The Portugal and Atlantic Islands Branch of The Royal British Legion was founded in July 1956 by prominent members of the British Community. The driving force was the Military Attaché, Lt. Col. N.M.G. Leslie and a significant number of other Armed Services personnel, retired and serving.

The President of the Branch is, traditionally, H.E. The British Ambassador to Portugal, currently Mr Christopher Sainty.
The Branch Committee is made up of willing volunteers, some retired, whilst others are still working. Besides administering the Poppy Appeal in Portugal, the committee organises Remembrance, recruiting drives and Public Relations events. The regional representatives are members of the committee and organise events and meetings for their region. The current regions are Porto, Lisbon, Madeira and The Algarve. For the purposes of organising events, the Algarve is split into 3 sub-regions loosely based in and around: Lagos, Carvoeiro and São Brás de Alportel.

The Branch provides a means for ex-Service personnel, and anyone else who supports our cause, to join or to retain their membership of the Legion. Our aim is to make poppies available to anyone who wishes to make a contribution to the Poppy Appeal, and we have built up a network of Poppy Appeal Coordinators who arrange for the distribution of collection tins throughout the country, including the Islands. A major source of Poppy Appeal income is Faro airport, where British travellers are invited to support the Appeal.

Another form of Remembrance is building relationships with equivalent Portuguese organisations especially the Liga dos Combatentes. The Branch is represented at most Remembrance Services held by the Liga. In addition a Branch representative attends a German Remembrance Service in Aljezur for the 7 German airmen killed when their aircraft crashed into the cliffs.

Welfare is of course a major responsibility of the branch. Our Welfare Coordinator is Mr Clive Oakes. He assigns caseworkers to visit ex-Service personnel and their dependants, anywhere in the country (including Madeira), who may be in need of, and are requesting, assistance. They in turn are supported by the Welfare infrastructure at Head Office in London.