“THERE are many ways in which you can help. You can set aside your quarrels for a time and stand united. You can help to maintain calm and confidence by refusing to credit alarmist rumours and false reports. You can join in war activities of various kinds.
“This is a hard and bitter test, but we are, I firmly believe, going to win through to victory and peace. Let it be our boast in the peaceful years to come that we, every one of us,* did something to secure the Victory and peace which we hope our children and grand-children will enjoy.”
Umaid Singh practised what he preached. He used his beloved Jodhpur Flying Club as a RAF training centre, and made his property at Juhu near Bombay available as a ‘holiday resort’ for the RAF. A special train toured the Rajputana States, educating the public on the war; the railway trained mechanics, and transported munitions, tools and building materials for the construction of airfields; it also repaired and manufactured items for the RAF and USAF, and contributed locomotives and rolling stock to the war effort. Railway employees raised money to buy aircraft; the Jodhpur Red Cross raised money for medical supplies; and English ladies at Jodhpur opened a canteen and not-for-profit shop for servicemen, selling Indian-made goods for them to send home as Christmas presents — though the Maharaja made a point of buying lavish presents for the RAF servicemen himself.