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corkcitylibraries · 6 years

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It Seems Like Nothing Changes

Paul Cussen

August 2018

In the last two weeks of Anglo-Welsh composer Philip Heseltine’s year long stay in Ireland, he writes ten songs which are published under the pseudonym Peter Warlock. These are considered to be among his finest work.

An t-Óglách, with the tagline ‘The Official Organ of the Irish Volunteer', often described as a successor to the Irish Volunteer, is published. It is published twice a month initially and successfully manages to remain in circulation despite numerous raids and having to operate in secret to avoid complete closure. Michael Collins, Adjutant General and Director of Organisation, is a regular contributor to the magazine.

Charlie Hurley is arrested on a charge of unlawful assembly and imprisoned in Cork Gaol. When arrested he is found to have in his possession documents relating to military installations in the Beara peninsula and a plan for destroying the police barracks in Castletownbere. On release from Cork Gaol he is rearrested, court-martialled and sentenced to five years' penal servitude at Maryborough (Portlaoise) Gaol.

John Hawkes from off-Barrack Street lodges an unsuccessful appeal with the local War Pensions Committee in Cork city, noting that he had been ‘awarded a pension of 8d. a day for 18 months final [sic] & his period expired some time ago. He states that if he could obtain a pair of spectacles, he would be employed at once as a watchmaker. He has no home and no money and will have to go to the workhouse if his appeal fails.’ Hawkes had previously served in the Royal Munster Fusiliers in France but had been discharged in April 1915, according to his mother, ‘because he got a bad cold in the trenches’ and had been declared ‘unfit for further duty’. Doctors at a hospital in Boulogne had determined that Hawkes suffered from a ‘mental deficiency’ .

Acting Major Thomas Marshal Llewellyn Fuge is mentioned in Despatches. He is mentioned in ‘Long Shadows by de Banks: the history of Cork County Cricket Club’ by Colm Murphy as a useful fast medium bowler who played for Ireland.

Stephen O’Callaghan of 39 Bandon Road completes four years on active duty with the Worcestershire Regiment and the Royal Munster Fusiliers, a recipient of the British Army Service Medal and the Victory Medal.

HMS Flying Fox takes over kite balloons and the operations are attached to the deployment of the American battleships Utah, Nevada and Oklahoma. The three battleships operate from Berehaven from August to October to protect Allied convoys from attack by the German battlecruisers.

August 1 – The first fully combined air, sea, and land military operation in history is launched as RN Fairey Campania seaplanes from HMS Nairana join Allied forces to drive Red Army forces from the mouth of the Northern Dvina river in Russia.

The French Tenth Army launch an attack and penetrate five miles into German territory in the Second Battle of the Marne.

British troops enter Vladivostok.

August 2 – Captain Georgi Chaplin stages a coup against the local Soviet government of Arkhangelsk.

Japan announces that it is deploying troops to Siberia.

The first general strike in Canada occurs in a one-day protest at the murder of Albert “Ginger” Goodwin.

August 4 – ‘Gaelic Sunday’, approximately 100,000 Gaels take part in an act of defiance against the British administration by refusing to apply for licenses to play Gaelic Games.

Noel Willman, actor and theatre director, is born in Derry.

There is a full muster of the members of the companies of the Third West Cork Brigade for the funeral of Lieutenant William Hurley (Kilbrittain Company) in Clogagh.

The Norwegian barque Remonstrant is sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 280 nautical miles (520 km) west of the Fastnet Rock. Her crew survive.

Adolf Hitler is awarded an Iron Cross first class on recommendation of his Jewish superior Lieutenant Hugo Gutmann.

August 5 – Five Zeppelins attempt to bomb London however most of the bombs fall into the North Sea due to heavy cloud cover and L20 is shot down killing all the crew.

August 7 – Florrie Burke is born. He goes on to play for Cork United, Cork Athletic, Evergreen United, Ireland and the League of Ireland XI (d. 1995).

August 8 – The first organised meeting of the I.T.G.W.U. in Mallow is held this evening in the old Town-Hall.

Battle of Amiens where Canadian and Australian troops begin a string of almost continuous victories, the 'Hundred Days Offensive', with an 8-mile push through the German front lines, the Canadians and Australians capture 12,000 German soldiers, while the British take 13,000 and the French capture another 3,000 prisoners (more enemy troops were captured in the six days from August 6 to August 12 than in the previous nine months combined). German General Erich Ludendorff later calls this the "black day of the German Army". Historian Charles Messenger refers to this date as the “day we won the war”.

August 10 – General Frederick Poole, the British commander in Archangel, is told to help the White Russians.

