What will sadly almost certainly be forgotten amongst the celebrations of VE Day is the massive part played by the car industry and its leaders in ensuring that victory was achieved.
30% of all RAF Bombers were made in Rootes Car Factories and Billy and Reggy Rootes were knighted in recognition of their unstinting work to keep the planes coming.
William Morris who became Lord Nuffield , not only turned all his factories over to producing and repairing aircraft but also set up the Nuffield trust for the benefit of all three military services with an initial endowment in 1939 of £1,650,000.
Herbert Austin also threw himself and his workforce back into the Herculean task of the war effort as he had in 1914, with fighters, bombers and armoured vehicles as well as helmets Jerricans and weapons being produced in huge numbers. Sadly, Austin died of a heart attack in 1941 so did not see the victory being celebrated today.
This is but a short list of how the heroes of The Great British Car Journey , not only built amazing car companies , but also made Victory in Europe possible by harnessing their industrial might to the war effort.
We salute them with two wartime heroes of our own : Firstly our lovely Austin 14 Goodwood with the white paint applied in the war on the running boards still visible and secondly the Wolseley driven by Honeysuckle Weeks in ITV’s wartime drama Foyle’s War.
Both these lovely six cylinder products of Austin and Morris’s factories lived through the war and are in rude health at Great British Car Journey. The Wolseley is still bringing driving pleasure to new generations as it available to drive as part of the unique Drive Dads Car Experience.
We salute the millions of our ancestors who sacrificed so much to ensure our freedom from tyranny and remember those great entrepreneurs who worked tirelessly to provide them with the equipment that made victory possible.
