War Saving Plaques
Two Bakelite plaques, presented to Thame in recognition of the residents’ efforts to raise funds to help the war effort. They would have been displayed in the Town Hall.
During the Second World War, funds were urgently needed to sustain the war effort and volunteers were organised into local Savings Committees, to provide a National Savings Movement.
Local Savings Weeks were set up with targets set for communities and with specific themes. The plaques in the museum commemorate Wings for Victory Week in 1943 to raise funds for the RAF and Salute the Soldier Week in 1944, to help support the Army. Fund raising events such as tea dances and jumble sales would have been organized locally and commemorative plaques were issued to towns who achieved their targets.
Programme for events in Thame during July 1944, to help meet the target £100,000 to equip a battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. (Private collection)
The National War Savings Committee was established in 1916 during World War One, to help to raise funds for the war effort and also to encourage people to save. After the war, the renamed National Savings Certificates went towards the cost of rebuilding the country.