August 16 – Battle of Lake Baikal is fought by the Czechoslovak legion against the Red Army. Red army forces take Arkhangelsk.

August 17 – Moisei Uritsky, the Petrograd head of the Cheka, is assassinated.

Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon meet for the last time, in London, and spend what Sassoon later describes as "the whole of a hot cloudless afternoon together”. British troops attack Baku, Azerbaijan

August 21 – The Second Battle of the Somme begins. Corporal Thomas Hargroves, Royal Irish Regiment, 2nd Batallion, dies in action. He had come from Laois to serve in the Prison Service in Cork and enlisted for military service in early 1916. He first saw action securing positions in Dublin in 1916. His unit landed in France in August 1916. He is listed on the Vis-En-Artois Memorial, (and on a memorial which disappeared from St. Peter’s Church between 2002 and 2006).

August 22 – Sergeant John Hallinon is killed in action in the Somme. He was born around 1883 in Ballincollig and was working as a bank messenger in London. His wife, Emily, unaware of the condition of life in the trenches wrote to ask for her husband's ring, wristwatch and pipes. They had one child, William.

August 23 – Creation of the Bessarabian Peasants' Party.

August 25 – Composer, conductor, author, music lecturer, and pianist Leonard Bernstein is born in Lawrence, Massachusetts (d. 1990).

70 year old fisherman William Whelton dies in Courtmacsharry after mistakenly consuming poison (unlike poisonings in the UK a century later there is no suspicion of Russian involvement!)

August 27 – Denis O'Doherty, Irish Guards is killed in action aged 28. His brother Felix O'Doherty had started the Fianna and Volunteers in Blarney and became Captain 'B' (Blarney) Company, 6th Battalion, Cork Brigade, I.R.A.

The Battle of Ambos Nogales occurs when U.S. Army forces skirmish against Mexican Carrancistas and two supposed German advisors at Nogales, Arizona, in the only battle of WWI fought on United States soil. Over 130 people die, the majority are Mexican citizens.

August 29 – Science historian and cryptanalyst John Herival is born in Belfast (d. 2011).

Bob Conklin dies of gunshot wounds, sustained at the Battle of Arras. Due to the delay of mail from the Front, his family still continue to receive letters from Bob after learning of his death: “Give my love to all and don’t worry on my account”; “Well, my news is finished, so I’ll ring off. I will write mother in a few days. Love to all. Bob.”

August 30 – Czechoslovakia forms independent republic.

London Policemen go on strike after the dismissal of PC Tommy Thiel (centre in the photograph) for union membership. The strikers demand union recognition and a wage increase. Within a few hours 6,000 men throughout London are out, with more joining all the time; even the Special Branch is affected.

Vladimir Lenin is shot and wounded by Fanny Kaplan in Moscow.

#Cork City Libraries #History Is To Blame #worldhistory #irishhistory

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jasonlawson0 · 4 years

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Legion honours victim, survivor of Snowbirds crash in Kamloops

KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Thousands of people tuned in online Thursday to hear the sombre sound of a bugle playing the Last Post and to take a moment of pause in remembrance of the victim of a Snowbirds plane crash.

The local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion held the ceremony at the Kamloops airport, where the military aircraft took off before the fatal crash on Sunday.

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The ceremony paid tribute to Capt. Jennifer Casey, who died, and Capt. Richard MacDougall, who was seriously injured after they ejected from the plane.

While the public was initially invited, the legion shifted to an online broadcast amid concerns the event would draw a mass gathering contrary to public health recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ceremony also included the singing of O' Canada, the laying of wreaths, and several speakers who showed support for the Snowbirds and all who serve in the Canadian Forces.

Among the speakers was Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian, who said the city will memorialize the tragedy and recognize the contributions of the Snowbirds.

"They're cherished Canadian icons that have been with us for 50 years and we will make an appropriate memorial to their service to this country," Christian said.

Daniel Martin, president of the Kamloops legion, said the Air Force has always been a part of the city, and it was very important to do something to honour the Snowbirds and Casey, while offering condolences to her family.

"Hopefully the healing process can start."

Lt. Alexandra Hejduk, public affairs officer with the Canadian Forces, said the Casey family, who lives in Halifax, is grateful for the support from the Kamloops community in the aftermath of Sunday's tragedy.

She documented the event and sent photos to the family, she said.

"This is a city of so much heart, so much love and giving," she said. (CHNL)

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2020.

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goldeagleprice · 4 years

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The Franklin Mint’s legacy for modern numismatics

The since-demolished Franklin Mint Museum next to the former headquarters in Wawa, Pennsylvania.

