Warship Week poem by Gilbert Frankau

« Prev Item Next Item »

Gilbert Frankau

c. 1942

Overview

Patriotic poem written in support of Warship Week by Gilbert Frankau. The paper is cream in colour with red borders and the image and writing is in grayscale.
The image shows a sailor calling while a ship is being launched in a shipyard.

Historical information

Warship Week was one of the British National War Savings campaigns during WWII. It specifically raised money with the aim of a Royal Navy warship being adopted by a civil community. .
There were similar schemes which raised money for the Army (Salute the Soldier Week) and Air Force (Wings for Victory Week).

During the early parts of the war, the Royal Navy had not only lost many capital ships but was facing increasing pressure to provide escorts for convoys in the Atlantic. While there was no shortage of sailors, ships sunk by enemy action had to be replaced.
A level of savings was set to raise enough money to provide the cost of building a particular naval ship. The aim was for cities to raise enough to adopt battleships and aircraft carriers, while towns and villages focused on cruisers and destroyers. Smaller towns and villages were set a lower figure. Once the target money was saved for the ship, the community adopted the ship and its crew.
Local charity organisations, churches and schools provided the crews of the adopted ship with gloves, woollen socks and balaclavas. Children often wrote letters and sent cards to the crew. When possible officers and men from the adopted ship visited the local community. To celebrate their visit a parade was often organised in their honour.
The ship's commanding officer exchanged plaques, objects and photographs with the city or town that reached the target set, and an adoption began. The number of warships adopted was over 1,200, number including battleships, cruisers, destroyers and trawlers.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-119-RoW00041

Item type

Articles

Collectibles

Ephemera

Themes

War and Conflict
War and Conflict > World War 2

Material

Paper (Fiber Product)

Width

120 mm

Height or length

185 mm

Transcripts

"GIVE US MORE SHIPS
By GILBERT FRANKAU"

"Over the oceans perilous
I heard our sailors calling to us -
One clear call from the sea to the shore:
"We need more ships to win this war.
Speed them - we need them - down the slips,
Destroyers, and cruisers, and battleships,
Minesweepers, corvettes and submarines.
For these are the means - and the only means -
to keep white cliffs inviolate
From rapine and murder and Nazi hate.
No Hun shall land on a British shore
If you give us more ships to win this war."

Out from harbour-mouth, into the murk
Where the Focke-Wulf drones and the U-boats lurk,
I watched a mighty convoy sailing,
And heard her sailors hailing, hailing:
"Ho there! Ho there! You ashore!
We need more ships to win this war.
Across the waves wherein death dwells,
We bring you the food, and the guns, and the shells,
We bring you the lorries, the planes, and the tanks:
And for this, our duty, we ask no thanks.
All that we ask of you ashore
Is: Give us more ships to win this war."

Keywords

Place made

United Kingdom

Year

c. 1942

Primary significance criteria

Historic significance