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Britain and the Common Pool
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"Britain and the Common Pool" (2016). War Information Center Pamphlets. Book 439.
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BRITAIN
C O M M O N POOL
T
A
B
HE
following
R I T I S H
Rockefeller
WINSTON
pamphlets
may be obtained
1 N !• O R M A
Plaza,
CHURCHIIJ,,
N e w York
PRIME
I O N
City
MINISTER-
on request
S S
20, N .
from
,
Y.
Some excerpts
from
wartime speeches.
'I'HE
BRinsH A R M Y I l l u s t r a t e d
THE
ROYAL
NAVY
THE
ROYAI.
WAR
JOB
Illustrated
AIR FORCE
PROGRES.S
IN FREEDOM
50 F A C T S
ABOUT
WiNNiNc;
T H E PEACE
BRITAIN,
tion
SOCIAL
folder
folder
Illustrated
SERVICES
folder
I N BRITAIN
an illustrated monthly magazine,
at
$1.00 a year
in the United
•
is available
States,
for subscrip-
and $1.20 a year in
Canada.
President
PUBLISHED
MARCH,
ROOSEVELT.
1944, BY
BRITISH INFORMATION SERVICES
Agency
30 ROCKEFELLER
PLAZA, NEW YORK 20, N. Y,
ain
entered
geared
"total
war";
her whole
population
to the war. Everything the nation owned
goods needed
overseas
for the fighting, Britain sold
and put herself
into
debt
was mobilized,
was thrown into
out a
to other
her wh
great
countries.
part
the p
of her
Desperate
mea
W
taken
H A T IS T H E C O M M O N P O O L ? What part does it play in the fight for
free-and her whole national way of life sacrificed; but there was
sacrifice
and extinction—extinction not only of Britain herself
dom and democracy? It has been described in terms of figures; tween
i n terms
of
remaining
civilized
world.
food; in terms of shipping tonnage—but
none
of these tell the whole story. Its
effects
can
armament
be seen
i n the German defeat
works under
in North
the hammer blows of A l l i e d
x\frica,
in the crumbling of German
air power,
in the invasion and surW I T H I N T W O Y E A R S Britain had been joined by many Allies; but already i
render of Italy. But these do not account for all its achievements. E d w a r d M u r r o w ,
1941, the Congress and people of the United States had passed " A n A
broadcasting from London, summed up one aspect of it. " / he said,
the Defense of the United States"Lend-Lease, the historic gesture o
champions of democratic freedom, which gave power to the President
payment
the materials needed
for winning
was deemed vital to the defense
for
This
is one story of the C o m m o n Pool—one
fighting
drugs,
many
men
themselves—the
eaten
the rations
countries
whose
men
who have handled
supplied
future
of hundreds
they
from
are
to
to those Governments
of the United States. The concept of "
O f the Allies
who joined
the war against
Russia, the United States and China, were able to contribute immensel
perhapsresources,
only to i n manpower or materials; C h i n a , in fact, already had been
been healed
by against
the
alone
Japan for many years. But the Axis had made great gains
known
the weapons,
a l l over
fighting
a l l " was taking shape.
the war
the world—from the defeating
people ofthem
the was not less—indeed,
to defend.
which Hitler had
with
the highly
by then established over the whole
organized
produc
of the European
c
greater. Each year that the war continued made the need for total
men of even
different
ing;
as the
fronts spread over a wider and wider surface of the globe,
nations; a coordination of brains, machines, manpower and strategy. T h e material
part
for supplies, for quick transfer of goods and men became more de
of this common efTort is called M u t u a l A i d or Lend-Lease. H o w d i d thisping,
remarkable
The
C o m m o n Pool
is a working
partner.ship
built
up among
T h e Axis
achievement develop?
keep
FROM
1939,
WHEN
GERMANY
INVADED
POLAND,
the democracies have
them
at first held many doors
shut
against
to victory
an unrelenting
and it was necessary
and massive
to
pressure.
ral-
J U S Twhich
A S G RthreatE A T B R I T A I N S A W T H E N E E D for total war and total effort in
of a barbarism
1940,
and
threw
everything she had into the pool of the war effort,
ened to engulf civilization. T h e force which confronted them was more highly organized,
both economically and militarily, than any force which had ever taken upwhich
arms, Britain
and thehad endeavored to keep filled herself in 1940 and 1941 w
the
contributions
of other nations who joined the fight against the A
defenders of democracy who had built up their economy for peace and not for war
lied
the strength
were not,
fully
of their
at first, well
brought
home
stpod alone against
arms
prepared
to throw
to meet
back
the tide
theyrequired
had to give;
the resources of some were greater than
of the effort
was not
contribution
was
vital.