By Louis Golino

On December 21, Joseph Segel, a lifelong entrepreneur, best known for starting two iconic businesses, the Franklin Mint and QVC home shopping network, among other businesses, died at the age of 88 of congestive heart failure in Gladwyne, PA.

For legions of American coin and medal collectors who came of age numismatically from the 1960s to 1980s, the Franklin Mint was a fixture of the hobby. Based in Wawa, Pennsylvania (outside Philadelphia), the company and its products were a staple of advertisements in newspapers and hobby periodicals for decades starting in the mid-1960s. The company, which later changed hands many times and no longer issues its own coins, but whose brand still exists today, was a significant commercial success during most of the past half-century with sales reaching over $1 billion in 2000.

But many of its collectible products were overpriced and eventually lost most of their premium over precious metal content, leaving its many customers dismayed at the amount of money they had lost. However, some buyers did well if they purchased silver items early on when silver was much less expensive than it would become over time, especially in January 1980.

Because the company produced such a dizzying array of coin and medal sets, for many collectors and observers of the hobby, it embodies the risks inherent in collecting too wide a variety of coins and medals whose secondary market value is uncertain. For example, the Franklin Mint issued a set from 1968 to 1976 that included a different medal for each year of American history from 1776 to 1975. A similar situation exists today with the coins of some world and private mints that are sometimes compared to those Franklin Mint, such as the ones issued by the Royal Canadian Mint.

This legacy also provides some important lessons for collectors — such as remembering that modern coins are best pursued for their aesthetic value to the collector rather than as investments and that it is essential to determine whether a two-way market really exists for the items you purchase. There are also lessons for the coin issuers themselves — with many private and world mints today facing an oversaturated market and weak after-market for many of their coins. There are, however, notable exceptions such as the art-themed coins issued in the past couple of years by Italian coin distributor Powercoin, which have seen considerable increases in aftermarket value, and certain other series.

2014 Australia one-ounce silver wedge-tailed eagle MS-70. Image by APMEX. Hover to zoom.

And the mint, which, in its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, was the largest privately-owned mint in the world and had a half million subscribers to its monthly magazine. It helped pave the way for the explosion of non-circulating legal tender commemorative coins issued in recent decades. It also impacted modern numismatics by setting the precedent of legal tender coins being issued by a private mint on behalf of other countries — a trend that continues to grow as numerous companies that specialize in bullion and collectors coins develop partnerships with mints around the world. In fact, some of the most popular recent coin series such as the Australian wedge-tailed eagle that debuted in 2014 and just launched its fifth design by former U.S. Mint Chief Engraver Joh Mercanti came into existence this way.

In addition, the mint helped to increase interest in collecting medals, which had fallen out of favor with collectors during the coin craze of the 1960s, and it was the first to use silver that had been to the moon to produce coins, another practice that continues to be used today.

Huntsman Hall is the Wharton School’s main building

Joseph Segel and the Franklin Mint

Segel attended the University of Pennsylvania in 1951 but later dropped out after attending and briefly teaching at the Wharton School of Business to deal with his growing business empire. He was what his son Alan called a “serial entrepreneur,” who, over the course of his lifetime, created more than 20 companies.

Segel started his first enterprise — a printing business — at the age of 13. In 1964 he founded the Franklin Mint, which began as a division of General Numismatic Corp., after observing the American public clamoring for old silver dollars and other silver coins that were in their last year of circulation and disappearing from circulation.

Always an astute businessman who often saw trends before others did, he quickly picked up on both the public interest in acquiring older silver coins as they were about to be replaced by cupro-nickel coinage with no intrinsic value and the need for new gaming tokens to replace the Morgan and Peace dollars that had been used for decades at casinos.

Originally called the National Numismatic Society, his coin and medal business marketed limited-edition products made of precious metals (typically silver of .925 fineness, or sterling silver) aimed at a public with an interest in American history and national symbols. Each series would limit the number of subscribers and guarantee the same issue price for each item as the series progressed.

Keys to Success

The company’s commercial success, including rising annual sales and a massive increase in the value of its stock, was based on several key factors. First, Segel had the foresight to purchase a large amount of silver bullion prior to the meteoric rise of the spot value of that metal in 1979-1980 and to hedge the metal later, which was essential when keeping the issue price of items stable over time. That would prove to be one of his best business decisions years.

In 1978 a devasting expose aired on “60 Minutes” by Morley Safer said that over 75% of Franklin Mint products were worth less at the time than their issue price. That led some to sell their collections at a fraction of their cost just before the massive escalation in silver caused by the Hunt Brothers in 1979-1980. When silver almost reached $50 an ounce, there was an enormous melting of Franklin Mint items.

