ABSTRACT
G. M. Booth in London, with Enfield and Tom Fletcher in Liverpool, continued to deal with the financial aspects of the company; Sir Alfred Booth undertook special war indemnity work. In America, the years of uneasy neutrality, which characterized the initial stages of the war, saw a great deal of pro-British activity by the staff of the subsidiary companies. The impact of war upon the business varied. It stimulated the greatest activity in shipping and building, both vital elements in the war-time economy. Unlike the first World War, English merchant ships came under government control immediately hostilities began, and the company's responsibilities were reduced to acting as a government agent. In the Unit Construction Company, the building of houses largely ceased, and construction was directed to public works of national importance. In Liverpool and London there was much to be done in the building of civil defence shelters and later in air raid demolition work.
