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Empire Day 1916 CHILDREN’S PENNIES SCHEME 2,848,806 children give pennies to the comfort for troops appeal. The Great War AND THE ROYAL OVER-SEAS LEAGUE March 1917 Wrench commissioned ROSL, then known as the Over-Seas Club, was approaching into the Royal Flying Corps, reaching the its fourth anniversary when the First World War was declared. rank of major during This tumultuous event was also instrumental in shaping the his service. Early in 1915 development and ethos of Evelyn Wrench’s fledgling organisation. OVER-SEAS The advent of war reinforced his belief of the need for solidarity AIRCRAFT FUND between the peoples of the British Empire, which found Members were encouraged to raise money to purchase expression through the Over-Seas war funds. As the war aeroplanes for the Royal continued and the lists of casualties lengthened, Wrench did all Flying Corps, which would then be named after he could to ensure that the Over-Seas Club responded to the their district. plight of the soldiers, sailors and airmen on the front lines. 14 September 1914 July 1915 THE OVER-SEAS TOBACCO Four more planes AND COMFORTS FUND presented to the March 1916 The first of many bursaries established May 1915 Royal Flying Corps, in response to the ‘urgent needs of the and named by Queen OVER-SEAS Evelyn Wrench and Lady Alexandra, who became AIRCRAFT FUND troops in the coming winter’. The scheme Des Voeux (later his wife), visited 31 March 1918 was a huge success. In his memoir an active patron 54 planes with names such the Royal Aircraft Factory at Over-Seas Club and 28 JUNE 1914 Struggle, Wrench recalls the ‘dirty bank of the fund. as Montreal, Yangtse Valley, Farnborough to view the first Patriotic League of Archduke Franz notes, parcels of silver coins, postal orders Jamaica, British Guiana aeroplane donated by the Over-Seas Britons Overseas and money orders from every country’ that and Pretoria had been Ferdinand and his Club. After the naming ceremony, amalgamate to form ‘came in a steady flow through my office. put into action. wife, Sophie, Lady Des Voeux was taken for the Over-Seas Subscribers sent in jewellery and trinkets assassinated a flight in the newly christened 6 APRIL 1917 League to be sold. A farmer in Rhodesia put ‘Overseas No 1’, becoming one United States in Sarajevo up an ox for auction and 19 JANUARY 1915 of the first women in sent us the proceeds’. declares war 25 FEBRUARY 1918 First German England to fly in a military aircraft. on Germany Rationing begins in London 21 MARCH 1918 zeppelin attack 25 JUNE 1917 German offensive on Britain 8 AUGUST 1918 28 JULY 1914 25 APRIL 1915 First US troops 31 JULY 1917 on western front Austria-Hungary Australian, British and Allied hundred day 8 JANUARY 1916 arrive in France Passchendaele declares war on New Zealand troops offensive begins Allies complete (1st battle of Ypres) Serbia; Russia arrive in Gallipoli April 1915 evacuation of begins mobilises SOLDIERS’ AND 26 SEPTEMBER 1918 SAILORS’ FUND & Gallipoli British enter Damascus BELGIAN SOLDIERS’ FUND 1914 Raising funds to provide essentials January 1916 1918 for troops and prisoners of war, as well OVER-SEAS as to satisfy individual requests, WAR MEMORIAL ranging from socks and shaving kits to footballs and gramophones. FUND 9 NOVEMBER 1918 1 AUGUST 1914 The Over-Seas Club received many LAUNCHED Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates 1 August 1918 Germany declares grateful letters from the recipients 7 DECEMBER 1915 Overseas dedicated war on Russia which were regularly published to the 4th anniversary Siege of Kut: British in the monthly editions 27 JANUARY 1916 of the war. Includes articles and Indian troops of Overseas. Conscription 3 AUGUST 1914 by AA Milne on ‘Blighty’ surrounded by introduced in Britain; and a poem by Rudyard Germany declares Turkish forces Military Services Act Kipling called ‘Song war on France of the English’ December 1915 4 AUGUST 1914 2 MARCH 1916 LAUNCH OF Germany invades Conscription in force OVERSEAS JOURNAL Late in 1914 Becoming the main form of 11 NOVEMBER 1918 Belgium. Britain OVER-SEAS RED communication with ‘friends overseas’, Armistice Day declares war on 23 AUGUST 1914 CROSS FUND 1 JULY 1916 promoting the fund-raising efforts of Germany. The Battle of the both the Over-Seas Club and its sister The Battle of Mons; ESTABLISHED 27 NOVEMBER 1918 United States Somme begins organisation, the Patriotic League of the first major Britons Overseas, the journal also Germans evacuate declares neutrality. action of the helped to consolidate international from Belgium British Expeditionary 15 SEPTEMBER 1916 ties by acknowledging the vital contributions and sacrifices Force (BEF) Tanks used for the first made by the soldiers of 1 DECEMBER 1918 time on the Somme at the British Empire. Allied troops Flers-Courcelette enter Germany 28 NOVEMBER 1916 First German aeroplane raid on Britain Early in 1915 Legacy RUTLAND HOSPITAL Empire Day 1915 By the end of the war, the newly amalgamated Over-Seas Club and OPERATIONAL CHILDREN’S PENNIES Not yet home to ROSL, Rutland SCHEME the Patriotic League of Britons Overseas, now known as the Over-Seas League, House played its part in the War The Over-Seas Club presented a effort. Arlington Street was turned had raised over £1,000,000 (almost £50,000,000 today) for comforts for troops including: certificate to all school children in Britain, into an officers’ hospital ‘...the asking them to bring in a penny to help function rooms became wards, walls • £368,203 for the Over-Seas Tobacco Fund – of which £57,604 buy comforts for troops. The appeal were hung with glazed linen and the was met with an enthusiastic response. floor lined with linoleum...Lady was raised from the children’s pennies scheme According to the Daily Mail (21 May 1915), Rutland’s bedroom became the club received ‘Over two thousand an operating theatre...’ • £278,630 for the Over-Seas Aircraft Flotilla which funded 172 aeroplanes and seaplanes letters and telegrams’ in a day and a total of £10,000 (£719,000) • £123,292 for the Over-Seas Red Cross Fund in pennies was raised. • £20,070 for the Over-Seas League War Memorial Fund In 1921, the Over-Seas League used the proceeds from the Over-Seas War Memorial Fund, inaugurated in 1916, to purchase Vernon House. The building was ‘dedicated to the memory of the men of the Old Country and from Overseas who made the great sacrifice’, serving as a permanent War Memorial..

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