Second, he was very aggressive in marketing his numismatic products in major coin publications and in the supplements to Sunday newspapers, which helped put the Franklin Mint on the map and keep it there. Segel was also a frequent presence at major coin shows like those of the American Numismatic Association.

Third, he hired Gilroy Roberts, then the U.S. Mint’s Chief Engraver (who designed the Kennedy half dollar) to work for the Franklin Mint and to design a 39-millimeter silver medal that depicted Benjamin Franklin on its obverse and a simple stock ticker on its reverse when the company was preparing to launch its initial public offering. Soon, he would enlist other well-respected figures within the numismatic community such as medal and token expert Virginia Culver. Also, many current or recent U.S. Mint or Artistic Infusion Artists such as Donald Everhart and Phoebe Hemphill were previously Franklin Mint artists for many years.

Fourth, in the 1970s and 1980s, the company began issuing legal tender coinage for other countries. Those foreign releases included the first gold coins that were legally allowed to be owned by U.S. citizens as a result of the 1974 loosening of anti-gold regulations. The first such coin was a 1975-dated Panama 100-balboas gold coin.

Early on, the company had issued coins for entities such as opposition groups and leaders in exile. As it expanded to legal tender issues for sovereign countries, it issued coin sets in large and small denominations in both bullion and collector formats for Panama, Belize, and many other countries in Central and South America, Asia, and other regions.

One of his attempted innovations was to issue coins and medals with right-side-up reverses rather than upside-down reverses, but he was not able to convince the U.S. Mint to make that switch. U.S. coins continue to be struck with the reverse image upside-down.

Lessons for Numismatics

For collectors, the Franklin Mint legacy has reinforced the importance of having focus and discipline in one’s numismatic pursuits and not going off in too many different directions, which makes completing series difficult, and being careful about how much premium over metal value one pays for collector coins. There are certainly cases when one can rightly justify higher premiums — such as because one finds a particular piece exceptionally beautiful, or because it is a series that has a track record of price appreciation such as the Palau Tiffany Art series. But doing so too frequently tends to result in holdings that lose a lot of value unless there is an explosion in precious metal spot prices.

For those who issue and produce NCLT coinage, the Franklin Mint legacy also drives home the importance of being careful not to oversaturate the market for one’s own products by issuing too many coins and too many series, and by issuing too many different variants of the same coin. This is something the Perth Mint arguably did with its wedge-tailed eagle series, where there simply are not enough buyers of some of the many versions of each year’s issue, which has led to lower secondary values for many of those coins in recent years.

Finally, the Franklin Mint story shows how essential it is that there is a real two-way market for collector items. In 1967 Segel explored the possibility of setting up a referral service for collectors looking to sell items with buyers for them, but the idea was abandoned, as Mr. Alexander explained in his 2018 piece. In 1979 after Segel had left the company in 1973, the company started a service that for a fee matched interested sellers with interested buyers of its collectible products, which in addition to high silver and gold prices, helped stabilize the market for those products.

Later the company branched out into many other areas such as porcelain objects, jewelry, dolls, and much more, as it changed ownership many times. Today, the brand still exists after having been purchased by Sequential Brands Group based in New York City, but the era when the Franklin Mint played an essential role in creating modern coinage is now part of history.

Louis Golino is an award-winning numismatic journalist and writer specializing primarily in modern U.S. and world coins. His work has appeared in Coin World, CoinWeek, The Greysheet and CPG Market Review, The Numismatist, Numismatic News, FUN Topics, The Clarion, and COINage, among other publications. His first coin-writing position was with Coin Update.

In 2015, his CoinWeek.com column, “The Coin Analyst,” received an award from the Numismatic Literary Guild for best website column. By 2017, he received an NLG award for best article in a non-numismatic publication with his “Liberty Centennial Designs,” which was published in Elemetal Direct. In October 2018, he received a literary award from the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists (PAN) for his article, “Lady Liberty: America’s Enduring Numismatic Motif,” that appeared in The Clarion in 2017.

