Showing posts with label rationing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rationing. Show all posts

Saturday, July 11, 2020

Resource War

Motoring back on Ration > .
Resource War - tb >> .
World war II: The resource war - Extra History playlist >> .
1940 - USSR contribution to Nazi war-resources > .
41-3-11 End of US neutrality? The Lend-Lease Act > .

Isolationist America & Lend-Lease
https://youtu.be/N5PTeDe4jTQ?t=37s

21st > Energy >>
24-3-24 Why We Can’t Just Stop Oil - EcEx > .

War Ministries WW2 ..

The Neutrality Acts were passed by the United States Congress in the 1930s, in response to the growing turmoil in Europe and Asia that eventually led to World War II. They were spurred by the growth in isolationism and non-interventionism in the US following its costly involvement in World War I, and sought to ensure that the US would not become entangled again in foreign conflicts.

The legacy of the Neutrality Acts is widely regarded as having been generally negative: they made no distinction between aggressor and victim, treating both equally as "belligerents"; and they limited the US government's ability to aid Britain and France against Nazi Germany. The acts were largely repealed in 1941, in the face of German submarine attacks on U.S. vessels and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrality_Acts_of_1930s

Sunday, October 6, 2019

WVS - Women's Voluntary Service for Civil Defence

WVS > .

1938-5-16 Women's Voluntary Services (WVS) from 1938 to 1966 ⇒ Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) from 1966 to 2004 ⇒ WRVS from 2004 to 2013 ⇒ Royal Voluntary Service.

On 16 May 1938, the British government set out the objectives of the Women's Voluntary Service for Civil Defence or Women’s Voluntary Services for Air Raid Precautions:

It was seen “as the enrolment of women for Air Raid Precaution Services of Local Authorities, to help to bring home to every household what air attack may mean, and to make known to every household [in the country] what it can do to protect itself and the community.”

In the words of Home Secretary Sir Samuel Hoare, "as regards their civil defence functions, the Minister regards the Women's Voluntary Service as occupying ... much the same relationship as that of the women's auxiliary services for the armed forces of the Crown."

Hidden army - WVS .
Hidden army video - WVS .

The Women's Voluntary Services was founded in 1938 by Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading, as a British women's organisation to recruit women into the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) services to help in the event of War.

The WVS/WRVS was a voluntary organisation, and it was Lady Reading's vision that there would be no ranks. It was perhaps the only organisation where you could find a Duchess and a char lady working side by side. While many members of the WVS mucked in on pretty much all tasks, the idea of an organisation without a hierarchy would not have worked and so while there were no ranks, there were titles. Women were recruited for specific tasks, whether that was to drive ambulances, to be a member of a knitting work party or collect National Savings. Inevitably those women who signed up for one thing often ended up being co-opted for other work, especially if they showed aptitude.

The WVS was split into 12 Regions (using the same boundaries as Civil Defence) which started with 1 in the NE of England and moved clockwise down the country and back up. London was Region 12 and Scotland Region 11. Each Region had a Regional Administrator who was paid for by the Home Office. Under this each County had a County Organiser and 'staff' and below that were the Centres. During and after the Second World War, there were almost 2,000 WVS centres around Great Britain (as well as Northern Ireland during the war) each at the sharp end of providing help to their communities. Each was prominently positioned within a town or village and was run by a Centre Organiser appointed by Headquarters in London. Each Centre Organiser had a team of members who were responsible for different aspect of WVS work e.g. evacuation, Training, Food or Clothing. Under their direction were the 'ordinary' members.

The WVS played a key part in the evacuation of civilians from urban areas. The WVS had been asked to pinpoint areas of safety and billeting for evacuated children. Moving children out of the cities proved reasonably easy. Getting them to a known area of safety proved a lot more difficult as trains did not always arrive at an expected destination or would turn up at a reception point unexpectedly. The WVS is credited with helping to move 1.5 million people (the majority were children) out of cities in the early days of September 1939.

The WVS also played a major role in the collection of clothing required for the needy. In October 1939, Lady Reading broadcast to the United States about the need for clothing in the UK. The broadcast led to large quantities of clothing (known as "Bundles for Britain") being sent over to the United Kingdom by the American Red Cross. These were distributed from WVS Emergency Clothing Stores.

