The chairman of the Shotley and Erwarton branch has compiled a commemoration video marking 100 years of the Royal British Legion.

Brian Ives added a personal tribute to the short film as his son William played the part of his great grandfather, Petty Officer Sidney James Ives, who fought in World War One..

PO Ives, known as Sid, was a stoker in the Royal Navy, and served with the ANZAVS at Gallipoli in 1915 as part of Drake Battalion a unite set up by Winston Churchill.

Sid joined the British Legion in 1921, when his comrades association merged with the RBL, Brian said: "Sid always wore his slouch hat, which after brim trimming due to wear and tear ended up as a broad brimmed trilby of indeterminate colour. It was dyed black in the end rather than wash it, just in case it fell apart, and he wore it until his dying day."

The British Legion was formed on 15 May 1921, bringing together four national organisations of ex-Servicemen that had established themselves after the First World War:

The National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers

The British National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers

The Comrades of The Great War

The Officers' Association

The amalgamation of these diverse bodies can be attributed largely to two men: Field Marshal Earl Haig and Tom Lister of The Federation of Discharged and Demobilised Sailors and Soldiers.

For more information about the RBL and the poppy collection on the Shotley peninsula contact Mr Ives: [email protected]

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