Silver Badge Party

The Silver Badge Party was the unofficial title for a political movement existing in the United Kingdom during and immediately after World War I. The unofficial party consisted of several groups representing the political interests of former service personnel who had fought in the war. The Silver War Badge (SWB) was issued to servicemen who were invalided out of the forces.

First to be formed was the National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers (NADSS), established following a meeting in Blackburn in September 1916 and initially linked to the labour and trade union movement. In April 1917, the Asquith Liberal MP James Myles Hogge sponsored a meeting at the National Liberal Club over the Military Service (Review of Exceptions) Bill, which proposed to reclassify those invalided out of the army to identify those who might be recalled to service. This meeting led to the formation of the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilised Sailors and Soldiers (NFDSS).

The NFDSS decided to fight byelections to put its message across. In the Liverpool Abercromby byelection in June 1917, the NFDSS candidate polled a quarter of the vote. In the 1918 UK general election its National Executive approved five candidates, and local branches sponsored 25 more, considered Independent NFDSS candidates. In three Leeds constituencies, the candidates were nominated jointly by the NFDSS, the NADSS and the Comrades of the Great War. None of the candidates were elected although many polled substantial votes. In addition, the NADSS sponsored a candidate in Sowerby in unusual circumstances in which he inherited the position of unofficial Conservative Party candidate, and won.

The groups were politically diverse. Hogge was a left-wing Liberal, and most of the NFDSS were similarly left wing: among the NFDSS candidates was Ernest Thurtle, who later became a Labour Party MP. Henry Hamilton Beamish was a member of both the Vigilante Society and the NFDSS. In the 1918 general election he was one of the candidates sponsored by the NFDSS branches but not approved by the NFDSS National Executive, again in Clapham.

Following the election, none of the groups continued in active party politics. James Hogge resigned as President of the NFDSS in January 1919. Following pressure from Earl Haig, the NFDSS lifted its ban on officers being members in June 1919 and the three groups together with the Officers' Association began merger talks. At a Unity conference on May 14-15, 1921, they merged to form The Royal British Legion.

External links

* [http://www.legion-memorabilia.org.uk/badges/founder.htm British Legion Memorabilia Collectors Club - Silver Badge Party]
* [http://www.britishlegion-northstaffs.org.uk/history/national_federation.htm National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers at the Royal British Legion in North Staffordshire's On-Line Museum]