Sources:

Matt Schudel, “‘Serial Entrepreneur’ founded Franklin Mint, QVC,” The Washington Post, December 28, 2019

David Alexander, “The Rise and Fall of the Franklin Mint,” CoinWeek, July 25, 2018

Martin Zimmerman, “Franklin Mint Collected by New Owners, LA Times, October 18, 2006

“Revisiting the Franklin Mint One Year Later,” The New York Times, Nov. 18, 1979

❑

#Precious Metals

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hate5sixofficial · 10 months

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youtube

Zulu 2022-08-20 Royal Canadian Legion Branch 1 Calgary, Canada

#Zulu #Royal Canadian Legion Branch 1 #hate5six

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atlanticcanada · 2 years

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Bill Saunders, WWII veteran and staple of the Legion in St. John's, dies at 101

Saunders joined the Royal Canadian Legion in 1949, and served as a member of Branch 1 in St. John's until he was 98 years old.

from CBC | Newfoundland and Labrador News https://ift.tt/G4wRmiy

#newfoundland and labrador #news #politics #canada #CBCNL

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519magazine · 5 years

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Super-Sized February First Friday Gives Sarnia Residents A Downtown Sample

What better way to chase away the dreary, chilly winter blues of February then to come downtown to the First Friday Cultural Walkabout. It's a quick walk from one welcoming door to the next where you can enjoy everything from live music, to interesting art, to delicious foods, to warming drinks. Not to mentioning the shops open to sell you all manner of unique goods in time to give your sweetie for Valentine Day. Below is a sampling of what events you will find with even more to discover in your downtown during the evening of the February 1st First Friday. Remember parking in the downtown lots and on the street is always free after 6:00 p.m. To be in the know about downtown events during the entire month, remember to LIKE www.facebook.com/SarniaFirstFriday Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery - 147 Lochiel St 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. - Members Reception at 7:00pm Kaleidoscope: Sarnia Quilter's Guild celebrates its 40th anniversary with a splash of quilts inspired by art, colour and history. - Flying School: Dianne Landry: Umbrella's come to life as living, breathing entities in a garden of colour and sound. Artopia Gallery & Framing - 188 Christina St N 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. - New work by painter John Lightfoot zZas Pizza Bistro - 170 Christina St N 6:00 -9:00 p.m. - live music with Blackmore & Blackmore W. Lawton Gallery located behind the Imperial Theatre Box Office by The Capitol Bar-168 Christina St. N 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. - Meet artists Patti Cook and James Burdan Cheeky Monkey - 130 Christina St. N 7:00 -9:00 p.m. - Live acoustic stylings by Strum n Drum. Plus art show & sale "Gifts Abound" by Bill Walters Cowboys & Indians - 121 Christina St. N Open until 9:00 p.m. - Works by Local First Nations Artists Hawg Bar - 117 Christina St. N 9:00 - 11:00 p.m. - Featuring Music by: Celtic Hillbillies 100 Christina St. 6:00 - 8:30 p.m. - Screen Printing Demo/Discussion by Dave Moore The Cove Mental Health & Wellness - 140 Front St. S. 6:00 -9:00 p.m. - Acoustic band Circle the City + local makers/artisans exhibit & sale + local food & beverage suppliers with free samples to enjoy The Lawrence House Centre for the Arts - 127 Christina St. S 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.- Doug Hacking at the piano 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. FROM HERE Lambton College Arts Collective Exhibition Photography, Pottery, Drawing, Painting 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. Transformations: Stories of Partnership, Resilience and Positive Change, Photos and stories by the Ontario Council for International Cooperation and Allan Lissner, Praxis Pictures 7:30 - 9:00 p.m Spoken Word with Lois Nantais and Ryan Gibb One Tooth - 155 Front St N Open until 9:00 p.m. - featuring Live Edge wood pieces + biannual blowout sale Cafe Yoga: Sarnia Reiki, Meditation & Yoga - 150.5 Front St. N. Suite 7 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. - “Into the Wild” Photo Exhibit by Laura Louise Persichetti - Enjoy music, hot drinks & good vibes Royal Canadian Legion Branch 62 - 286 Front St N. 8:00 p.m. to midnight - Music and dancing with Cornerstone Bad Dog Sarnia - 229 Christina St N 8:00 - midnight - Mat Gauthier Ups N’ Downs - 226 Front St N 9:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. - live music - Dan Butts Read the full article

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yarpiebrit · 7 years

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Come November, just about every BBC or Sky broadcast shows presenters diligently wearing a Poppy on his or her lapel. Just about every International English-speaking Celebrity is openly sporting the Poppy. In the United Kingdom the ‘Poppy Season’ (first two weeks of November) finds the Islands sinking under a weight of paper and plastic poppies. Similarly in Canada, any South African living in or visiting Canada finds themselves knee-deep in poppies.