When troops returned to ports after the evacuation at Dunkirk, members of the WVS were there to greet them and hand out food, drink and warm clothing. The WVS base at the railway station in Headcorn, Kent was an especially busy place for feeding returning soldiers before they dispersed—a spit was installed so that meat could be roasted there and then. The WVS also played a vital part during the Blitz of London and other cities.

By the time of the Blitz, women in the WVS were adept at providing food and drink around the clock. While ARP wardens and firemen fought the fires, women in the WVS set up mobile canteens to keep them refreshed, thus placing themselves in serious physical danger with collapsing buildings a constant threat. When the raids ended, the WVS also played a part in looking after those who were injured and had lost their homes. Records indicate that the WVS dealt with and helped over 10,000 people every night of the Blitz.

As the Blitz lasted for 57 nights, the WVS helped in total a vast number of people who went to their rest centres. Some people stayed just for a night—many stayed for much longer and stretched the resources of the WVS to the limit. In Barnes, one WVS member fed 1,200 bomb victims in just one day, cooking in her own kitchen.

It would be difficult to overstate the importance of the work done by the WVS during the Blitz: the rest centres provided shelter, food, and importantly, sanitation. But working so near to the centre of the bombing inevitably led to casualties. 241 members of the WVS were killed during the Blitz and many more were wounded. 25 WVS offices were destroyed.

The WVS began running IIPs (Incident Inquiry Points), places where people came to find out about their loved ones who were in an area that had been bombed in order to free the ARP to work with the fire brigade. The WVS also helped with the Queen's Messenger Food Convoys which took food to areas in need after a bombing raid. The people who survived the bombing of Coventry received help from one of the convoys with 14,000 meals being served.

By 1941, one million women belonged to the WVS. Their work did not slacken after the end of the Luftwaffe's bombing raids. The Battle of the Atlantic and the devastating toll of merchant ships sunk by U-boats led to shortages in Great Britain. The WVS did all that it could to assist in the collection of required material for the war effort and also to educate people not to waste what they had.

Each WVS centre had its own Salvage Officer and Food Leader. The Food Leader did whatever was required at a local level to assist the authorities in the complicated task of food rationing. Educational pamphlets were produced and lectures held. The WVS organised campaigns such as 'Salute the Soldier', 'Wings for Victory', 'Spitfire Funds' and Warship Week.

In the buildup to D-Day, the expertise the WVS had in catering was put to use again. The skills learned during the Blitz were again put to good use when the V1 and V2 rockets fell on London. Once again, the WVS played a key role in evacuation. With the success of D-Day, the WVS moved into Europe to support troops there. The first WVS abroad had landed in Italy with the success of the invasion there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Voluntary_Service .

Women's Voluntary Service: 'The army Hitler forgot' .
https://www.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk/about-us/our-history .
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1419318354/hidden-histories-of-a-million-wartime-women .
https://www.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk/about-us/our-history/timeline-list .
https://www.mylearning.org/stories/women-at-war-the-role-of-women-during-ww2/480 .
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/categories/c54954/ .
http://www.caringonthehomefront.org.uk/search-the-library/volunteering/ .
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/timeline/factfiles/nonflash/a6651894.shtml .
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/71/a3384371.shtml .

44-12-3 Home Guard Stands Down ..
Voluntary Organisations ..
Women's Institute .. 
Women's Voluntary Service .. 

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Lend-Lease Act 41-3-11

41-3-11 End of US neutrality? The Lend-Lease Act > . 

The United States of America aims to remain neutral during World War Two. But they see it in their best interest to aid the British in their fight against Nazism. The Lend-Lease Act is designed to do exactly that.

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

MAF - Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries


A Northamptonshire hedger is ably assisted by a smiling land girl eager to learn the rural craft of hedge making and maintenance in this gentle instructional film, made by the Realist Film Unit for the Ministry of Agriculture.

Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries

In the late 1920s and early 1930s the Government introduce new measures to support domestic agriculture and farmers' income. Subsidies or price insurance schemes were created for sugar beet, wheat, cattle, dairy and sheep. The Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marketing) Act 1928 promoted the standardisation of grades and packaging and introduced the "National Mark", a trade mark denoting home-produced food of a defined quality for eggs, beef, apples and pears. The Agricultural Marketing Acts of 1931 and 1933 sought to organise farmers into co-operative marketing associations and created Marketing Boards for bacon, pigs, hops, milk and potatoes. The Import Duties Act 1932 introduced a tariff on most imports including fruit and vegetables and quotas on imports of bacon, ham and other meat products. In 1936 the tithe rent charge was abolished, compensation paid to the Church and the money recovered from farmers over a 60-year period. In 1937 a scheme was introduce to subsidise the spreading of lime on agricultural land to boost the fertility of the soil. The Minister of Agriculture was given powers to regulate the cultivation and management of land, end tenancies, even take possession of land, under the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939. On 1 September 1939 many of these powers were delegated to County War Agricultural Executive Committees ("War Ags").

