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| Comrades of the Great War | |
|---|---|
| Name | Comrades of the Great War |
| Founded | 1917 |
| Founder | Douglas Haig (supporters) |
| Location | United Kingdom |
| Type | Veterans' association |
| Merged | Royal British Legion (1921 constituent) |
Comrades of the Great War was a British association formed during World War I to represent ex-servicemen and ex-servicewomen who supported the British Empire's wartime leadership and sought welfare for returning personnel. The organisation emerged amid disputes involving leadership figures such as David Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, Arthur Balfour, and industrialists aligned with Conservative and Liberal factions. It positioned itself alongside groups like the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers and the Labour Party-aligned veterans' movements that influenced postwar British social policy.
The group was formed in 1917 against the backdrop of the Battle of Passchendaele, the Battle of the Somme, and the broader crises of World War I that brought veterans' welfare to the fore. High-profile supporters included figures from the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and senior commanders from the British Army and Royal Navy, reflecting alliances with individuals associated with John French and John Jellicoe. Debates in the Parliament of the United Kingdom over demobilization, pensions, and the Representation of the People Act 1918 shaped its early agenda. The organisation drew inspiration from antecedent societies like the British Legion proponents and contemporary groups such as the Silver Badge Association.
Membership comprised former officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted men who had served in units including the British Expeditionary Force, the Royal Flying Corps, the Tank Corps, and colonial regiments from India, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. Administrative leadership included local branches aligned to constituencies represented in Westminster, overseen by committees influenced by figures from the Conservative Party and Liberal Party. Regional structures mirrored divisions in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, London, and industrial centres such as Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Sheffield, and Glasgow. Affiliations extended to charitable trusts, benevolent funds, and organizations tied to the War Office and the Admiralty.
The association ran employment bureaus, pension advisory services, and medical referrals to hospitals including King's College Hospital, Royal London Hospital, and military convalescent homes in Netley and Brighton. It campaigned on issues addressed by the Ministry of Pensions and engaged with the Royal College of Physicians on disability care. Branches organized drill halls, social clubs, and support for dependents in port cities such as Plymouth, Portsmouth, and Belfast. The group collaborated with charities like the British Red Cross, Salvation Army, and Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association to distribute grants, rations, and housing assistance in industrial regions affected by postwar unemployment, such as Rhondda Valley and Tyneside.
Politically, the organisation endorsed candidates in municipal and parliamentary contests, coordinated with parliamentary advocates including members of House of Commons select committees on war pensions, and lobbied ministers such as Austen Chamberlain and William Beveridge on veterans' provision. It opposed some initiatives from the Labour Party veterans' wings and engaged in campaigns related to the Representation of the People Act 1918, conscription debates, and commemorative policy after the Armistice of 11 November 1918. The association influenced legislation on pensions and employment that intersected with debates in the House of Lords and committees chaired by members linked to Robert Cecil and Northcliffe-era media.
The group competed and cooperated with organizations including the National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers, the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers, the British Legion founding groups, the Ex-Servicemen's Welfare Society, and trade-union-linked veterans' committees associated with the Trades Union Congress. Tensions emerged with more radical bodies influenced by veterans from the Battle of Arras and activists sympathetic to Communist elements, while strategic alliances formed with conservative-leaning bodies and imperial veterans' associations in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
The association played a role in shaping postwar remembrance practices including Armistice Day commemorations, memorial committees for battles like the Battle of the Somme and the Third Battle of Ypres, and proposals for monuments in locales such as Whitehall, Westminster Abbey, and municipal cenotaphs in Leeds, Bristol, and Cardiff. It contributed to veterans' literature and periodicals referencing poets and writers tied to the conflict, including Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Rupert Brooke, and critics in outlets like The Times and Daily Mail. The organisation's social clubs and memorials influenced civic rituals in towns across Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Lancashire.
By the early 1920s the organisation participated in amalgamation talks that led to the formation of the Royal British Legion as part of a broader consolidation with groups representing Royal Navy and Royal Air Force veterans, charities such as the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and municipal welfare schemes. Its structures and campaigns left institutional legacies in the Ministry of Pensions policies, local ex-servicemen's clubs, and in archives held by institutions like the Imperial War Museum, British Library, and county record offices in Surrey, Warwickshire, and Yorkshire. Former members influenced interwar politics, public memory debates, and veteran welfare reforms debated in Parliament of the United Kingdom through the 1920s and 1930s, intersecting with rising international crises involving League of Nations diplomacy and rearmament discussions.
Category:British veterans' organisations Category:World War I