The two big driving organisations behind this poppy craze in the United Kingdom and Canada respectively is the Royal British Legion and the Royal Canadian Legion. Simply put, the ‘Poppy’ is the ‘intellectual property’ of the ‘Legion’ (and its even copyrighted) – and is the major vehicle used to raise funds for war veteran support. Patriotic Brits and Canadians get behind their armed forces and the armed forces community and support them to the hilt by buying a poppy – millions of Pounds and Dollars are raised. But what of South Africa, where do they fit in?

Step in The South African Legion. Yes, believe it or not, we have our own “Legion” and it is related to The Royal British Legion and the Royal Canadian Legion as part of an international Legion brotherhood. It too has the ‘Poppy’ as its ‘Intellectual property’ and it shares a mutual history – so where’s the link?

The Root

Simply put it was South Africa which was the epicentre that brought all these organisations under a singular umbrella. Cape Town was the original ‘glue’ that bound the Legions together, we as South Africans can stand proud that it is our country which created this unique world-wide link.

This historic photo was taken in Cape Town when the Royal Commonwealth Ex Services League RCEL was formed (then known as the British Empire Services League BESL) in 1921. The three founders – Field Marshal Haig (left) went on from this meeting to start what is now known as the Royal British Legion and Field Marshal Smuts (centre) and General Lukin (right) went on to start what is now known as the South African Legion.

After suffering the horrors of war in France and Flanders thousands of men who fought on the British side in World War One underwent incredible hardship once they had been discharged from the armed services and returned to civilian life. Realising the serious plight in which men found themselves, these three prominent soldiers : Field Marshall Earl Haig, General the Rt. Hon. J C Smuts and General Sir H T Lukin founded the British Empire Service League (BESL) The inaugural meeting was held in the City Hall, Cape Town on 21 February 1921.

On the 15 May 1921 Field Marshal Haig returned from the South African BESL conference and founded The British Legion by bringing together four existing 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 remained the President of The British Legion until his death.

Silk Haig Fund Poppy

The Poppy entered into The Royal British Legion’s history when, in the same year – 1921, Madame Guerin, inspired by the Poem “In Flanders Fields” by Lt.Col John McCrae, came up with what she termed the ‘Inter-Allied Poppy Day’, a day in which all Britain and her empire who took part in Would War 1 would remember the fallen with the token of a Flanders red poppy. After taking her idea to Field Marshal Douglas Haig and the British Legion, Madame Guérin’s poppies (made out of silk by the widows and orphans of the devastated areas of France) were distributed on British streets on 11 November 1921 – on the country’s first Poppy Day.

By the next year, “Haig’s Fund” was initiated, and paper poppies started to make their appearance to raise funds for war victims.

The South African Branch was titled ‘British Empire Service League (South Africa) and it was also formed by joining the Returned Soldiers and Sailors Association and the Comrades of the Great War (after which the Comrades Marathon is also named see Observation Post. A ‘Living’ War Memorial, The Comrades Marathon ) .

On 8 April 1941 in deference to the pro-war two and anti-war factions in the country the name was changed to the ‘South African Legion of the BESL in order to emphasise its South African identity.

Originally in Bloemfontein, the Headquarters moved to Johannesburg in 1942 and is now housed at the Dan Pienaar house in Sandton Johannesburg. The BESL has since changed its name to the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League (RCEL). In line with this in 1958 the name of the South African Legion was again altered its name, this time to the South African Legion of the British Commonwealth Ex-Service League.

The South African Legion is an active and founding member organisation of the RCEL and HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, remained the High Patron of the Legion for many years and this mantle was taken over by his son Prince Andrew, Duke of York took in February 2015. Queen Elizabeth II remains the Chief Patron of The Royal Commonwealth Ex Services League.

The aim of the RCEL (BESL) was to provide care, employment and housing. In South Africa the Legion was equal to the challenge. It built on the foundation and continued this good work after World War Two. Thousands of men and women have been assisted in all manner of means and this work carries on to-day. Former National Servicemen and those who were part of the Armed Struggle are assisted with advice and direction.

Towards the end of World War Two the Legion launched several housing schemes in various parts of the country, including housing projects for coloured and black soldiers. A large social centre and chapel in Soweto is a good example. When the Government lifted the ban on Black people owning property, veterans living in over 200 homes built by the Legion in the Dube and Moroka districts of Soweto found themselves entitled to acquire their homes on a 99 year leasehold.

The marginalizing of The South African Legion

Many older people will remember a time, when on “Poppy Day” in South Africa (usually the Saturday before Remembrance Sunday) when thousands of South African Legion members with their supporters would ‘sell’ plastic poppies raising funds for veterans in need in just about every major shopping centre all over South Africa. Some may even remember the Legion visiting their schools and explaining the meaning of the Poppy. So where is this mass movement now? It’s a mass movement in the United Kingdom and Canada and has gown from strength to strength, yet this phenomenon in South Africa has waned somewhat – so what happened?