War was declared on 3 September 1939. The UK entered the war well prepared for the maintenance of supplies of food but with less than 40% of the country's needs produced at home. The Ministry of Food was formed on 8 September and William Morrison appointed Minister. The Ministry of Food became the sole buyer and importer of food and regulated pricesguaranteeing farmers prices and markets for their produce. The Marketing Boards, except for milk and hops, were suspended.

Although the upper levels of government would remain in London to act as a “nucleus” the plan was to evacuate the majority of civil servants, mainly to seaside resorts that would have empty hotel accommodation. In this way for example the Ministry of Food (created separately from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries) established a major presence at Colwyn Bay (near Llandudno, North Wales). From their base on the Welsh Coast, the relocated civil servants (under Lord WooltonMinister of Food from April '40 until '43) not only set about the enormous task of organising the distribution and rationing of food, they also initiated a massive propaganda effort directed at the people of Great Britain to educate them to feed themselves. It was from Colwyn Bay that initiatives such as “Dig for Victory” were set out.

Recruiting began for the Women's Land Army and in 1940, food rationing was introduced. Lord Woolton succeeded William Morrison as Minister for Food. In 1941, the US Lend-Lease act was passed under which food, agricultural machinery and equipment was sent from the US to the UK.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Agriculture,_Fisheries_and_Food_(United_Kingdom)#Ministry_of_Agriculture_and_Fisheries

Minister of Agriculture - 29 January 1939 to 14 May 1940

Reginald Dorman-Smith was educated at Harrow School and the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. After serving in the army, he continued his career with a strong interest in agriculture, becoming president of the National Farmers Union (the NFU) at the age of 32, and then later Minister of Agriculture. He was first elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Petersfield in the 1935 general election as one of a handful of MPs sponsored by the NFU and served as the Union's president for the following few years.
In the late 1930s, the British Government's agricultural policy came in for heavy criticism from the NFU, Parliament and the Press and in January 1939 Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain took the bold step of appointing Dorman-Smith as Minister of Agriculture. In October 1940, Dorman-Smith instigated the Government's Dig for Victory campaign, aimed at increasing food production from allotments. However, when Chamberlain fell, Dorman-Smith was not included in the government of his successor, Winston Churchill.

Dorman-Smith was referred to in the book "Guilty Men" by Michael Foot, Frank Owen and Peter Howard (writing under the pseudonym 'Cato'), published in 1940 as an attack on public figures for their failure to re-arm and their appeasement of Nazi Germany.
Minister of Agriculture - 14 May 1940 to 26 July 1945

Robert Spear Hudson, 1st Viscount Hudson, CH, PC (15 August 1886 – 2 February 1957) was a British Conservative Party politician who held a number of ministerial posts during WW2.

He served in several ministerial posts, becoming a Privy Counsellor in 1938. From 1937 to 1940, Hudson served in the Department of Overseas Trade. He had a particular interest in farming and was a member of the council of the Royal Agricultural Society. In 1940, Hudson was appointed the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, a post he would hold until the 1945 election. In the opinion of Edward Turnour, 6th Earl Winterton, Hudson "was by far the best of Ministers of Agriculture in either war...he was determined to see that farmers and landowners alike utilised every acre of soil to help keep the nation from starvation". 

Hudson was created Viscount Hudson in 1952.
 ---
MoF - Ministry of Food .. 

The Minister of Food Control (1916–1921) and the Minister of Food (1939–1958) were British government ministerial posts separated from that of the Minister of Agriculture. In the Great War the Ministry sponsored a network of canteens known as National Kitchens. In the Second World War a major task of the Ministry was to oversee rationing in the United Kingdom necessitated by WW2. The Minister was assisted by a Parliamentary Secretary.

Forestry Commission established as part of the Forestry Act 1919.
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food .

Historic figures
Sir John Sinclair, 1st Baronet British politician, writer on both finance and agriculture, first person to use the word statistics in the English language .
Arthur Young English writer on agriculture, economics and social statistics

MoF - Ministry of Food

Mrs. T. And Her Cabbage Patch (1941) (approved by Ministry of Food) - BFI > .


https://www.cooksinfo.com/british-wartime-food/ .