and Britain and the Commonwealth
it. T h e extent
to the world till France fell,
a victorious and advancing German army. From
that moment,
Some Britdegree
the resources
of common pooling of resources was carried out in previ
3
ticularly in the last. But this war demands it in a higher degree than ever before-partly
because it .is a highly mechanized war and weapons are required in such large masses and
consumed at such speed. The quickest possible method of turning them out must be devised. Britain, for instance, had found that she could speed her work by building factories
in the United States where there. were facilities for making certain· machines or weapons
more guickly than in Britain. Also she regrouped her own factories, closing some, "concentrating" them with others, and cutting out "non-essential" production altogether.
When the United States came into the war it was possible to "pool" the British, the
Dominions and the United States production, allocating to each country production of
whatever could best be made in that country. This system had already been carried out
before the United States came into the war, between Britain and the Dominions. The
important point was that all this production was required for one common purpose, to
fight the enemy; it was not necessarily intended solely for the country which produced
it, but for a pool of weapons for the use of whoever needed them.
ANOTHER COGENT REASON FOR THE POOL was that the fronts were so
widely scattered. Speed and transportation were essential. Troops must be placed wherever they could best be dispatched to a fighting front and the front must be able to draw
quickly on reserves of men and supplies. So reserves of men and supplies had to be
placed all over the world and shipping of the United Nations pooled to carry them.
Whatever country could supply what was needed at any particular point most
quickly and in sufficient quantities, was called on to supply that need. Britain, for instance, formed an admirable base for Allied .troops. It was obvious, therefore, that her
territory should be used in this way, however much this would strain her resources or dislocate her internal communications. In supplying a base, she had, of course, also to supply as much as possible of the materials which were required at the base. So she supplied food and housing, gave storage for material, provided transport and also provided
training in many cases. All this was simply part of her contribution to the pool of common war effort.
WHEN SHIPS WERE NEEDED to transport troops, or when dock repairs were needed
for ships, the Allied Nations used whatever ships were available and whatever docks were
nearest; they did not count out their contribution and allocate their own ships for their
4
own troops. Here. again Britain was able to contribute by carrying American troops
across the Atlantic in her own ships and giving dock service to the Allies all over the
world. If. British shipping had not been cast into the Common Pool, the planes and armaments for Russia could not have been carried so swiftly to her, either across the Arctic
Ocean or up the Persian Gulf.
THE COMMON POOL, or system of Mutual Aid, is in fact simply the means that
the Allies have devised for getting the war won as quickly as possible. It represents ih
international terms what Britain's national effort represented when she stood alone .. Thert,
each citizen had cast all into the national pool for the war effort- his labor, time, money,
produce-the Government telling him where each of these was most needed, and how
much was needed. Now there are international organizations set up by the United
Nations to study what and how much is needed for the common war, and each country
is called upon to give what it can.
NATIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE COMMON POOL VARY very con·
siderably, and this makes any accot.mting of them in money form almost impossible.
Russia, for instance, has contributed an enormous army; her military casualties alone
are estimated at five million. It is possible perhaps to balance the cost of a thdusand
planes sent by one country against a thousand tanks sent in exchange by anothet. But
Russia, although she is receiving tanks and planes from Britain and the United States,
has not exchanged any weapons bf war for them: she has given five million lives in
fighting the Germans. How could this be reckoned in the Mutu~l Aid accounts? China
has sent out very little to the United Nations in the way of war material; but she .has
held Japan at bay for seven years. That, too, cannot appear on a balance sheet.
Then there are all kinds of contributions of which very little is heard, which cannot
be rendered in figures, and which ate known chiefly by the fighting men themselves.
British airmen, for instance, who had had years of experience in flying over enemy ter·
ritory, have helped to train Americans in Britain. Everything they have learned- -much
of it at the cost of a comrade's life- is passed on to their Allies from the United States.
