The Royal British Legion is the leading charity in the United Kingdom, safeguarding the welfare, interests and memory of those who have served in the armed forces and their dependants. It provides financial, social and emotional support to millions and its benevolence spans all age groups from the oldest to the very young. 

The story of the British Legion began in Flanders and Picardy, in northern France and Belgium, which saw some of the most concentrated fighting of the First World War of 1914-18. There was complete devastation. Buildings, roads, trees and natural life simply disappeared. Where once there were homes and farms there was now a sea of mud. But still the poppy flowered every year with the coming of the warm weather and brought life, hope, colour and reassurance to an otherwise devastated place. 

John McCrae (1872-1918), a doctor serving with the Canadian Armed Forces, was so deeply moved by what he saw in northern France that, in 1915, in his pocket book, he scribbled the following verses: 

McCrae's poem was eventually published in Punch magazine and civilians around the world began to realise the full horror of the war in France, and in the trenches. McCrae died in 1918 in a military hospital on the French Channel coast. Shortly before he died he is said to have murmured: 

In 1918, on the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month, the First World War ended. Thousands had died, thousands more had been injured and scarred by their experiences. The men and women who had survived returned to their homes. For them though, the world would never be the same. Moina Michael, an American War Secretary with the YMCA and a writer, was moved by McCrae's work and she wrote: 

Miss Michael bought red poppies with money that had been given to her by work colleagues, and wearing one of the poppies she had bought, sold the remainder to her friends to raise a small amount of money for servicemen in need. A French colleague, Madame Guerin, encouraged by what Moina Michael had achieved with the poppy emblem, proposed the making and sale of artificial poppies to help ex-servicemen and their families. And so the tradition began.

In Britain, Major George Howson, an infantry officer decorated for bravery, was also deeply moved by the plight of ex-service people who seemed unemployable in peacetime. He formed the Disabled Society to help them. The British Legion - now The Royal British Legion - was formed in 1921 to give practical help and companionship to ex-Service people and their dependants. Howson thought the making of artificial poppies might offer opportunities for the Disabled Society and approached the Legion with his suggestions. And so the Royal British Legion factory was established employing many disabled people making poppies, wreaths and other items associated with the appeal. The first Poppy Day was held in Britain on 11 November 1921 and since then it has become a key annual appeal in the nation's calendar. 

Branches of the British Legion were soon springing up in every town and city in Britain and a branch was established in Bourne in 1924. The first attempt began with a meeting on Friday 11th May 1923 at the Ex-Servicemen's Clubroom on the Abbey Lawn called by local solicitor, Major Cecil Bell, who was organising secretary for the East Midlands area. He outlined the work of the British Legion and the benefits it would bring to former servicemen in the town but the meeting was poorly attended and after a short discussion, it was decided to postpone further consideration on the matter until a later date.

The following year, four local ex-servicemen headed by Mr Edward Lane held a meeting at Baldock's Mill and the Bourne branch came into being. The others who attended were Jack Baldock, Jack North and Richard Pattison. Originally, Bourne was a sub-branch along with ten others in the area that extended to the Deepings in the south, Castle Bytham in the west and Billingborough in the north but by the early 1950s, membership had grown considerably and the organisation became consolidated as the Bourne and District branch.

Annual dinners became a regular event, starting at the Corn Exchange in 1926, and in 1934, more than 300 old comrades sat down under the chairmanship of Alderman T W Atkinson with a number of speakers with civic and service backgrounds. The dinners continued as a popular occasion in the legion year but attendance declined and they ceased in 1958.

One of the strengths of the Bourne branch during the past two decades is its social club which was opened in 1980. In the days following the Armistice of 1918, an ex-servicemen's centre had been established in an old army hut erected on the Abbey Lawn and it flourished for some years but interest waned and it closed in the winter of 1923. The building was used for a time as a meeting hall by the Salvation Army but when they moved out to other premises in West Street, the hut was demolished. There was then no obvious place for a permanent British Legion social headquarters when the possibility was mooted in 1949 and with no other suitable premises available in the town, it was six years before inquiries were made about taking over the East Midlands Electricity Board's social club premises in Burghley Street after rumours had circulated in the town that it might close but no firm undertaking could be obtained and so the idea was shelved. 

Undeterred, a special committee was formed in September 1955 to raise funds and explore other possible sites for a new club but it never materialised and the committee disbanded and the £450 accrued was invested in a reserve fund in case the idea came to fruition at a later date. A quarter of a century after the first approach to the East Midlands Electricity Board, negotiations were successful and members moved into their social club premises in Burghley Street which was officially opened on 22nd October 1980 by the president, the Earl of Ancaster. Appropriately the first club steward was Mr Alf Lane whose father had been a founder member of the branch in the years following the Great War and although he retired in 1987, the club continues to flourish.

The branch is always keenly aware of its origins and organises an annual united service of remembrance at the Abbey Church on the Sunday nearest to November 11th, firstly with the co-operation of Bourne Urban District Council, disbanded in 1974, and now Bourne Town Council, founded in the same year, and these occasions have been an outstanding success. Since 1966, a member has been chosen to read the lesson at this service and the branch was well represented at the unveiling of the War Memorial in South Street on Sunday 16th September 1956 when members formed a guard of honour with the band of the Lincolnshire Regiment in attendance.

There has also been an active women's section that began in March 1926 and has been in existence ever since and the current president is the late Lord Ancaster's daughter, Baroness Willoughby de Eresby. Members have also been well represented at other events in the county and country. Charles Sharpe, a local man who won the VC in 1915, was a member for many years and on occasions carried the standard and was one of the Guard of Honour formed by Bourne at the Lincolnshire Show in the summer of 1959 which was inspected by the late Duke of Kent.

But the branch has never forgotten its main role, that of welfare for those who have served with the armed forces, and the earliest minute book dealing with such matters dates back to 1937 when financial assistance was known as relief. In the Christmas of that year, it was agreed that a sum "not exceeding £16" be expended on gifts for needy ex-servicemen while in 1939, the year before the Second World War began, £13 was spent in the same cause. This was increased by £1 two years later until 1960 when grocery parcels were introduced in lieu of gifts and by 1979, the sum spent in this way had reached £320 and a total of 110 such parcels were distributed, increasing again to £427 by 1991. The following year, parcels gave way to gifts of cash and this system applies today. There are other benefits to members and their families when assistance is needed and this includes those in hospital for which the branch has a specially appointed sick visitor. The Poppy Day appeal, however, is still the main charity undertaking and there has always been a series of officials dedicated to the task to make it a successful annual event.

The year 1994 was a landmark in Bourne's history because it not only commemorated its 70th anniversary, but it was also announced that they were runner up for the 1993 award of the Haig Cup, a trophy given by the late Field Marshal Earl Haig as a national award to be presented annually to the branch that has shown the best all round record of proficiency and endeavour throughout the year. They subsequently received a Certificate of Merit from the then president, Vice Admiral Sir Geoffrey Dalton, and the legion's national council. Bourne was also named for the Witham Cup, presented annually to the most efficient branch in Lincolnshire, an award that had been won on a previous occasion in 1960.

See also    The War Memorial     Richard Pattison     Charles Sharpe VC

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