Minister of Food

"The Minister of Food Control (1916–1921) and the Minister of Food (1939–1958) were British government ministerial posts separated from that of the Minister of Agriculture. In the Great War the Ministry sponsored a network of canteens known as National Kitchens. In the Second World War a major task of the Ministry was to oversee rationing in the United Kingdom arising out of World War II. The Minister was assisted by a Parliamentary Secretary.

The ministry's work was transferred in 1921 to the Board of Trade which had a small Food Department between the wars. This became its Food (Defence Plans) Department in 1937 and was then constituted as the Ministry of Food on the outbreak of war in 1939."

In April 1940 Lord Woolton, a prominent businessman, was appointed Minister of Food by Neville Chamberlain, one of a number of ministerial appointments from outside politics. Woolton retained this position until 1943. He supervised 50,000 employees and over a thousand local offices where people could obtain ration cards. His ministry had a virtual monopoly of all food sold in Britain, whether imported or local. His mission was to guarantee adequate nutrition for everyone. With food supplies cut sharply because of enemy action and the needs of the services, rationing was essential. Woolton and his advisors had one scheme in mind but economists convinced them to try point rationing. Everyone would have a certain number of points a month that they could allocate any way they wanted. They tried an experiment and it worked very well. Indeed, food rationing was a major success story in Britain's war.

In the dark days of late June 1940, with a German invasion threatened, Woolton reassured the public that emergency food stocks were in place that would last "for weeks and weeks" even if the shipping could not get through. He said "iron rations" were stored for use only in great emergency. Other rations were stored in the outskirts of cities liable to German bombing. When the Blitz began in late summer 1940 he was ready with more than 200 feeding stations in London and other cities under attack.

Woolton was faced with the task of overseeing rationing due to wartime shortages. He took the view that it was insufficient to merely impose restrictions but that a programme of advertising to support it was also required. He warned that meat and cheese, as well as bacon and eggs, were in very short supply and would remain that way. Calling for a simpler diet, he noted that there was plenty of bread, potatoes, vegetable oils, fats and milk.

By January 1941 the usual overseas food supply had fallen to half what it had been. However, by 1942 ample food supplies were arriving through Lend Lease from the U.S. and a similar Canadian programme. Lend Lease was a gift and there was no charge. Most food was now rationed. Worried about children, Lord Woolton made sure that by 1942 Britain was providing 650,000 children with free meals at schools; about 3,500,000 children received milk at school, in addition to priority supplies at home. The bad news was that his "national loaf" of mushy grey wholemeal bread replaced the ordinary white variety, to the distaste of most housewives. Children were sad to learn that supplies of sweets were reduced to save shipping space on sugar and chocolate.

Woolton kept food prices down; eggs and other items were subsidised. He promoted recipes that worked well with the rationing system, most famously the meatless "Woolton pie" which consisted of carrots, parsnips, potatoes and turnips in oatmeal, with a pastry or potato crust and served with brown gravy. Woolton's business skills made the Ministry of Food's difficult job a success and he earned a strong personal popularity despite the shortages."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minister_of_Food_(United_Kingdom)

4 September 1939 to 3 April 1940
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Morrison,_1st_Viscount_Dunrossil

3 April 1940 11 to November 1943

In April 1940 [Woolton] was appointed as Minister of Food by Neville Chamberlain, one of a number of ministerial appointments from outside politics. Woolton retained this position until 1943. He supervised 50,000 employees and over a thousand local offices where people could obtain ration cards. His ministry had a virtual monopoly of all food sold in Britain, whether imported or local. His mission was to guarantee adequate nutrition for everyone. With food supplies cut sharply because of enemy action and the needs of the services, rationing was essential. Woolton and his advisors had one scheme in mind but economists convinced them to instead try point rationing. Everyone would have a certain number of points a month that they could allocate any way they wanted. The experimental approach to food rationing has been considered successful; indeed, food rationing was a major success story in Britain's war.

In late June 1940, with a German invasion threatened, Woolton reassured the public that emergency food stocks were in place that would last "for weeks and weeks" even if the shipping could not get through. He said "iron rations" were stored for use only in great emergency. Other rations were stored in the outskirts of cities liable to German bombing. When the Blitz began in late summer 1940 he was ready with more than 200 feeding stations in London and other cities under attack.

