The Comrades of The Great War were formed in 1917 as an association to represent the rights of ex-service men and women who had served or had been discharged from service during World War I.[1] Their Motto was "King, Country, Comradeship" The organisation was Empire-wide. The trustees: Field Marshall the Viscount French, K.P.,O.M., Admiral the Lord Charles Beresford G.C.B and Colonel John Ward M.P. The organisation produced a monthly Comrades Journal with contributions to the editor at 8 Grosvenor Crescent, London SW1.[2] Comrades of The Great War was one of the original four ex-service associations that amalgamated on Sunday 15 May 1921 to form The British Legion.[3]
The organisation was founded by John Joseph Woodward who was also secretary and Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby as a right-wing alternative to the National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers (NADSS) and the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers (NFDDSS). In particular, the NFDSS had put a candidate up against Derby's son in the 1917 Liverpool Abercromby by-election.[4] Historian Niall Barr has stated that the movement was intended to "form a buttress against Bolshevism": its leader, Conservative Party MP Wilfrid Ashley was also secretary of the Anti-Socialist Union.[5]
- ^ The Western Times 11 February 1918 p.3 accessed 31 Jan 2024
- ^ The Surrey Mirror and County Post 9 May 1919 p.2 accessed 31 may 2024
- ^ "The Royal British Legion – History Pages". Britishlegion Northstaffs. 31 January 2017.
- ^ Ian Frederick William Beckett, The Great War, 1914-1918, p.572
- ^ Barnett, Marcus; Broder, David (12 November 2018). "Comrades at War". Jacobin. Retrieved 20 November 2018.