This film is one of two made in Settle during the Second World War by William Greenall; the other film is of Settle Warship Week for February 21st to 28th 1942. Unfortunately nothing is known of William Greenall, although judging by the films it appears as though he might have been known by some of the locals seen in the film. Films made of fund raising events during the Second World War are reasonably common: the YFA has films for Wings for Victory Week for Bridlington, Chapeltown, Morley,...

This film is one of two made in Settle during the Second World War by William Greenall; the other film is of Settle Warship Week for February 21st to 28th 1942. Unfortunately nothing is known of William Greenall, although judging by the films it appears as though he might have been known by some of the locals seen in the film. Films made of fund raising events during the Second World War are reasonably common: the YFA has films for Wings for Victory Week for Bridlington, Chapeltown, Morley, Ilkley and Holmfirth, all, like this film, from 1943.  There are also films covering the War Weapons Weeks, such as at Hainsworth showing both Wings for Victory and War Weapons Week. The organisations marching past – the ARP, the Land Army Girls, the NVS and so on – can be seen in many of these films (see Context for Formation Of The Homeguard).

 

These were fundraising events for armaments and other essential resources needed for the war. During the war people were encouraged to buy War Savings Certificates to raise money for the war effort.   In order to help with this the Government set up the National Savings scheme in 1941, which it pushed for into the middle of 1942 with campaigns during the special ‘war savings weeks’.  The War Savings Certificates were promoted in 1941, 1942 and 1943 in towns throughout the country during the various fundraising events: Wings for Victory Week, War Weapons Week and Warship Week. For example, in Settle during War Weapons Week, in March 1941, £206,350 was raised, representing an average of £13 per head of the population, which the Museum of North Craven (based at The Folly in Settle) have calculated as being £400 per head at today's values. In 1943 the Wings for Victory Weeks seems to have taken place in most towns in May.

 

One area of need that was singled out was the replacement of ships. Part of this effort to raise funds was the Admiralty encouraging, or even instructing, captains of HM ships to write to the local council after whose town a ship was named. In his very informative website, Godfrey Dykes states that: “Each area in the United Kingdom plus the Isle of Man, was given a savings target to achieve based upon their populations, and each target had a type of warship assigned to it.” Thus the birth of Warship Weeks, and the exchange of plaques, photographs and other artefacts once the target had been achieved. 

 

In this way Settle Rural District adopted the frigate HMS Ribble after raising £197,000 during Warships Week in February 1942.  This great effort was duly commemorated with a plaque having a brass plate, presented by the Admiralty in 1943, for which the Chairman of the Settle Rural District Council, in return, presented a carved oak plaque which was to be mounted on the upper deck of the ship.  In an exhibition titled On The Home Front, held at the Museum of North Craven Life during 2005, more information on the ship adoption was provided (see References). The Ribble, a frigate of the River class, was built by Blyth Shipbuilding and Drydock Company Limited and immediately commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Ribble in July 1944. Manned by a Canadian crew throughout the war, HMCS Ribble was one of the ships of the 26th Escort Group of Western Approaches Command.  Until the end of hostilities she was on anti-submarine patrols, providing protection to convoys. (The Museum of North Craven Life also has photos of Shepherd and Walker, the chemists, whose shop can be seen in the film).

 

Although the British Government was criticised for not being sufficiently prepared for war in 1939, in fact expenditure on armaments in the 1930s was quite high (see Edgerton, References). Yet it rose massively during the war: by the peak year of the war effort in 1943 war spending accounted for 55.3 per cent of national expenditure, from just 7% in 1938. From a total of 2,828 aircraft produced in 1938, with an average structure weight of 3,472 lb., by 1941 this had grown to more than 20,000 aircraft with an average structure weight of 4,342 lb (see Broadberry and Howlett). 

 

It might be wondered why it was that in a war in which defeat was utterly unthinkable, any part of the war effort should be left to the vagaries of fund raising events. Stephen Broadberry and Peter Howlett have argued that Britain had “a total war economy. [whereby] all economic resources are mobilised to that end.” Indeed, A.J.P. Taylor, among others, has described the British economy during the war as ‘war socialism’ (see References). The basis for this control was the Emergency Powers Act which gave the Government, as from 22 May 1940, complete control over persons and property.  Furthermore, the Minister of Labour, Ernest Bevin, could direct any person to do any job, and set wages, hours, and conditions – strikes were also outlawed in July 1940 (although they still took place).  

 

For every man and woman in uniform there was one working in war production, together making around 45% of the working population in 1943. Edgerton estimates that about a half of armaments production was carried out in new purpose built facilities rather than converting existing ones, and that it was the Government that invested mostly in this, £1 billion in armaments capacity between 1936 and 1945 (p. 77).

 

But although the British Government had put the economy a war basis, money still had to be raised to purchase materials, pay wages and so on. It raised money through borrowing and taxation, with the standard rate of income tax doubling from 25% in 1937/38 to 50% in 1941/42. The ability to print money was limited by the danger of inflation, highlighted by the economist Maynard Keynes, working at the Treasury at the time. Britain was greatly helped by the Lend-Lease Act passed by the US Government in March 1941 giving much needed aid to Britain and elsewhere (leaving a debt that wasn’t paid off until 29th December 2006). But in fact the standard of living rose during the war – there being no unemployment – and this, together with limited opportunities to spend with rationing, meant that there was money around to save. It is this that the Government wanted to get its hands on, without having to raise taxes too high (already the Excess Profits Tax – to prevent profiteering – was at 100%).

 

What this film shows though is that the war was certainly supported by the majority of inhabitants of Settle. By May 1943 Germany had experienced major setbacks in North Africa and the USSR, and the general buoyancy shown by some in the film may reflect an optimistic mood.  Even so, the Government saw it as essential to provide information and monitor public morale, and the Ministry of Information van that can be seen in the film indicates how important this was taken – for more on the Ministry of Information see the Context for New Towns for Old (1942). Settle is an ancient town – its name derives from Old Norse meaning ‘dwelling place’ – with the first market charter being granted by Henry III in 1249.  Much of what can be seen in the film of the town centre and the ‘shambles’ remains as it was then.

 

References

 

Stephen Broadberry and Peter Howlett, ‘Blood, Sweat And Tears: British Mobilisation For

Edgerton, David, Warfare State: Britain, 1920-1970, Cambridge University Press, 2005.

World War II, in Chickering, R. and Förster, S. (eds.), A World at Total War: Global

Conflict and the Politics of Destruction, 1939-1945, Cambridge University Press, 2004.

I. C. B. Dear And M. R. D. Foot. The Oxford Companion to World War II,Oxford University Press. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 9 Oct. 2009.

David Edgerton, ‘The British military-industrial complex in history’, The Economics of Peace and Security Journa, l Vol. 3, No. 1 (2008).

A.J.P. Taylor, English History 1914-1945, Oxford University Press, 1965.

On The Home Front, Museum of North Craven Life:

Godfrey Dykes