Comrades of the Great War

The Comrades of The Great War were formed in 1917 as a non-political association to represent the rights of ex-service men and women who had served or had been discharged from service during World War I. 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.[1]

The organisation was founded by Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby as a right-wing alternative to the National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers (NFDSS) and the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers. In particular, the NFDSS had put a candidate up against Derby's son in the Liverpool Abercromby by-election, 1917.