On the other hand, thousands of the young British recruits have b~en trained in all their
basic flying knowledge in the United States by veterans; here they live in Americah barracks, use American machines, and are the grateful recipients of a great deal of American
5
hospitality. The Allies exchange
they
have
discovered, from
of their fighting weapons:
Robert
Watson
Watt's
industrial and military inventions; they
contribute
whatthe planes, or flew them, is not important. What is wan
ported
it, or made
and error, that adds to or detractsshall
from be
the
efficiency
enough of them, in the right place at the right time.
Britain, for instance, shared with her Allies the secrets of Sir
trial
developments
in radiolocation and
of
the
Whittle "jet" plane.
A GREAT PART OF
T H E CONTRIBUTIONS
by these
"imponderables"—things
When the fii-st American troops arrived in Britain they had no hospitals
of their
own
which
to
the
C o m m o n Pool
is made
up
cannot be reckoned in values at all
—-they
were cared for in British hospitals by British surgeons and nurses,
andcannot
blood be balanced against each other. Other contributions are
certainly
from the "banks" contributed to by the people of Britain restored the wounded.
Later,
and can be put Britdown on the balance sheet.
ish workmen were taken from other essential war industries to build American liospitals
It is possible to say that, not including raw materials, foodstuffs in
in Britain. But—from Tunisia and Sicily hundreds of wounded men from Britain were
transferred abroad, Britain's M u t u a l A i d to the United States has alread
flown, like their American comrades, on planes contributed by both countries to United
expenditure of more than a billion and a half dollars, while M u t u a l A i d to
States hospitals, where they were cared for by American surgeons and nurses. The R . A . F .
Britain seven hundred and sixteen million dollars, and Lend-Lease and cre
Air-Sea Rescue Service was able to train American flyers in the difiicult technique of
Allies bring Britain's total expenditure in this field to nearly three b
picking up flying men who were lost over the sea: now American planes, like British,
United States has spent much more than this on Lend-Lease -which is h
are rescuing men—among them Poles and Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders
M u t u a l A i d — i f the amount is looked at as figures; the actual proportio
—whose damaged planes cannot make the last lap of the journey back from the bombpenditure
currently spent by both countries on M u t u a l A i d , however, is
ing raids.
the same—it
is twehe
per cent
case of Britain. A p a r t from
MANY
CONTRIBUTIONS
CANNOT
BF. R F D U C E D
T O F I G U R E S for the worth
ture connected with her own contribution to the
drain
British
and
how on
much
it isoverseas
ring
heavy
indebtedness.
needed at that moment. For instance, the rifles sent over to Britain before Lend-Lease—
of
the
after
article
the fall
received
often
on
the
time
incalculably valuable:
it
is received
States and ten
resources
war against
totalling about
ten
the Axis has
billion
dollars a
have been low in
But even these figures do not tell the whole story since reckoning ca
money, but their morale value could riot be overestimated because in those days of sumin terms of value for actual goods sent out, because the cost of produ
mer 1940, Britain was defenseless, her equipment lost at Dunkirk. The Home G u a r d
much between each country. For instance, if two identical articles were
who .stood on the cliffs above the channel, awaiting invasion, would not have been able
the United States and in Britain and exchanged, Britain would, on paper,
to put a price on the American rifle which replaced the pitchfork he had been carrying
sum to the United States than the United States would owe Britain, becau
as his only weapon. Again, the very news of Lend-Lease inspired and fortified the British
making the article would be higher in the United States. So, many of the
people through a dark spring and summer, though, in fact, the goods themselves did not
Britain Is giving the United States now are calculated at a lower price t
arrive a great many months. Here, the mere hope of their arrival enhanced the value
carry if the United States were undertaking such services for themselves;
of the goods.
ice rendered to Britain by the United States will often cost more than t
There are
of France—were
depends
in the case of the United
her M u t u a l A i d expenditure, Britain's overseas
their price may
cost in more
Britain
times when a drug, or a pint of blood, or a coil of wire,would
is actually
could
it be undertaken
there.
valuable than a fleet of planes, or a tank. The object of the C:onmion Pool is to make all
these things, from
the vitally-needed drug to the vitally-needed division
men
S O Mof
E O
F T f)r
H E S EsquadT A N G I B L E S U P P L I E S Britain is putting into the C o m m o n Poo
ron of planes, available at once wherever it is needed. W h o supplies the
drug,
who
transare naval and transport ships, tanks, planes, food, medical supplies, cl
6
7
hospitals and raw materials. T o Russia alone, 4,690
complete
aircraft
with spare parts
M U T of
U A Lthese
A I D , were
T H E C O M M O N P O O L , reflects behind the lines what is put
and equipment have been sent and, up till a year ago, about ninety per cent
practice
in
the
field, where men, from generals to privates, are "poo
carried i n British shops, escorted by the Royal Navy,
thought of their nationality. Troops serve under the general best suite
campaign, whoever he may be. H i s staff is drawn from
BUT
WHERE
THESE
MATERIALS
A R E SENT,
or who receives them is not,
Britain's point of view, particularly important, so long
as they
general war effort. There is only one war, whether it is fought
Pacific
or
i n Burma.
