Never has there been such a generous response by the public to the appeal of life-boat flag days as in 1940. The number of branches which held flag days was 771, and 475 of them raised larger sums than ever before. The number of people who gave was 7,727,000. That was 1,881,000 more han ever before. The sum they gave was £69,494. That was £23,815 more than ever before..