Woolton was faced with the task of overseeing rationing due to wartime shortages. He took the view that it was insufficient to merely impose restrictions but that a programme of advertising to support it was also required. He warned that meat and cheese, as well as bacon and eggs, were in very short supply and would remain that way. Calling for a simpler diet, he noted that there was plenty of bread, potatoes, vegetable oils, fats and milk.

By January 1941 the usual overseas food supply had fallen in half. However, by 1942 ample food supplies were arriving through Lend Lease from the U.S. and a similar Canadian programme. Lend Lease was a gift and there was no charge. Most food was now rationed. Worried about children, he made sure that by 1942 Britain was providing 650,000 children with free meals at schools; about 3,500,000 children received milk at school, in addition to priority supplies at home. The bad news was that his "national loaf" of wholemeal brown bread replaced the ordinary white variety, to the distaste of most housewives. Children learned that sweets supplies were reduced to save shipping space.

Woolton kept food prices down by subsidizing eggs and other items. He promoted recipes that worked well with the rationing system, most famously the "Woolton pie", which consisted of carrots, parsnips, potatoes and turnips in oatmeal, with a pastry or potato crust and served with brown gravy. Woolton's business skills made the Ministry of Food's difficult job a success and he earned a strong personal popularity despite the shortages.

He joined the Privy Council in 1940 and became a Companion of Honour in 1942. In 1943 Woolton entered the War Cabinet as Minister of Reconstruction, taking charge of the difficult task of planning for post-war Britain and in this role he appeared on the cover of Time on the issue of 26 March 1945.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Marquis,_1st_Earl_of_Woolton

Ministry of Food - Rationing
https://plus.google.com/103755316640704343614/posts/5af393TbvMH

The Ministry of Food: Terry Charman explores Food Rationing in World War Two | Culture24

11 November 1943 to 26 July 1945
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jestyn_Llewellin,_1st_Baron_Llewellin

Farming: Make Fruitful The Land - 1945 Educational Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5oSmJpB6S4
Medieval 3-field rotation - introduced by Saxons
https://youtu.be/h5oSmJpB6S4?t=1m21s
18th century population explosion
https://youtu.be/h5oSmJpB6S4?t=2m35s
clover introduced from Flanders
https://youtu.be/h5oSmJpB6S4?t=3m17s
Norfolk 4-course rotation
https://youtu.be/h5oSmJpB6S4?t=4m12s
https://youtu.be/hQYpRhkkOKs?t=7m1s
https://plus.google.com/103755316640704343614/posts/hmnY2vHt9uM
Rotation - farming calendar 1940s
https://youtu.be/h5oSmJpB6S4?t=6m43s

The Butcher, The Baker - 1947 Educational Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9yw4Kgl-_g

Village Bakery (1940-1949) - silent, subtitles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4QAaqEsza8
Modern Bakery (1940-1949)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNVhqA_ULy4 .

Food Shortages ..

Ministers of Food (1939–1958)
Minister of Food
NamePortraitTerm of officePolitical party
W. S. Morrison
(subsequently Viscount Dunrossil)
Lord Dunrossil-02.jpg4 September 19393 April 1940Conservative
The Lord Woolton1st Earl of Woolton 1947.jpg3 April 194011 November 1943Independent
Colonel J. J. Llewellin
(subsequently Lord Llewellin)
The Home Front in Britain during the Second World War- Personalities TR41.jpg11 November 194326 July 1945Conservative
Sir Ben SmithNo image.svg3 August 194526 May 1946Labour

Saturday, July 6, 2019

WarAg - Farming in Britain During WW2

.
24-8-25 British War Agriculture - Farming Explained > .

WW2 Farming in Britain During the Second World War

WAEC - War Agricultural Executive Committees ..

The farming industry in Britain during the Second World War underwent a complete upheaval. It was necessary for the government to control what farmers grew or what livestock they kept to ensure maximum productivity from the land. ...

DORA - Defence of the Realm Act, 1914 .. 
Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 ..

