Urgent!

Fundraising placard published by the Australian Comforts Fund. The placard advertises a Christmas special of 'Bulging Boxes for Birdwood's Boys.' Patriots could purchase a comfort box on behalf of a soldier from 6 to 10s. The placard is text only, and printed in red and blue ink. The ACF was a voluntary organisation established in August 1916 it provided and distributed free comforts such as food parcels and clothing to the Australian 'fit' fighting men in all the battle zones. The Australian Comforts Fund (ACF) was first formed in August 1916 from a number of individual state based organisations that had been created at the beginning of World War I to send comfort to the troops. Many local women's groups formed early in the war to provide various 'luxury items' to supplement the Australian soldier's army rations and personal kit. The Australian Comforts Fund quickly grew into a fundraising, collecting, sorting and distributing machine which rivalled the scope of the Red Cross. At the conclusion of World War I, the ACF officially dissolved. However it was revived in 1939 with the outbreak of World War II to provide comforts to a new generation of soldiers. It ceased operation again on 27 June 1946.