In a clear case of the cart getting ahead of the horse, the Society was rich before it was formally organised. In Rio and all over the world, the late 30s and the early 40s were all about the war. Wars cost money, and Rio’s British community worked hard to raise well over the equivalent of £225,000 in contemporary values. This money was principally spent on repairs to ships limping into Rio harbour after engaging the enemy at sea, and to pay the fares to Europe of those young British and Commonwealth men – and some women – who answered the call to serve their country.
