"The Old Contemptibles Association was a voluntary group of old soldiers who
had served in the pre-war all-professional regular British Army that became
the British Expeditionary Force of late 1914. They were that select band
who served in France and Flanders between 5 Aug and 22 Nov 1914 and
received the 1914 Star (the "Old Contemptibles" medal). The term comes
from a reference to the B.E.F. by the Kaiser (or one of his generals)
as "that contemptible little army". As is their way, the British soldiers
inevitably took this as a reverse compliment and adopted it as their nickname.
The Association was disbanded some years ago when its members became too
elderly and frail to continue their meetings and commemorative services."

"Iain Kerr has explained to you what "Old Contemptibles" were. I use the past tense because
I have heard that very recently one last (possibly) of the several few survivors known in the world died. He was 104. When my husband died last year he was 106 and I understood then that his passing brought down the known survivors to about two. Perhaps, indeed, they are all gone now.
For many years, there was, as Iain explained, a flourishing Association. My late husband was an
avid member throughout his long life and a 1956 diary to hand tells us that there were branches
throughout the United Kingdom but also in Australia, Eire, Canada, NZ, and the USA.
The details for branches in the UK are many indeed but in Australia only the states are given:
NSW, Qld, SA, Vict. and WA.
There was, until quite recently, an active small Old Contemptibles' Assn. in Britain. Of course,
HM The Queen Mother is (or was) patron, but the running devolved onto a lady named Mrs T. Noyes. You could contact her through the Western Front Association. Mrs Noyes would be
able to tell you about the gradual and natural demise of the organization that she very
enthusiastically administered until, I think, 1998.

Looking at my 1956 diary HRH the Duke of Gloucester was patron, and its president, Field
Marshal the Lord Ironside. The Association was founded on 25th June 1925. The information
reads: The members of the Association are survivors of the First British Expeditionary Force of
August-November 1914 (and I love this next bit with its nod in the direction of Shakespeare) -
that 'little mighty Force that stood for England...stood fast while England girt her armour on' -
that withstood the German onslaught at Mons, The Marne, The Aisne and Ypres, and by keeping
the enemy from the Channel Ports, saved England from invasion. They derive their honourable
title from the famous "Order of the Day" given by the Kaiser, Wilhelm II, at his headquarters,
Aix-la-Chappelle, on the 19th August, 1914:-
"It is my Royal and Imperial Command that you concentrate your energies, for the immediate
present upon one single purpose, and that is that you address all your skill and all the valour
of my soldiers, to exterminate first, the treacherous English, walk over General French's
contemptible little Army."
When Iain has been able to identify the badge of your great uncles Henry and Frederick it will
make things easier in terms of suggesting to you some appropriate reading. There are many
books which explore this very early period in the Great War. But as to "The Angel of Mons"
don't disbelieve your family too readily. It would seem that during the night of 23 August,
1914 armed angels appeared in the sky over Mons and were held to be responsible for
saving our Army from being wiped out by the Germans. This supposed event was shown
to be the invention of a journalist with "The Evening News" whose motivation in inventing such
a story was as a morale booster for the retreating British Army. There is a painting showing
the angels and apparently it hangs in the Mons War Museum, so, if your relatives visited the
old ground (as my husband was wont to do) there is every likelihood that Henry and Fred could
have been speaking of the painting hanging on the wall in the museum.
There is, too, a memorial in Westminster Abbey commemorating your uncles Henry and Frederick
and everyone else who was part of "that little mighty force that stood for England".
With best wishes from, Julie Brumwell Jameson "

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Julie Brumwell-Jameson's husband, Captain George Brumwell Jameson M.C. Chevalier de Legion d'Honneur, was of course an "Old Contemptible" and he was rightly proud of being a member of that historic group of soldiers. He was born in 1892 and died at the grand age of 106 on the 2nd of March 1999.

The Captain was at one time a Trooper (Corporal) of the Northumberland Hussars (cavalry). He was later commissioned into The Royal Field Artillery (Territorial Force) on the 13th of December 1915. As an officer of The Royal Artillery, he fought in both Italy and France and Flanders. He was recommended for, and received the gallantry award The Military Cross for "gallant and meritorious conduct" whilst he was commanding a battery of guns of the 3rd Durham Battery R.F.A., 72nd Army Brigade, near Montello, Northern Italy. He was also "mentioned in dispatches" for his actions at Oppy in France. The Captains World War One service abroad was to be until early 1919 as he was part of the Army of Occupation.

Captain Jameson M.C. was honoured by the French Government and People, and was awarded the prestigious Legion d'Honneur in November 1998.

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