The Kennel Club included Britain’s four-legged friends in the fight to earn money, too. They named their Spitfire ‘The Dog Fighter.’ A cinema manager collected money in a wheelbarrow during standard air raids in the capital. He coaxed people that the more money they have to build Spitfires, the fewer the raids. That same manager earned enough funds to name four Spitfires all ‘Miss ABC.’
Lord Beaverbrook received tons of mail donations including one from Patricia Boncey that stated, “When my mummy has taken me out and I have wanted to use a public convenience she has had to pay a penny. So I thought if we did the same at home it would help your fund.” Enclosed with the letter was 15 shillings. British retail chain Woolworth’s donated enough money for two Spitfires and named them ‘Nix Six Primus’ and ‘Nix Six Secundus’ because they took pride in keeping their prices below sixpence.
You can only image where the name ‘Dorothy of Great Britain and Empire’ came from: a group of women all with the name Dorothy, of course. Global donations came from The Red Cross, who helped the prisoners of war donate their funds back home. British soldiers imprisoned at Oflag VIB named a Spitfire ‘Unshackled Spirit’ after donating an entire month’s pay. Countries like Uruguay and Trinidad gave numerous planes despite remaining neutral during World War II.
Honorable Countrymen and Women
In the 21st century, crowdfunding is a favorite source of fundraising. However, some of these public methods would not work in today’s time. Even back then the donation frenzy was no stranger to con artists and scammers. Those who were charged with fraudulent activity relating to the Spitfire funds received appropriate punishment. Despite the fact that 2,600 planes were produced as a result of donations, it is hard to keep track of who donated what. Historical records provide inadequate details about tracing the planes to the rightful donors.
In fact, it is rather unlikely that every coin was used for the direct contribution of building the aircraft. After all, the donations were not taken directly to the factories. Nevertheless, they should be very proud of themselves. The donations were dispersed throughout the government and ultimately were used to support the war effort, which is what the people wanted to do anyway.
The various fundraising methods boosted morale during a time of hardships. The British men and women felt as though they were doing their part to help their country. Even if they were not fighting directly on the forefront of a battle, they cared about their brothers and sisters who were, and did what they could to support them.
The British people watched Spitfires fight the enemy and protect their country; they knew they had purchased these planes. Mark Harrison is a professor of economics at the University of Warwick. He best describes the unique situation as this: “Spitfire funds did not pay for Spitfires, but they were still an essential part of the war effort. Without them, the war would eventually have gone less well in one aspect or another. There would have been a cost.”
Production finally ceased in 1947. Over 20,000 aircrafts of each Spitfire version had been produced and another 2,000 with the Griffon-powered engine. The RAF continued using the fighter and photo-reconnaissance Spitfires until the early 1950s.