Victory Services Club
The Victory Services Club (VSC) is a private members club for retired and serving members of the British Armed Forces in London. Its patrons have included General Eisenhower, Field-Marshal Earl Alexander of Tunis and Field-Marshal The Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh has been the Patron-in-Chief since 1954. The club has approximately 29,750 members and has the largest membership of any military club in the UK.
Objectives
The Victory Services Club, a registered charity, has two objectives. The first, is to promote military efficiency and esprit de corps by bringing together members of the Armed Forces of the Crown, former members of the Armed Forces of the Crown and members of the Armed Forces of the Commonwealth and Foreign countries with whom they are currently allied and by improving the conditions of life of such persons. It’s second objective is to relieve need, hardship or distress among persons who have served in the Armed Forces of the Crown and their dependants.
History
The Victory Services Club was founded in 1907 by Major Arthur Haggard when he returned from the Boer War having served with the Army Service Corps. In London, he witnessed the poverty of demobilised soldiers and the impact on their families and felt he needed to commit himself to their well being. The Club was then known as the Veterans’ Club and was located in Holborn in two rooms above the Cittae of York pub.
As the demand for accommodation grew the charity moved to Bedford Row to premises with 80 beds. It remained there throughout the 1st World War, the Great Depression and the 2nd World War.
In 1936, the Club changed its name to the Allenby Club as a memorial to Field Marshal Lord Allenby who had been its president since 1933. Lord Allenby was succeeded by Field Marshal Lord Chetwode. Chetwode had served on his staff in Palestine in 1917. The Club’s name was later changed to the Victory Ex - Services Club. Post the 2nd World War the club listed an astonishing array of Honorary Patrons including Sir Winston Churchill, Mr Clement Atlee, General Eisenhower and Field Marshall Smuts to name but a few. In 1970, when the Serving Armed Forces were admitted to the club it became the Victory Services Club.
By 1970 the Club was well established in different premises. It had moved to Seymour Street in 1948 after the appeal for funds launched in 1944 by the Lord Mayor of London. The funds also enabled the charity to build the Memorial Wing on adjoining bombed site. The foundation stone was laid in 1954 by His Royal Highness, The Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh. On its completion in1957 His Royal Highness became the Patron-in-Chief and has greatly supported the Club since this date. After the official opening, Sir Winston Churchill said of the Club “ The Victory Club for ex-servicemen given by the nation as memorial to fallen comrades and as a tribute to those who returned, stands guardian of the common treasures and memories of friendship and brave deeds”.
External links
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