Salute the Soldier Weeks were British national savings campaigns during the Second World War, with the aim of British Army equipment being sponsored by a civil community. [1] The Royal Air Force equivalent was Wings for Victory Week and the Royal Navy equivalent was Warship Week. [2]
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. [3]
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. [4] The amount realised in the weeks specifically designated War Weapons Weeks was £456,861,000, [5] equivalent to about £24.9 billion in 2023. [6] Warship Week 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. [5] The following year was the RAF's turn and Wings for Victory Week was launched in March 1943. [5]
Building on the success of the earlier campaigns, a large military event was held at Trafalgar Square in London in March 1944 to raise money for field hospitals and other military equipment under the new Salute the Soldier campaign. [7] The amount realised in the weeks specifically designated Salute the Soldier Weeks was £628,021,000, [5] equivalent to about £34.3 billion in 2023. [6]
Media related to Salute the Soldier Week at Wikimedia Commons