When Coventry's working class heroes raised £1million to buy three Spitfires...

[dutchman]

The Coventry Fighter Fund was launched on Friday, July 5, by the Midland Daily Telegraph which issued a rallying cry for support



It is a long forgotten story of extraordinary generosity by the people of Coventry.

In just three weeks in July 1940, ordinary folk raised a monumental £18,000 – about £1MILLION in today’s money – to buy three Spitfires for the war effort.

The Coventry Fighter Fund was launched on Friday, July 5, by the Midland Daily Telegraph which issued a rallying cry to readers to do whatever they could.

A rousing editorial said: “It is payday in most offices and works in the city today.

“Will the men at the benches or on the office stools get off the mark immediately?

“Start collections tonight, in every factory and shop, and make those collections every week.

“This is another occasion that proves that the ‘small man’ in Coventry is the big man in a time of emergency.

“Coventry lads in the air, on the sea or in the army are, and have been for many months, doing their bit for a few shillings a day.

“Here at home, we are striving just as hard to help the war effort but we have at least the comfort of our homes and social services. Let’s make the biggest offering we can.”

The paper opened the appeal with a donation of 100 guineas and soon people were flocking into its offices in Hertford Street.

Mr B Western, of 55, Stoney Stanton Road, a craftsman at Alvis, pledged £10 while Mrs Baker, who ran a small shop at 400, Swan Lane, gave £5.

People held collections, ran competitions, sold items or simply put their hands in their pockets.

By Saturday, July 6, the fund stood at £575 and by the following Thursday it stood at £2,283, including a £26 donation from the nightshift at Dunlop Rim and Wheel.

An astonishing weekend saw £3,000 flood into the paper’s office and extra staff were recruited to deal with the queue of people.

Bigger sums included £500 from Coventry Gauge and Tool and £700 from the Hippodrome.

Residents had not only bought their first Spitfire – City of Coventry I – there was enough money for a second and were well on their way to buying a whole flight of three aircraft, a feat achieved by July 29.

All three planes were the latest Mark IIa versions, built at Castle Bromwich in Birmingham, fitted out at RAF Cosford, and delivered brand new to the frontline at 66 Squadron in Gravesend, Kent, in October 1940.