy, people can also get involved in a variety of ways, including offering to organise their own fundraising activities, such as sponsored runs, cycle rides, cake or craft sales, or anything else that takes people's fancy to raise money in support of the welfare work of the Poppy Appeal.

For 100 years, the RBL has provided expert advice and guidance when required, we play an important role in recovery and rehabilitation, and we help people to transition to civilian life. Today, the Royal British Legion continues to support former service personnel and their families, dealing with nearly 36,000 War Disablement Pension cases for war veterans and making around 300,000 welfare and friendship visits every year. 

In our centenary year, we are firmly focused on our future. By building on a century of work we’ll make sure we are a charity fit for the next 100 years. We do, however, rely heavily on new members joining our local branch in Switzerland and getting involved in fundraising for the Poppy Appeal. Please get in touch with us to find out more details.

For more information visit: www.britishlegion.org.uk. / or email us at: Swiss.Chairman@rbl.community