Talk on British Legion by John Parry - Hungerford Virtual Museum

ut, for the purposes of this presentation I would like to focus on the Legions role in becoming
custodians of the traditions which we associate with Remembrance e.g.
a) First Tradition - The Silence
The British Cabinet received a letter from a Sir Percy Fitzpatrick whose son had been killed in
France in 1917. Sir Percy suggested that a silence be observed on the anniversary of the ending of
the war in memory of those who had died. The Cabinet agreed and it was decided to have a 2
minutes silence on the 11 th hour of the 11 th day of the 11 th month. It was to be a complete
suspension of all normal activities. The first of these 2 minutes silences was in November 1919.
Main line trains stopped and the country came to a virtual standstill. Eventually the silence was
moved to the nearest Sunday to the 11 th November and this is what we commemorate today. This
November will be interesting in that it will be the 11 th hour of the 11 th day of the 11 th month of the
11 th year.
b) Second Tradition - Poppy Day
This is the main way in which the Royal British Legion raises funds it needs to support the exservicemen
community. The idea to use the Poppy as a symbol came from a poem written by
Captain John McCrea, a Canadian Volunteer Regimental Medical Officer on the Western Front.
He died of wounds shortly after writing this:-
“In Flanders Fields the Poppies blow between the croses row on row”
On Armistice Day in 1921 there was the first Poppy Appeal. Poppies were made by limbless and
disabled ex-servicemen in a British Legion owned factory along the Old Kent Road in London.
This was to later move to the Star and Garter on Richmond Hill and to the British Legion village
in Aylesford Kent. Last year the annual Poppy Appeal raised £35m nationally and £18.5k in
Hungerford
c) Third Tradition - Festival of Remembrance
Annually on the Saturday before Remembrance Sunday there is a Festival of Remembrance at the
Royal Albert Hall. This is a coming together of the British Legion branches throughout the
country in a multi-faith service of Remembrance. The Queen and senior members of the Royal
Family, all British Legion members, always attend. The 1 st Festival of Remembrance was held in
1927 when the Womens Section of the Royal British Legion paraded. The Womens Section had
been formed in 1921 as an equal partner.
In the inter war years there were huge challenges to the British Legion. The General Strike of
1926 saw large numbers of ex-servicemen on strike and British Legion branches in the heavily
industrial parts of our nation operated soup kitchens to try and alleviate the distress of the strikers
and their families. Something, incidentally, that was also done in the last Miners Strike in this
country by British Legion branches.