Tank Bank Week - fundraising competition

[Moriaty]

I am not sure if this is the right place to post this topic, but here goes.

I know that the National War Savings Committee instituted a Tank Bank Scheme in connection with the buying of war bonds and that there was a fundraising competition.

I believe that Birmingham won the competition as the highest municipal contributor (ahead of Manchester) and that West Hartlepool was the highest contribution per head of the population.

Does anyone know the ranking of other towns in the competition?

Moriaty

[centurion]

I am not sure if this is the right place to post this topic, but here goes.

I know that the National War Savings Committee instituted a Tank Bank Scheme in connection with the buying of war bonds and that there was a fundraising competition.

I believe that Birmingham won the competition as the highest municipal contributor (ahead of Manchester) and that West Hartlepool was the highest contribution per head of the population.

Does anyone know the ranking of other towns in the competition?

Moriaty

Minor correction

West Hartlepool , not Birmingham, was recognised as the winner under the rules as the highest contribution related to the ADULT MALE population and awarded Egbert one of the touring tank banks. Scotland had a separate competition, using the same rules, which was won by Duns which was awarded Julian another of the touring tanks. Birmingham had the highest total but when divided by the adult male population the figure was lower than West Hartlepool's

[Alan Tucker]

I doubt whether Birmingham was bothered about West Hartlepool as it saw itself in big posters on the Town Hall as competing with Liverpool and Manchester and beat them with £6.5m.

[centurion]

Don't think Brummies are that arrogant. Over 200 towns and cities had a tank week and West Hartlepool was awarded the prize and declared the winner in the national press.

[Alan Tucker]

I was just stating a fact as shown by the following photo...

[Moriaty]

Thanks, that's really interesting and a brilliant photograph.

Is it true that, whilst the towns and cities competed for tanks, smaller places were rewarded with large commemorative shells for war bond purchases?

Moriaty

[centurion]

No not really. There were many wheezes for selling bonds, so, for example, Pembroke Dock had a tank week but also an airship day when a blimp visited and bonds were sold from a dummy tank. Thus Birmingham had many events at which bonds were sold. AFAIK all sales figures for bonds at these went into the same two competitions and not just for the tank weeks only. As there were five touring tanks various cities and towns had tank weeks at more or less the same time and many "races" between different towns and cities were organised to encourage sales. These had nothing to do with the competition organised by the English and Scottish War Savings Committee (being more of a sort of side bet) and the figures in the photo that Alan has posted only refers to the bonds sold in the course of the tank week at Birmingham and not to the total number of bonds sold in Birmingham during the campaign which must have been much higher. The National competitions offered only two prizes one for England and Wales and one for Scotland. These were two of the touring tanks as I mentioned earlier in this thread. To make the competition fair between small towns and large cities the results were based on the sales as averaged by the adult male population.

Things like commemorative shells, artillery pieces etc. were allocated to cities, towns and villages on request, usually from a huge stock pile of captured enemy material, by a different committee (covered elsewhere in this forum) and was not directly linked to the above competition. Commemorative tanks were offered to every town that had had a tank bank visit. Most, but not all, accepted. Some others that had not were offered these tanks but on what criteria other than having a nearby railway station I don't know [towns taking part in the tank banks had perforce to be on the railway] Presentation tanks were mainly Mk IVs (there were some Mk IIIs) a large number being ex training tanks and others came from France. When delivering the presentation tanks the delivery crewstended to tell all sorts of tall stories one of the most common being that the tank being presented had taken part at Vimy Ridge (an action in which only Mk I and II tanks were available), interestingly the crew that did the North American tank tour are recorded as telling much the same series of whoppers to the US press.

[Sidearm]

Pembroke Dock had an advantage in getting a visit from a blimp as there was an airship station just down the road at Carew Cheriton. I think it was called RNAS Pembroke at the time - if it wasn't someone will correct me - but became RAF Carew Cheriton during WW2. Its WW2 control tower has been restored in the last few years and is worth a visit.

Gwyn

[centurion]

Pembroke Dock had an advantage in getting a visit from a blimp as there was an airship station just down the road at Carew Cheriton. I think it was called RNAS Pembroke at the time - if it wasn't someone will correct me - but became RAF Carew Cheriton during WW2. Its WW2 control tower has been restored in the last few years and is worth a visit.

Gwyn

an example as I said - the point being that towns were quite inventive at creating events at which bonds could be sold.

[Moriaty]

Thanks for all of this really interesting information!

Moriaty