A GROUNDBREAKING event took place at the Royal British Legion parade at the Cenotaph on Sunday, when representatives of a Football League club took part in the ceremony for the very first time.

Both David Dodd and Steve Jenkins - committee members of Leyton Orient Supporters' Club, were invited by the Royal Military Police Association (London) to march with the RMPA in recognition of Leyton Orient's proud military heritage. Indeed Clapton Orient as the club was then known, was the first Football League side to join up en masse into the 17th Bn Middlesex Regiment (the Footballers' Battalion) in the Great War.

RMPA Central Committee member Mark Hayball's great grandfather Fred 'Spider' Parker was the Orient captain at the time and was also the first footballer in the entire country to join up with the 17th.

41 Orient players and staff signed on the dotted line to serve King and country and saw action in some of the fiercest fighting in WW1. Three O's players were killed during the Battle of the Somme in 1916 - CSM Richard McFadden MM, Pte William Jonas and Pte George Scott, the majority of their teammates sustained wounds that curtailed their footballing career.

It is hoped the the close affiliation now shared between the RMPA and the O's will encourage greater awareness, not only of the military in this day and age but also the major contribution made by Clapton Orient Football Club during a time of great need.