Under the Defence of The Realm Act (DORA, 1914) which was passed just before the outbreak of hostilities, the Ministry of Agriculture had the power to: Preserve and maintain agricultural land solely for the production of food, to control by order, the cultivation, management and use of land in order to secure maximum production of food from the farms; to terminate any tenancy of agricultural land where it is considered that the land is being neglected or badly cultivated; to introduce special measures for the determination of birds, rabbits, deer, vermin and pests

The Ministry now had much more power to meet the demands of a hungry populace that would soon have to rely on food that was largely home produced, as was forecast, quite accurately that importation of food would decline. Many of the farmers who had to produce this food had to change their methods of farming. They had to produce in greater quantities food that was rich in carbohydrates such as potatoes, or foodstuffs that were too bulky or fragile that would not take up valuable shipping space, so as not to rely too heavily on importation.

Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 ..

With reference to the title of this Special Study, like the Great War the Second World War was a time of affluence for many farmers, particularly in the arable districts of England. For example, prices of wheat in 1939 per cwt for England and Wales were 5 shillings, by 1945 this had almost tripled to 14s 5d. Barley in the same period rose from 8s 10d to 24s 5d, and oats rose from 6s 11d to 16s 5d. farmers were heavily subsidised by the Ministry of Food, who bought goods from farmers at higher rates, whilst selling them to the public at lower rates, the shortfall being made up by the Treasury. Crops such as wheat however, were acquired by the government cheaper than in times of peace. This system was , on 26th November 1940 confirmed to stay in place whilst hostilities were taking place and for one year after they ended.

Government policy was critical in ensuring an increase in productivity. Like the First World War, War Agricultural Executive Committees There were eventually sixty-one committees established in England and Wales, which came to be known as ‘War Ags’. The members of the War Ags included local farmers, members of the Women’s Institute and had the power to take farms away from farmers who were considered to be farming inefficiently. They also had to ensure the government policy of ploughing up more land was implemented. The War Ags had the power to tell people which fields were cultivated and had a pool of labour and machinery to work the land themselves. They also encouraged more modernisation, which resulted in more efficiency and greater production.

Livestock

The importation of feedstuffs was reduced by problems in shipping. This did not prevent the encouragement of higher yields in dairy cows. More small scale farmers began to produce milk, premium payments were given to the first 1514 litres of milk produced per month. Other small scale production of livestock was encouraged with the introduction of Pig Clubs and Poultry Clubs. Domestic poultry keepers did not have restrictions placed upon them like large-scale producers, who faced rationing controls. The Small Pig Keepers Council, an organisation founded by the Ministry of Agriculture encouraged anyone with space to keep a pig and feed it on household waste. There is little evidence to suggest that these smallholders and people in towns were ever an economic threat to full-time farmers, but whilst the war was taking place, helped to supplement a diet that was rationed.

Hill farmers were dealt with separately for the first time. In 1940 subsidies were paid at the equivalent of 12.5p per head per hill ewe, by 1942 this had risen to 40p. A committee was formed in 1941-1942 for England and Wales to review the long term future of hill farming, a minimum of four hundred ewes was required for full-time status.


Farm Workers

The government had the foresight to ensure that farmworkers were not as scarce as they had been in the First World War. This was achieved by farming being declared a reserved occupation, if any male farm worker wanted to join the forces or have an alternative occupation, i.e. construction, a replacement had to be found before he was allowed to leave his job on the farm. This came under the Restrictions of Engagements order in June 1940. Martin claims that anyone who wanted to leave agriculture for the forces or another occupation would have done so, as the war was nine months old when this order became effective. Howkins states that an estimated fifty thousand farm workers were lost to the armed forces prior to the Restrictions of Engagements Order. The total number of farm workers in 1939 (seasonal, part and full-time) were six hundred and seven thousand (607,00) in England and Wales, for 1940 the number had risen to six hundred and eight thousand (608,000).By 1945 the number had increased to seven hundred and seventy thousand (770,000). This was due to the recruitment campaign by the government to organisations such as the Women’s Land Army. This had varied success, in England some encountered sexism, and many were appalled at the conditions they were expected to work and live in. Sackville West, cited in The People's War states that women nearly equalled the abilities of their male counterparts in tasks such as milking, turning hay and lifting peas, but other more demanding tasks it required three women to take the place of two men.

The unemployed from the towns and cities were also put to work on farms, as were conscientious objectors. Prisoners-of-War also took part, by 1945 there were 57,763 working on farms in England and Wales, the obvious advantage being that they did not need paying, the incentive to them being a healthier and more stimulating environment than being stuck behind the barbed wire for the duration of the war.

