Fellowship of the Bellows

The Fellowships of the Bellows were loosely organised international groups formed during World War II to collect funds for the purchase of aircraft for the Royal Air Force. Lord Beaverbrook, owner of the Daily Express and Minister of Aircraft Production in Winston Churchill's war cabinet, and soon to be Minister of Supply, said at the end of 1940:

All the fighters and all the bombers that we lost during the months the battle has raged over Britain have been paid for in full, completely and entirely, by public subscription.

The idea of collecting "funds through fun" for assisting the war effort was conceived at a meeting of four members of the British/Anglo Argentine community in a Buenos Aires bar. The RAF was chosen as the beneficiary because at that time almost all the volunteers from Argentina had enrolled in the RAF; with losses already having been suffered it was an emotive matter in the local community. Within a short time they publicised the concept and called an open meeting at the English Club in Buenos Aires on 14 October 1940 and the ideas were outlined from behind a curtain in order to preserve their anonymity. The meeting appointed them as a committee of "Servants", and the "Fellowship of the Bellows" (for More Air Force) took off. The "Servants" consisted of the High Wind (what he says blows), who gathered round him: Secretaries – the Whirlwinds (always in a flap); Cashier – Receiver of Windfalls; Treasurer – Keeper of the Windbag; and a Lady Member – The Windlass (very easy on the air).

The concept spread and from the start employed British humour and advertising copy-writing skills, with plays on words. The pressing need at that time was for MORE AIR FORCE, so clearly BELLOWS were needed to increase the AIR FORCE; thousands of BELLOWS to RAISE THE WIND. The funds raised were sent to the Ministry of Aircraft Production. The initiative proved to be outstandingly successful and within a very short time many other countries set up their own similar "Fellowships".

The rules they devised were (a) the Servants must remain anonymous; (b) various levels of "fellow" were created, and promotion was based on payment of one’s selected contribution multiplied by the number of confirmed enemy aircraft destroyed during the previous month, as published by the UK Air Ministry; (c) the appeal must be within the reach of everyone, with a joining fee of 1 Argentine Peso (then about £1/16th), and each "fellow" setting their own level of pledged contribution, with a minimum of 1 cent (about £1/1600th) – office boy and boss would therefore progress at the same speed, having paid up their selected rate of contribution for each plane destroyed; (d) anyone missing a monthly payment ("Blow in") could make up their arrears when they had the funds to do so, and promotion would then be achieved; (e) it must be couched in a humorous vein ("funds through fun").

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Wikipedia