The National Egg Collection in Egham

During the Great War, an initiative to help and support all the wounded British soldiers hospitalised in UK or abroad was established: The National Egg Collection.

The National Egg Collection was launched in 1914 by Frederick Carl, director of Poultry World, a monthly UK magazine about the poultry farming sector which still exists today.

The initiative was supported by the general press who incentivised people and encouraged them to take part, affirming that everyone had to do their duty and nobody should keep eating eggs while their wounded soldiers were without.

The initial plan was to send fresh eggs to the wounded in hospital in Boulogne, France and the aim was to reach 20,000 units. Soon after, the project took on a bigger challenge and aimed to reach 200,000 eggs in a week, which was carried out during Easter 1915.

The National Egg Collection became so successful and famous all over the country that Queen Alexandra accepted to become the patron and on the week between the 16th-23rd August in 1915, the collection reached its peak of 1,030,380 eggs, not including those directly sent to the hospitals.

“Every British hen should be on active service” was the slogan chosen by Poultry World. It was often written on various propaganda posters showing a hen wearing a sash with a red crown on it or the sentence “enlisted for duration of the war” written on it. A central collection point was established in London in a warehouse at 154 Fleet Street, initially provided free of charge by Harrods. Labels and boxes were supplied and railway transport was provided for free allowing the eggs be sent to the soldiers to France in just 3 days.

A huge number of people took on the challenge and over 2,000 depots were run by local groups or churches. Children were involved too and various schools organised their own collection. Donors were also encouraged to write their name, address and a message on the eggs (the so called ‘eggograms’) so that the soldiers could answer.

Many people in Egham and surrounding areas took part in this unique project, collecting eggs and monetary donations. Local newspapers were used to encourage people to give what they could and in every village some volunteers offered their homes as a point of collection. Every Fridays eggs collected were delivered to Miss Petrie in Egham, Mrs Chetwynd  Stapylton in Englefield Lodge, Mrs Forrest in Bishop Gate and Miss Macmaster in Virginia Water. In a bid to raise awareness, various entertainment events were organised such as the one on the 28th October 1915 held at the Constitutional Hall, Egham, in aid of the Egg Collection for the wounded, especially those in HRH Princess Christian’s Military Hospital in Englefield Green.

Schoolgirls from Egham Hythe School collected for around 15 weeks using their school as depot and collecting house-to-house identifying themselves with a badge. In 2 months, Englefield Green School collected 482 of the 2,268 eggs of the whole village, thanks to Mrs Marshall and the schoolgirls, including Nora Freeman who received a thank you letter from the soldier who had received her egg in 1915 (left). Local resident Mrs Forrest managed to collect 1,430 eggs in the same period.

The National Egg Collection lasted the whole period of the war and more, gathering in total over 41 million eggs of which 32 million were dispatched to Base hospitals in France and Belgium, and £5,865 in cash for the War Office, for which Lloyd George wrote a letter to the collectors to express his gratitude in October 1917. The National Egg Collection ended on the last day of March 1919 and many collectors were issued a certificate.

In November 2018, we worked with Egham Hythe Community School pupils to create a short animation about the National Collection, facilitated by practitioners Jenny Lockyer and Matt Foster.