The Legion’s role as South Africa’s official veteran’s body started to erode from 1948 when the National Party came to power in South Africa on its proposals of Apartheid. At the time the South African Legion boasted the majority of World War 1 and World War 2 as members under its wing. At the end of World War 2, nearly 40% of the standing South African military was made up of ‘Black’, ‘coloured’ and ‘Indian’ South Africans and many also belonged to the Legion alongside their ‘white’ counterparts.

Many of these veterans took umbrage to the National Party and its new ‘Apartheid’ policy, and especially resisted the National Party’s anti-British stance and its race politics. In a call by The Torch Commando (a veterans anti-apartheid movement started by ‘Sailor Malan’), tens of thousands of veterans rose up in protest against the government – including the majority of The South African Legion’s members at the time.

The National Party acted decisively and moved to ban and erode this veterans movement (see Observation Post The Torch Commando led South Africa’s first mass anti-apartheid protests, NOT the ANC!), and after the demise of The Torch Commando the veterans returned to their origin associations – however the Nationalist government was forever to remain weary of the World War 2 war veterans, and the war veterans themselves remained forever weary of the National Party government.

The Nationalists (and many Afrikaners in the SADF officer class) also began to brand South Africa’s remaining war veterans associations, mainly the South African Legion and The Memorable Order of Tin Hats (MOTH), as ‘British’ and ‘Unpatriotic ‘ whilst they maintained their ‘British’ links, insignia and heritage.

From the beginning of 1948 the Legion relations with the Nationalists were strained in the extreme. A major clash took place when the Legion reacted strongly in 1956 to the Government’s move to ban Black and Coloured veterans from Remembrance Day Services.

The Legion was again at loggerheads with the National Party government over the lack of parity with regard to pensions paid out to Black and Coloured veterans. The fight to obtain parity of pensions for all – white, coloured and black veterans was finally won in 1986/87. It had been a very long battle.

The government also started to gradually turn off the taps of the supply of veterans to these associations from the newly formatted ‘South African Defence Force’ (SADF) when they completed their service. Whereas under the old South African Union’ Defence Force (UDF) such a transition when demobilizing was the norm.

By the mid 1980’s it was highly unlikely that the old SADF would invite the Legion to a demobilization briefing to explain the benefits of these new ‘veterans’ joining the Legion, nor would it actively promote the Legion or the MOTH to thousands of SADF permanent force members and conscripts as an option for them post service.

The National Party also took South Africa out of the British Commonwealth of Nations in 1961, and along with sanctions and International isolation, the South African Legion – as a Commonwealth inspired and linked association, found itself floundering in a country whose government had no time for the British and the Commonwealth and its affiliations at all.

Faced with an ageing membership, a divergent view to that of the Apartheid government of the day, and no ‘new blood’ from the SADF for nearly four decades on end, the Legion (and the MOTH) gradually started to slip into long-term decline.

A major casualty of all of this was the gradual removal of the ‘Poppy’ as an icon of Remembrance from the general population’s mass consciousness. Embroiled in race politics were black servicemen were marginalised and events as to Apartheid took greater national precedence, the Poppy took a back seat to the seismic events of the day – and where the movement flourished in other countries, it declined in South Africa.

1994 – Resurgence

1994 was a significant year in many respects, South Africa re-joined the Commonwealth of Nations and was invited back into the International world. Almost instantly Queen Elizabeth II visited South Africa to re-kindle the links and in a landmark move, The Royal Commonwealth Ex-Service League (RCEL) decreed that its 75th international convention would again take place in Cape Town.

Nelson Mandela opened the RCEL’s Cape Town convention in 1996 on the 26th February and his speech says everything about the hope held by the world’s veterans associations for South Africa when he said:

“Today we meet on this very same spot where the League was founded as equal citizens of our respective countries, committed to freedom for all without qualification. Although the danger of a world war has not been completely eliminated, we now live in a friendlier world, thanks to the tireless efforts of men and women some of whom are present in this hall.

We are confident that your deliberations will help shape our ongoing efforts to re-build the lives of veterans and dependents of our fallen heroes. As a nation that has just emerged from a war situation, we look towards the South African Legion to locate and assist the affected people. With your help and guidance, we will certainly succeed”.

President Nelson Mandela

RCEL 75th Convention – Cape Town 1996

The South African Legion resurged and has since been working very hard to re-establish the Poppy heritage in South Africa and promote itself to the South African veterans community as a ‘non political’ (and non government) veteran association option – both with international links and a proud and very long heritage.

