The National Federation of Discharged
and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers
N.F.D and D.S and S.: The National Federation of Discharged and 
Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers (NFDDSS) was a British veterans organisation.
The organisation was founded in January 1917 by various London-based veterans groups opposed to the Military Service (Review of Exceptions) Act 1917, which made it possible for people invalided out of the armed forces to be re-conscripted. It adopted the slogans “Every man once before any man twice” and “Justice before charity”.
Although the Federation initially invited senior military figures to its meetings, they refused. The leadership was assumed by the left-wing Liberal Party MPs James Hogge and William Pringle, who fought for improved pensions and representation on relevant government committees. Frederick Lister later took over the presidency. The organisation’s statutes called for the nationalisation of industry and land. The Federation’s politics were thus broadly liberal, although there was a wide diversity of opinion.
In 1920, the Federation invited NADSS, Comrades of the Great War and the Officers’ Association to a meeting to discuss a potential merger, and this was achieved in 1921, establishing the Royal British Legion.
Source: www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Federation_of_Discharged_and_Demobilized_Sailors_and_Soldiers – extracted 2020/02/27
