Leyton Orient: Club becomes first to unveil English memorial to its World War One dead
- Published
Lifelong Orient fan Steve Jenkins was the "driving force" behind the Somme Memorial Fund Committee
Leyton Orient have become the first English football club to commemorate their fallen from World War One with their own memorial.
In a ceremony at the National Arboretum in Staffordshire, the lost lives of 41 Orient players, staff, officials and supporters were honoured on home soil.
Then known as Clapton Orient, the 41 men were the first from football to join up together in December 1914.
They served in a regiment which became known as "The Footballers' Battalion".
The Memorial is based on an original one paid for and unveiled by O's fans on French soil in the village of Flers, in the heart of the Somme battlefields in northern France, in July 2011.
That was generated by a Somme Memorial Fund Committee set up by a lifelong O's fan to mark the contribution of those 41 men who signed up "for King and Country" at a recruitment meeting at Fulham Town Hall on 15 December, 1914, to join the 17th Battalion Middlesex Regiment.
But, in the decade since, during which the 100-year anniversary of the Great War was marked and honoured in widespread ceremonies in England and across northern France, the O's fans wanted a memorial on home soil.
A service of remembrance was arranged to take place at the National Memorial Arboretum, which was attended by a host of Orient dignitaries, including two of their best known former players, Dean Smith and Peter Kitchen.
Three of the Orient players who lost their lives, actually died at the first Battle of the Somme in 1916 - Private William Jonas, Private George Scott and Company Sergeant Major Richard McFadden MM.
Orient chose the date of CSM McFadden's death on 23 October, 1916 as the most appropriate anniversary.
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'Memorials a great achievement' - Peter Kitchen
The service, was conducted by the Rev Alan Comfort, the former Cambridge United, Orient and Middlesbrough winger, who also served as the O's club chaplain.
"It has been a lot of hard work, " Somme Memorial Fund Committee chairman Kitchen told BBC Sport. "We've been having Zoom meetings once a week for the last couple of months to make sure everything went smoothly.
Peter Kitchen, who began his career at Doncaster Rovers, had two spells with Orient in the late 1970s and early 80s either side of two years at Cardiff City, scoring 49 league goals
"To have memorials both here and in France is a great achievement.
"I've always had an interest in the Great War. I've been working with Steve [Jenkins] for 15 and 20 years and we've achieved quite a lot to bring this story into the public domain.
"When you're doing something like this, you need someone to drive it forward. And Steve's got passion for the O's and a passion for the O's World War One story."
'Our history means a lot' - Dean Smith
Aston Villa manager Dean Smith, another former O's favourite, was "honoured" just to be asked.
"I got contacted by Steve Jenkins, who I've known for a very long time having been a player, captain and assistant manager of Leyton Orient," Smith told BBC Sport.
"I've always been very aware of the sacrifice the team then known as Clapton Orient made to form the battalion and go to war.
"And I've always kept my connections with the O's. When I left in 2009 to go to Walsall in 2010 as head of youth, I helped to raise some money for the first memorial in France.
Dean Smith spent six years as a Orient player scoring 32 goals in 239 league games from 1997 to 2003, returning as youth coach and assistant manager under Martin Ling
"I was honoured to be asked again. Years and years of work have gone into this from Steve Jenkins and Peter Kitchen especially. It was a great turn-out from Orient people.
"It's a family-run club run on a family basis. My parents and brother used to come to all the games in my playing days and would be in the supporters' club after.
"When my dad passed a few years ago, I had a lot of messages from people at the club. The connection will always be there.
"And my mum lost her father in World War Two. She never met her dad. So the history of both wars means a lot to my family.
"We're here today living the life we live for those who gave their lives before us in our history."
Somme Memorial Fund founder Steve Jenkins
"The story of Clapton Orient's service and sacrifice in the Great War is told in my book, 'They Took The Lead', written in 2005 and updated in 2014.
"I've made it my life's work to bring this story into the wider public domain, so that these brave men get the acclaim their heroic deeds deserve.
"It's an amazing true story of patriotism and comradeship, when the O's players and supporters swapped the football fields of England for the battlefields of France".
Orient, originally founded as a cricket club in 1881, began playing in 1888. They adopted the name Clapton Orient in 1898, seven years before they joined the Football League in 1905. They became Leyton Orient when league football resumed in 1945 at the end of World War Two.