BUNDLES FOR BRITAIN

In 1940 (before the Pearl Harbour attack), Natalie Wales Nathan organised U.S. ladies to create a relief effort that became known as “Bundles for Britain”. They started out knitting warm clothing for sailors in the North Atlantic and for Londoners whose homes were destroyed. It expanded from clothing to medical supplies.

It became a national cause for many celebrities, and was the forerunner of the post-war “CARE” packages for devastated Europeans.

I was born in 1937 and raised in Surrey, of a Scottish father and a U.S. mother. As WWII progressed, my father decided to send my mother, sister and me to stay with her parents in Chevy Chase, just outside Washington, D.C., in 1940.

Dad stayed in Welwyn Garden City, doing “his bit” for the war in the Hertfordshire Home Guard – literally my Dad’s Army!

We returned (New York to Liverpool) in August, 1944, in the first convoy to be permitted to carry civilians, taking 12 days for the crossing. Our convoy CU.35 consisted of 52 merchant ships and 13 escorts.

Our ship was the RMS Rangitiki, from the New Zealand Company. Put into service in 1929, its displacement was 16,700 tons, powered by diesel engines, and it continued to sail until 1962.

Whilst in the States, my mother was heavily involved in the “Bundles for Britain” programme. There were various ways used to raise funds to support this, one of which was by selling jewellery produced by Monet, the jewellers.

My mother bought a pair of RAF cufflinks (photo attached) engraved “BUNDLES FOR BRITAIN” and “MONET”. I wear them as often as possible, with great pride.

Our three children were born in the 60s in Akron, Ohio. We named them Robert, Andrew, and Fiona, not realising that their initials would be RAF!

Now I wear the cufflinks with extra pride! Robin Reid Fairlawn, Ohio, USA