Raising money through public donations and events such as "plays in the park", The Lord Mayor Of Birmingham War Relief Fund was a local means of supporting both residents at home and the troops abroad.
Sent almost 6 months after the last family document explored, the below letter confirms the Timothy's took advantage of this scheme in support of the now imprisoned Edward.
Presumably the citizens of Birmingham were able to apply for this aid, supplying details of Edwards status and location. Unfortunately, the documents which confirm the process for this and other details of its organisation are held at The Library of Birmingham and due to the current Covid 19 Pandemic, it may be some time before i have access to them.
Filed under reference number MS 546 the collection is yet to have been uploaded online but the list of items below gives a good indication of its make up and activities.
The fund appears to have dispatched an impressive collection of items to Edward, and given the conditions he faced will have provided some much needed relief.
However; what isn't known is if he or fellow Prisoners of War ever received such items. Accounts of the time suggest the prisoners did receive packages from home, but more often than not these were randomly distributed and shared amongst large numbers of prisoners.
Whilst provided by the War Relief Fund, these packages will have been dispatched to the Red Cross in mainland Europe to distribute, which naturally presents many logistical challenges during a large scale conflict. Furthermore, eventually such packages would have to be received by and entrusted to those managing the camps themselves.
By this point in the war, these individuals may have also been struggling with basic supplies of their own.
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