Isle of Wight veteran slams 90-day Royal British Legion ban

Tom Bodman, of Shanklin, says he feels let down by the Royal British Legion (RBL), which has been such a big part of his life for so many years.

The ban has disrupted his life and stopped him from seeing all his friends – all the more impactful at 91 years of age, when every day is precious.

“I always went down to the legion to meet up with my friends and have food and drinks,” said Mr Bodman.

“I feel like there’s nothing I can do, I’ve not had any chance to present my case.

The Royal British Legion, Shanklin. (Image: Google Maps.)

“It appears as though the RBL are the only court in the land to pass a sentence without hearing any of the evidence.

“They said I was disruptive, and claimed they’d come down countless times to have words with me, when they only visited twice.

“The first time, they said, when I took over as acting chairman, I went around telling everybody I was now the chairman, and if they didn’t toe the line, I would kick them out of the branch.

“They dropped that case straight away when I asked for evidence.

“The second time, they said I’d accused someone of fiddling the results of the election and being a woman-hater.

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“Far from being a misogynist, I’m rather a ladies’ man. I love the ladies.”

Mr Bodman’s time in the service began when he joined up with the Royal Marines in 1956, aged 24.

“I wanted to join up at 18, but my father – who’d been an old soldier himself – told me not to join up until I’d done an apprenticeship, so I’d have a trade to go back to when I came back.

“It was very sensible advice, so I did an apprenticeship as a centre lathe turner.

“By the time I’d finished, I was 23, and applied to sign on as a regular.

“I did my training at Lympstone – the commando course – which was very, very hard.

“We also trained in Norway, and Holland and Russia.

“I did two years with 40 Commando, then a couple of months with four or five, then I was sent to a junior command course to be assessed for the rank of Corporal.

“At the end of it, you go in front of your commanding officer.

“In my case, he looked at me and frowned.

“He fiddled with my tie and said: ‘should pay more attention to standards of dress’.

“He said nobody is going out of here with 100 per cent, so he knocked me down to 95.

“But that was my highlight – achieving the rank of corporal.”

Mr Bodmin spent nine years with the Royal Marines, then went on to do long distance hauling for a few years.

Later, he worked with British Aerospace, and retired as an inspector in the machine shop.

He was offered redundancy at 58, and joined the RBL soon after, as well as the Royal Marines Association.

A spokesperson for The Royal British Legion said: “Membership of the Royal British Legion requires compliance with our values.

“Any formal complaints regarding breaches of our values are referred to the County Committee and, if needed, escalated to the RBL Membership Council.

“Complaints that are upheld will result in action being taken, which can include suspension of membership.”