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When Germany broke its non-aggression pact with Russia in June 1941
and invaded under operation Barbarossa, Russia became an ally of
Britain and other nations in the fight against Nazi Germany.
By January 1943,
the siege of Leningrad was broken by the Red Army and Stalingrad was
liberated by surrender of the German 6th Army.
In an effort to support our allies in Russia, many
British towns raised funds to help repair the devastation left in
the wake of German occupation. There was the
Worksop Committee for Furthering Anglo-Soviet
Friendship.
On 20th June 1943, Worksop Borough
Silver Prize Band performed a concert on that Sunday evening, to
raise funds for the Stalingrad Memorial Hospital Fund. The amount
raised came to £9.10s.0d. Not a huge amount by today’s standards,
but that sum would have been a week’s wages to many in 1943.
From the Worksop Guardian Friday 18th
June, 1943
The following article appeared in the Worksop
Guardian the following Friday 25th June.
On 20th August 1943, the Worksop
Committee for Furthering Anglo-Soviet Friendship decided to proceed
with plans to adopt the Soviet town of Stalinogorsk, "which in many
respects parallels Worksop"
On August 29th 1943 there was a
Parade and Public Demonstration of support for Soviet Allies. The
parade was from the LNER Railway Station to Worksop Town Hall.
Worksop Town Band and Firbeck Main Colliery Band were involved. For
the demonstration at Worksop Town Hall, the Worksop Band played a
selection of Russian airs at the Market Square. A greetings telegram
was sent to the people of Stalinogorsk from the citizens of Worksop
Borough.
Another concert was held in aid of the same fund on
25th June 1944, announced in the Worksop Guardian
newspaper on 23rd June.
"TO COMMEMORATE THE THIRD
ANNIVERSARY OF THE ANGLO-SOVIET ALLIANCE
A BAND CONCERT will be given in the MEMORIAL GARDENS, WORKSOP
7.30p.m. SUNDAY NEXT, June 25th
Organised by the Worksop Borough
Silver Prize Band, in association with the WORKSOP COMMITTEE FOR
FURTHERING ANGLO-SOVIET FRIENDSHIP
A collection will be taken for
Aid to Russia Funds"
Like many other bands at the
time, there was a shortage of players, many of whom were on active
service. The minutes show that the assistance of Creswell Colliery
Band during this period was clearly acknowledged. Stalingrad is now known as
Volgograd.
The Panorama Museum Volgograd (Stalingrad)
Recent discussion via e-mail with Dmitry Belov, Senior Scientific
Officer at the museum, has revealed further information about
funding from the UK during this period.
The museum charts the history of "The Battle of Stalingrad", and the
archives reveal two albums of data relating to the Stalingrad
Hospital Fund, listing the towns and villages, citizens,
organisations, trade unions and Anglo-Soviet Committees who sent
money to the Hospital Fund, and those who donated wards and beds.
Money was received from some 290 towns and villages in the UK.
Dmitry believes the idea for setting up the Stalingrad
Hospital Fund was discussed at a meeting between the then Soviet
Ambassador J.M.Minsky and Anthony Eden.
On 4th May 1943 at a meeting of the Joint Committee for Soviet Aid,
the Chairman, the Rt Revd Hewlett Johnson, Dean of Canterbury,
stated that the aim of the committee was to organise the collection
of donations to provide a hospital in Stalingrad with 500 beds. At
the time one bed cost £150.00 and a ward with 10 beds £1500.00. The
aim of the fund was to raise a total of £75,000, but in the end it
raised £223,837, which was enough for three hospitals.
The other members of the Joint Committee for Soviet Aid included:
(Vice-Chairman) Mrs D.N.Pritt, (Hon Treasurer) Sir Peter Chalmers
Mitchell, CBE, FRS, (Hon Medical Advisor) The Lord Horder, GCVO,
(Chairman of the Executive Commitee) A.T.D'eye, MA, Lady
R.MacRobert,(Chairman of the Comforts Committee) Mrs Henry Martin,
(Secretary) Mrs B.Rothman.
The Executive Committee included: D.Brown, C.E.Fearn, Mrs Oscar
Kleeman, Miss Judith Todd, E.N.Brown, Mrs Ursula Goldfinger,
J.Lonsdale, Miss Moira Turner, Mrs Isabel Brown, Mrs Beatrice King,
W.J.R.Squance, Dr T.Gourlande, Mrs Carmel Haden Guest and Albert
Inkpin.
The first donation of £5,000 was sent from the
National Union of Mineworkers, and there is a record of a donation
from the crew of a submarine. Pupils from the Oxford School of Art
designed posters for the Stalingrad Hospital Fund. In the museum
there is an interesting memorial tablet from Wales.
"To the Glory of
God and as a tribute to the steel-hearted defenders of Stalingrad
the memory of whose unflinching bravery will live forever. This ward
has been presented by the people of Neath Borough and Neath Rural
District, West Wales, Great Britain, 1944"
Of all the funding organisations, the largest in terms of funds
raised was the Aid to Russia Fund, headed by Clementine Churchill,
who visited Stalingrad on 15th April 1945. In Moscow she was awarded
the Red Banner Order of Labour.
In April 2002, the Council of Volgograd presented Queen Elizabeth
the Queen Mother with the title "Honorary Citizen of the Hero-City
Volgograd", in recognition of her help to Stalingrad during the war
years. |