Wages, always an issue with farmworkers, were increased as the value of farm work was recognised by the government as being essential to the war effort, a good wage being an incentive to stay on farms. Estimated wages in 1940/1941 for the basic wage of an adult male were 48sh 5d per week in England and Wales, by 1944/1945 this had increased to over 67 shillings. Due to the security felt by farmworkers because of the shortage of skilled manpower, union membership of the National Union of Farmworkers rose to 100,000, triple what it had been prior to the war.

Machinery

More tractors and modern implements were as essential to the increased productivity of the land as the farmworkers mentioned above. The horse began to fall out of favour as there was more land cultivation to be undertaken, but the decline was not rapid, there being over six hundred thousand (>600,000) in the whole of Great Britian in 1938. In 1946 this had fallen to just over five hundred thousand (>500,000). The tractor, faster than the horse and becoming more reliable was still outnumbered by the horse, there being around one hundred thousand in England and Wales in 1940 (100,000). This was a considerable increase considering there were only around fifty six thousand in Great Britain in 1939 (56,000). Many farmers were saved the cost of buying a tractor because of the help offered by the War Agricultural Executive Committees mentioned previously. Farmers had priority in the allocation of machinery, this would not have happened if it had not been for the war, the provision of machinery was a great help in modernising farming in England.
.
To conclude, the Second World War was a turning point in English agriculture. Through government intervention of the way farmers cultivated their land and subsidised pricing, agriculture became more productive. The agricultural industry was also fortunate to receive a priority in machinery allocation, a godsend for farmers wishing to modernise. This was essential due to the threat to merchant shipping during the Battle of the Atlantic, shipping space also being in short supply. Farmworkers benefited enormously, their efforts being recognised as valuable to the well being of the country. Government policy worked with notable success, the Women’s Land Army making a significant contribution, as did Prisoners-of-War. Without the preparations for increased production, the country would have been, without doubt, short of food. Also like the First World War, farmers were able to make a comfortable living in most cases, and although rationing was in place for most of the war, farmers were able to access food much more easily than people living in urban England.

http://oldecuriosity.blogspot.ca/2015/02/ww2-farming-in-britain-during-second.html .

Compost, chickens, soil, vermiculture - tb >> .

Agriculture ..
WarAg - Farming in Britain During WW2 ..

Wartime Farm ..
Wartime Farm '39 ..
Wartime Farm '40 ..
Wartime Farm '41 ..
Wartime Farm '42 ..
Wartime Farm '43 ..
Wartime Farm '44 ..
Wartime Farm '45 ..

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Drummond, Jack - nutritionist

Sir Jack Cecil Drummond (12 January 1891 – 4/5 August 1952) was a distinguished biochemist, noted for his work on nutrition as applied to the British diet under rationing during the Second World War.

After graduating with First Class honours in chemistry in 1912 at East London College (now Queen Mary University of London), Jack Drummond became a research assistant in the department of physiology at King's College London, working under Otto Rosenheim and the professor W.D. Halliburton. In 1914 he moved to the Cancer Hospital Research Institute where he worked with Casimir Funk who had coined the word vitamine (from vital amine). This was when Drummond first became interested in nutrition.

In 1917, Halliburton invited Drummond to join him in experimental work on substitutes for butter and margarine. As a result of this work, fat-soluble vitamins became one of his major fields of interest. It also led him to the study of practical problems of human nutrition and, in 1918, he published a paper in The Lancet on infant feeding.

In 1919, he moved to University College London (UCL) to work on physiological chemistry, the precursor to modern biochemistry. In 1920, he proposed that the "vital substances" discovered by Elmer Verner McCollum and by Casimir Funk should be called Vitamins A and B respectively, to contrast them with his proposed anti-scurvy factor, Vitamin C. He also dropped the final "e" from Funk's designation, because not all vitamins contain an amine group. In 1922 at the early age of 31, he became the first Professor of Biochemistry at UCL and held that position until 1945 (in absentia from 1939). He was also Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences from 1929 to 1932.

In the 1930s, he succeeded in isolating pure vitamin A. Also in the 1930s, he became increasingly aware of the need to apply the new science of nutrition in practice. This awareness, combined with his interest in gastronomy, led him to study the English diet over the previous 500 years. He published the results of this study as the book—co-authored with his future second wife Anne Wilbraham—The Englishman's Food: A History of Five Centuries of English Diet in 1939.

The Ministry of Food consulted him on the gas contamination of food at the outbreak of war and, on 16 October 1939, appointed him chief adviser on food contamination. Drummond interested himself in the various scientific aspects of the ministry's work and urged the creation of a co-ordinating unit within the ministry with a scientific liaison officer in charge.

