Standard return

Where it has been for those 80 years no one really knows, and what became of the branch is also a mystery.

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The British Legion – it didn't gain "Royal" status until 1971 – was formed on May 15, 1921, in the troubled aftermath of the First World War.

Its aim was to bring four competing ex-servicemen's organisations together to care for the injured of the war and for those who had suffered as a result of service in the war.

There were a lot of people who qualified for the legion's assistance. Six million had served in the war of whom about 725,000 had died and 1.75m had been left disabled. The families of the dead plus the disabled and their dependants all fell under the legion's umbrella, and to help them, the first poppy appeal was held on November 11, 1921.

Local branches of the legion sprung up in towns and cities. The Hurworth and District branch first met on November 1, 1927, in the village hall, and it disbanded on October 17, 1936. Why it ceased is puzzling – there were still plenty of veterans from the Great War who needed assistance and the international climate cannot have given anyone any confidence that there was a prolonged period of peace ahead.

The branch's standard laid low for many decades until a couple of years ago it turned up in a Darlington attic, along with a standard for the extinct Lanchester branch (formed August 1943, closed January 1971).

"How these two standards ended up together and forgotten about is a mystery," says Ray Jeffery, chairman of the Darlington branch of the Royal British Legion, "and we have no idea how the Hurworth standard went walkabout or where it has been all these years."

If you have any information, please get in touch with Memories (see above) or go to All Saints Church for the start of the service at 11.30am.

IN Memories 214, the #memsfact –the useless bit of nonsense that appears at the top of Memories pages – suggested that George III’s last words were: “Oh for a gasp of Gatherley air!”

He died at 8.38pm on January 29, 1830, at Windsor Castle, but right up to his final seconds, he was very keen on the air that he breathed between Catterick and Scotch Corner whenever he travelled to Scotland on the Great North Road – regular readers will remember our articles on Gatherley castle, which is now beneath the widening A1(M), from a couple of years ago.

Contrary to the #memsfact, a couple of people have pointed us in the direction of Stephen Fry’s brilliant TV programme QI which claimed that George III’s dying words were: “I think I’ll shall have another of Mr Bellamy’s pork pies.” Mr Fry said that, like Elvis Presley, the monarch on the toilet.

Given that the king was no longer in control of his marbles when he passed away, whatever he said probably didn’t make a lot of sense.

THANK-YOU

THERE was a superb response to last week's Memories. Many thanks to everyone who called, emailed or even wrote, and we've now got a huge backlog of material relating to Doctors Tunnel in Bishop Auckland and the strange tower that once stood behind Darlington Civic Theatre. Plus, we are on the verge of an extremely exciting breakthrough in the world of dart-blowing. More on all these topics next week.

PANEL

Chris Lloyd will launch his new book on the history of Darlington on Saturday, February 21, in Darlington library with a free talk. The book is entitled Darlington in 100 Dates and contains a selection of favourite historical stories. It is now available in the town's Waterstones for a bargain £7.99.

The talk, featuring stories taken from the book, starts at 2pm and is to be called A Year in Darlo. Everyone is extremely welcome to attend. The kind people at the Crown Street library are hosting it, and tickets need to be booked on 01325-462034. Please come along – we may even run to a free cup of tea and knock a pound off the cover price.

On Wednesday at 2pm, Chris will be talking about the book, and lots more, as he's the "after two" guest John Foster's show on BBC Tees.