Impact Report 2015
What we do
The Officers’ Association’s work is wide ranging. This report explains the work it has been doing during the past year and the impact it has had on many former officers’ lives.
On demobilisation after the First World War, hundreds of former officers, some still suffering from their wounds, found themselves in desperate circumstances, often with no job, money or home. Officers were not eligible for payments made to other servicemen; consequently, a great many of those who served during the war were without any source of income on returning to civilian life.
Determined that something should be done for these men who had sacrificed so much for their country, Earl and Countess Haig supported by Admiral of the Fleet Earl Beatty and Marshal of the Royal Air Force Viscount Trenchard, along with the City of London, organised a highly successful public subscription.
The result was the Officers’ Association (OABF), which received its Royal Charter in 1921, the year after it was founded.
Almost a hundred years on, the OABF continues to support former officers and their dependants in a variety of ways, giving advice on benefits and sources of assistance, helping them manage their finances and providing financial support to those in need. In addition, the OABF offers extensive careers services to officers in transition from the Services, with the aim of achieving sustainable employment.
