Salute the Soldier Weeks were

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

national savings campaigns during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, with the aim of

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

equipment being sponsored by a civil community. The

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

equivalent was

Wings for Victory Week Wings for Victory Weeks were British National savings campaigns during the Second World War, with the aim of Royal Air Force aircraft being sponsored by a civil community. The British Army equivalent was Salute the Soldier Week and the Royal Navy e ...

and the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

equivalent was

Warship Week Warship Weeks were British National savings campaigns during the Second World War, with the aim of a Royal Navy warship being adopted by a civil community. During the early parts of the war, the Royal Navy not only had lost many capital ships but ...

Campaign

Each county was set a target of money to raise and local civic leaders were presented with plaques as a reward for the fund raising efforts. The government had an initial campaign launched in September 1940 known as War Weapons Weeks – which was a drive to replace the materiel lost at Dunkirk. The amount realised in the weeks specifically designated War Weapons Weeks was £456,861,000, equivalent to about £ in .

was launched in October 1941, and in summer 1942, the government had a smaller campaign for British Army equipment known as Tanks for Attack: the amount realized from this campaign was not separately recorded. The following year was the RAF's turn and

was launched in March 1943. Building on the success of the earlier campaigns, a large military event was held at

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...

in London in March 1944 to raise money for field hospitals and other military equipment under the new Salute the Soldier campaign. The amount realised in the weeks specifically designated Salute the Soldier Weeks was £628,021,000, equivalent to about £ in .

References

External links

{{Commonscat-inline, Salute the Soldier Week British Army Awareness weeks United Kingdom home front during World War II