ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the needs of categories of ex-serviceman as identified by SSAFA in their post-war work which, significantly, moved beyond focus on disabled veterans. It examines British political attitudes and responses towards veterans, focused on those coming from the political Left. The book explores the evolving language used by the labour movement in relation to military service, soldiers and ex-servicemen. It analyses the extent and limitations of Irish war veterans’ post-war political mobilisation in revolutionary Ireland. The book discusses the experiences of ex-servicemen within the context of revolutionary Ireland by offering a cohort analysis of Irish ex-servicemen as active participants in the Irish War of Independence. It offers a case study of Westfield Memorial Village, Lancaster, one of a series of communities established for disabled veterans after the First World War.