Whatever
the best available
from ever their nationality, and the men are equipped with the best Weapons
used
to makes
forward
the So in the Mediterranean an American general, Eisenhowe
ever
them.
in Italy,of in
Russia,Americans,
in the
British,
and French, was put in command of a mixed force w
arc
force
is fighting the enemy is fighting not
only for British,
itself
Americans,
Canadians, Indians, South .Africans, New Zealanders
but for each of the United Nations. Alexander's delaying campaign in Burma
i n There
1942 was no reckoning here of the numbers of men each nation c
Poles.
kept the Japanese from joining hands with their European Allies while the isarmies
of theto conceive that one nation should hold back a division
impossible
British
Commonwealth kept the Germans at bay in Egypt. Tanks sent to Russia
helpedin the field than itself, or that the lives given should be
had fewer
to reinforce the defense of Stalingrad and so enabled the M i d d l e Eastern between
campaign nations.
to be
brought to a successful end. Bombers from America and Britain, flown by Americans,
Never have so many men, from so many widely-differing nations, nurtu
Canadians and British, put out of action munition works turning out arms for the Gervarious national traditions, combined so completely to effect a common
man carnpaign in Russia. British factories producing uniforms and equipment for Poles,
such a mighty machine been set in motion. The mo.st preci.se operations
Czechs, Dutch and Free French soldiers who escaped empty-handed to Britain, have put
ried out, the heaviest sacrifices have been borne—not alone by men of o
men of irreplaceable fighting qualities into the field who otherwise would have been powother, but by all, working together as part of one common plan.
erless to fight.
Unless the Common Pool had been set up to receive and allocate the r
THIS
IS N O T A " L O C A L "
the nations, these men of the United Nations' armies could not be fighti
W A R fought separately by each nation against another. It
effectiveness and confidence. Some, whose governments were not able to
material and equipment, would not be alile to enter the
fight
the combined effort be greatly weakened, but the
of the
be borne by the nation whose resources and
gives all it has
and
receives whatever
burden
at
all a
fighting
riches were the greatest. As
it needs in order to carry out
and each nation, knowing that it fights side by side with its brother n
cause and for the same beliefs, is pouring out its manhood, its wealth,
duction
into the
C o m m o n Pool.
It
gives these things for the
salvation
that no cost is too high to bring peace to the world and freedom to the
cause, Britain, like her Allies, considers no sacrifice too great.
8
9
Photo: Acme
The first members of the A. Esea-bases
, F. to
throughout the world, U . S.
land in Northern Ireland were the
preships
receive fuel, supplies, repairs and
cursors of hundreds of thousandsall
of Ufacilides
. S.
free at Britain's expense.
troops who have been carried toBritain
all the
has also undertaken to purchase
battlcfronts of the world in British
ships free to the United States
and supply
under the Mutual Aid program. quantities of raw materials and foodIn Britain herself, and at all
Colonial
stuffs
from the Colonies.
10
name light,
a few items. The scale is v
All fuel supplies and all power,
1,500Britmiles of pipe, and two mil
water and gas, are provided by the
pounds of
ish. Portable stoves, used for boiling
wa-barbed wire up to Decembe
equipment provided t
ter or heating mess-halls, are 1942.
one of Total
the
April,
thousands of items for U . S. Army
needs1943, was equal to 1,360,
ships' tons, in addition to 2,17
given under Mutual A i d , and shown
deadweight
tons of construction ma
above in U . S. marshalling yards.
The
rials.
U p to December, 1943, goods
U . S. Engineer Corps has received
ceservices provided for U . S. Force
ment, cranes, Nissen huts, locomotives,
Britain cost the British $536,000,
paint, pile drivers, railroad equipment,
steel
rope, trailers, and water
tanks,
to
11