One of the Legion’s major undertakings today is securing pensions for South African post-war disabled servicemen, It also undertakes investigations on behalf of the RCEL in respect of assistance requested by other Commonwealth ex-service personnel who reside in South Africa.

Its been an amazing journey, the South African Legion is part of a worldwide brotherhood of veterans organisations – including the other RCEL founders, from the United Kingdom – The Royal British Legion the Royal Legion Scotland, from Australasia, the Australian Returned Services League (RSL) and the New Zealand Returned Services Association (RSA) and in Canada, the Royal Canadian Legion – and the South African Legion still stands proud in its conjoint history with all these prestigious veterans organisations.

The Legion has a legacy that is nearly 100 years old, its still the “Primo” (the first) veterans association in South Africa and it has outlived all the political epochs in South Africa. To date it still holds steady in its mission – beaten down during the Apartheid years but now growing, re-energised and focussed on the future. With any luck the ‘Remembrance Poppy’ will again find its well-earned place in South African society.

The ‘Centenary’ of the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League, the 100 year anniversary of its founding in 2021, will again take place in Cape Town – South Africa, and what an honour that will be.

Written by Peter Dickens. Photo reference South African Military History Society. Content Reference – South African Legion webpage

In the photo caption: Gen. J.C. Smuts (centre) with Field Marshal Earl Douglas Haig, Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force (left) and Maj Gen Sir H.T. Lukin, Commander of 1 South African Infantry Brigade and subsequently Commander of 9 (Scottish) Division (right). Photograph was taken at 1st Conference of the South African Legion of the British Empire Service League, Cape Town (28 February – 4 March 1921). The ranks referred to are those held at the time the photograph was taken.

References ‘Not for Ourselves’ a history of The South African Legion.Leg

Legions and Poppies … and their South African root Come November, just about every BBC or Sky broadcast shows presenters diligently wearing a Poppy on his or her lapel.

#Field Marshal Douglas Haig #Jan Smuts #Royal British Legion #Royal Canadian Legion #Royal Commonwealth Ex Services League #South African Legion

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brianback2school · 3 years

Text

Business Operations Plan

Have you ever pulled a jacket out of the closet and found an unexpected cash windfall in the pocket? What if I told you that you could be leaving thousands of dollars on the table that you’re eligible for?

My organization assists individuals who have a modest income with filing their tax returns and basic financial planning needs.

My Setup

For over a decade I’ve been an owner/operator of a wealth management practice. As a means of giving back to the community that has supported me, I have partnered with the Canada Revenue Agency and my local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion (Legion) to offer free tax clinics.

During the COVID-19 lockdown we have been forced to operate virtually rather than in person. However, as restrictions ease we will be able to schedule dates in the Legion hall.

Volunteers

Having a great team is a key to success. By recruiting a dedicated group of volunteers that I can train we can quickly offer our services and put money back into the hands of those that need it.

Policy & Procedures

We are aiming to give a hand up and not a hand out. The first step in our process to classify those individuals who qualify for our service. Income must fall below a certain threshold and be of a certain classification. A checklist is completed to verify client details and income sources. Assistance to those individuals who do not qualify can still be provided but for a fee.

Goals

Our goal is to achieve a win-win-win scenario. Goal 1) Provide clients with professional service to qualify them for benefits and credits they are entitled. Goal 2) Achieve the the minimum threshold to qualify for the grant that the CRA will provide to the Legion so that they can run community programs. Goal 3) Create a public awareness of the services that I offer through my practice and build community goodwill.

Licenses & Permits

We have already completed the registration and screening process to run the program. The CRA has provided the software. Being a registered advisor I already have the necessary credentials to provide the services being offered.

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hodhodca · 4 years

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نخست وزیر ترودو خبر داد: حمایت دولت از لژیونهایی که در معرض خطر بسته شدن هستند

جاستین ترودو، نخست وزیر کانادا، گفت: دولت فدرال از برنامه ریزی برای حمایت از لژیونهای سلطنتی (Royal Canadian Legions) و سایر سازمان‌های خدماتی و سازمان‌های مبتنی بر کار داوطلبانه که اکنون در زمانه سختی بسر می‌برند خبر داد.

به گزارش رسانه هدهد کانادا، سالنهای لژیونهای سلطنتی کانادا در سراسر کشور که بدلیل شیوع کووید۱۹ تعطیل شده بودند، امیدشان را برای بازگشایی مجدد از دست داده و برای حفظ نیروهای…

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nextstepelectric · 4 years

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