The Rise, Fall and Rise of the RSL, 1916-1946
ABSTRACT
The conventional understanding of the RSL's fortunes is that it enjoyed a period of rapid rise until 1919, thereafter declined dramatically, and recovered only slowly until the Second World War, when it enjoyed another boom. But the membership figures on which this narrative are based are questionable, and it seems that the strength of the RSL's membership in 1919 has been considerably exaggerated. Membership levels are not, in any case, necessarily a good index to the RSL's organisational health as they pay no heed to the organisation's cohesiveness, impact, financial fortunes or standing with government authorities. This paper offers a more nuanced account of the organisation's overall fortunes in the period from its formation in 1916 through until 1946. It suggests that the peaks in the rise, fall and rise narrative are not as high as raw membership figures suggest, nor the low as deep.