WW1 soldiers, Royal British Legion (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Friday, January 17, 2014, 23:39 (3760 days ago) @ dink999

Hi Dink,
I thought and hoped you'd reply to this post; please see my email in this respect. I'm really looking forward to the findings of your researches, thanks in advance for what must have been an awful lot of work. I'm intrigued you say the Mercury also had enlistment details, it hadn't occurred to me that such things were published altho' it does seem rather obvious in retrospect and I'm sure the War Office were keen to promote such information to assist further enlisting, your findings will certainly be very interesting indeed.

One other thought, I don't know without looking when the British Legion came into being, but presumably they are also a worthwhile route of enquiry ?. I've no idea why but I'd always assumed the Legion related more to WW2 and after rather than the First War, so hadn't considered this method before ??.

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Update:

"The British Legion was founded in 1921 as a voice for the ex-Service community as a merger of four organisations: the Comrades of the Great War, the National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers, the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers and the Officers' Association. It was granted a Royal Charter on 29 May 1971 to mark its fiftieth anniversary which gives the Legion the privilege of the prefix 'Royal'. Earl Haig, commander of the Battle of the Somme and Passchendaele was one of the founders of the Legion, and was President until his death."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Legion

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Altho I've always been a staunch supporter of Poppy Appeals I knew little more about their work before tonight, I've found their official website very worthwhile reading. It states
"We help the Armed Forces community.
We provide life-long care and support to serving members of the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force, reservists, veterans of all ages and their families.
We also campaign to improve their lives, organise the Poppy Appeal, run one of the UK's largest membership organisations and remember the fallen."

So it seems to me they're already performing an excellent and difficult task, and perhaps shouldn't be distracted by being asked to perform research too ?. I think that's why their website doesn't appear to encourage such enquiries, but instead offers this useful page.
http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/remembrance/medals/service-records-faqs

That said I suspect some members of some Branches may possibly be happy to assist polite enquiries, their website shows Branches in many Forest towns. Is this a route you've tried Dink, eitherway I suggest we should all await your findings at the very least before we trouble them further ?