As soon as the Second World War (1939-45) began, so did the work of raising funds for Red Cross activities. In Britain, 50 prominent British authors and artists contributed their talents to raise money for the joint war organization of the British Red Cross and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. The result, published two months after the outbreak of the war in November 1939, was The Queen’s Book of the Red Cross.   

The book turns up regularly in used bookshops across North America and the British Isles, indicating that  it was bought in large quantities when it first appeared, and not only in Britain. This copy belongs to the Canadian Red Cross national headquarters. 

The 255-page volume includes work by poet T.S. Eliot, Winnie-the-Pooh author A.A. Milne, novelist Daphne Du Maurier, and photographer Cecil Beaton. Beaton contributed an elegant black-and-white portrait of Queen Elizabeth, wife of George VI and mother of Elizabeth II.

"For fundraising purposes, the queen was by far the most important contributor to the collection."

For fundraising purposes, the queen was by far the most important contributor to the collection. In addition to lending her name to the volume, she also provided a handwritten letter introducing the book and its purpose. It was reproduced in facsimile copy between pages four and five. The glamour of the queen’s name, portrait, and letter would have added greatly to the book’s interest for many potential purchasers.

King George and Queen Elizabeth had made a Royal Tour of Canada less than six months earlier, because the looming inevitability of war with Nazi Germany made it important to strengthen ties with Canada (a potential wartime ally). With the tour fresh in their minds, many Canadians avidly followed news of the royal family in wartime. The Queen’s Book of the Red Cross brought the queen a little closer to them once again. 

Later in the war, Queen Elizabeth would support the Canadian Red Cross by appearing in a short segment of a fundraising film. She was shown admiring relief supplies at one of the Canadian society’s overseas warehouses in Britain.