When Victor Grayson was wounded out of active service after Passchendaele he went to work for the British government’s shadowy National War Aims Committee. Grayson was sent on speaking tours around Britain’s industrial heartlands to help keep up war production and encourage those not in essential industries to enlist, if not already caught by conscription. The enthusiasm for war was waning by the end of 1917 with the horrors of the front and food shortages hitting home whilst war profiteering began to be exposed by socialists and trade unionists.
Grayson received a mixed reception from his old comrades. Some thought him a traitor to his old beliefs, others that he was simply misguided. Nevertheless in some towns and cities, especially his native Liverpool, he was given a heroes welcome when addressing the audience in his uniform.
Below is a copy of Grayson’s “Germany’s Last Chance: A Message to Labour” which he contributed for the Searchlights series, published to keep up support for the war effort.
(Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205296677)
Victor Grayson 