WW II Fighting Forces Comforts Fund Empire Appeal 1941 FFCF Pinback Button Badge

World War II Fighting Forces Comforts Fund Empire Appeal 1941 FFCF Pinback Button Tinnie Badge

AUSTRALIA   F.F.C.F ( Fighting Forces Comforts Fund ) World War 2 Tin Lapel Political Patriotic Pin Back Button Tinnie Badge very scarce - over 80 years old  

Description:

WW II Era dated 1941 Empire Appeal Day Badge, raising funds for the Fighting Forces Comforts Fund, later to become the ACF or Australian Comforts Fund.  They raised funds for the fighting soldier – clothing, tobacco, food & newspapers were sent to the front.  Badge measures 32 mm in diameter.

WWI Circular pressed tinplate badge with a celluloid face and a pin attachment to the reverse. The words "Fighting Forces Comforts Fund" appear at the top of the badge, "Empire Appeal 1941" along the bottom with the FFCF logo top center. Both the British and Australian flag take center place. Along the rim of the tinnie the words "A W Patrick Maker S A" .

Inscription: Fighting Forces Comforts Fund Empire Appeal 1941 FFCF

Place made: South Australia

Date made: c 1941

Maker: A W Patrick Maker S A

Size: approximately 32 mm round ( 1 1/4 inches )

Specimen in the collection at the State Library of South Australia

Historical Background:

The Australian Comforts Fund (ACF) was first formed on 24 August 1916 from a number of State based organisations that had been individually formed at the beginning of the First World War to send comforts to the troops. Its motto was "Keep the Fit Man Fit", in order to not duplicate the work of the Red Cross. The ACF raised money through various activities to buy and make items and food that could be sent to the troops. They also ran small canteens near the front lines that served food supplies and provided other items such as primus stoves, clothes, sporting equipment, games, newspapers and magazines. The ACF also ran a residential and recreational club for troops on leave in London called the AIF and War Chest Club. 

With the close of the war, the ACF officially ceased to exist on 16 April 1920, only to be revived in 1939 with the outbreak of the Second World War. In addition to the Adoption Appeal, where civilians were asked to buy a stamp a day to cover the daily cost of comforts for one soldier, the ACF provided embarkation kits to troops containing items such as soap, clothes, tobacco, razors and barley sugar. The despatch of christmas hampers to troops was also popular, and by the close of operations more than 1.5 million hampers had been dispatched. The ACF officially closed on June 27, 1946.

Summary

Fundraising badge produced in 1941. Such badges were sold in trams, buses, at railways stations and at rallies to raise money for the stated cause.