On 1 February 1940, he was appointed Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Food. When Lord Woolton became Minister of Food in April 1940, Drummond produced a plan for the distribution of food based on "sound nutritional principles". He recognised that rationing was the perfect opportunity to attack what he called "dietetic ignorance" and that, if successful, he would be able not just to maintain but to improve the nation's health.

Thanks to Drummond's advice, the effect of rationing was to introduce more protein and vitamins to the diet of the poorest in society, while the better off were obliged to cut their consumption of meat, fats, sugar, and eggs. Follow-up studies after the war showed that, despite rationing and the stresses of war, the population's health had improved.

Drummond was Fullerian Professor of Physiology and Comparative Anatomy at the Royal Institution from 1941 to 1944. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society on 16 March 1944 and was knighted in the same year.

In 1944, Drummond became an adviser on nutrition to Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force and in 1945 to the allied control commissions for Germany and Austria. Also in 1945, he joined Boots Pure Drug Company as Director of Research, but remained seconded to the Ministry of Food until 1946.

Drummond's career move to Boots at Nottingham was surprising to many of his former colleagues. It was also surprising that a man who had publicly advocated the exhaustive testing of new agrochemicals should have been responsible for the development of possibly harmful products such as Cornox, based on Dichlorprop, one of the chlorine-based phenoxy family of hormone weed-killers descended from ICI's wartime invention MCPA. Concerns about the lack of data on the toxicity of Dichlorprop led to its withdrawal from the UK market in 2003. On the other hand, Drummond's successor as Boots's director of research, Gordon Hobday, described Drummond as "an altruist" who had committed substantial research resources into cures for tropical diseases. Hobday had quickly cancelled this research, saying "there was never any money in it."

Friday, April 26, 2019

Clothes ration, fashion

Utility Wear - WW2 > .
Rationing in Britain > .
Living On Rations In WW2 | I Was There > .

Clothing - 20th

.
Getting Dressed in the 1930s - cep > .
Painted Stockings (1940) - Pathé > .

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Life - WW1 Home Front

.Daily Life On The Home Front Of WW1 | Great War In Numbers | Timeline > .

The war changed daily life drastically - women were put to work in munitions factories, bonfires were banned, and pubs closed. Food shortages led to queues, then riots and rationing, then starvation.

Monday, April 15, 2019

National Loaf

The National Loaf was an unpopular government-regulated and -mandated loaf of bread distributed in Britain from April 6, 1942. National Loaf bread was made from wholemeal flour with added calcium and vitamins. It was introduced in Britain in 1942 by the Federation of Bakers (FOB), set up in 1942 to produce the National Loaf. 

The loaf, similar to today's brown bread, was made from wholemeal flour to combat wartime shortages of white flour. The National Loaf was grey, mushy and unappetising; only one person in seven preferred it to white bread, which became unavailable. The government insisted on modifying flour because it saved space in shipping food to Britain, allowed better utilization of existing stocks of wheat, and discouraged the immoderate consumption of bread. The loaf was abolished in October 1956.

Although other food stuffs had been rationed since January 8 1940, the British government was reluctant to ration wheat or bread. Faced with shortages, the Ministry of Food reduced the amount of imported wheat required in the production of unrationed bread. Their compromise was the creation of “National Wheatmeal Flour” or “National Flour” in the spring of 1942.

“National wheatmeal flour” was unbleached flour of 85% extraction from hulled wheat grains, where 85% meant that 100 kg of wheat grains yielded 85 kg of flour. The flour included the starchy endosperm, the wheat germ, and the bran, with the coarser bran extracted. White flour is generally around 70% extraction, yielding 70 kg. Thus, increasing to 85% extraction rate provided an extra 15 kg of flour from that wheat. National Flour was consequently similar to wholemeal (aka wholewheat) flour, but with some of the coarser bran removed. For bread-making, some white flour was added.

White flour was still produced and imported during the war, but it could only be obtained by food manufacturers for items such as biscuits, cakes, etc, or for mixing in small quantities into 85% extraction flour to make National Flour. Flour milled in Britain, whether from domestically-grown or imported wheat, was 80% extraction (by 1945.) Imported already-milled flour was 75% extraction. To make National Flour, the imported flour was mixed in with domestic flour at a rate of about 15% imported, 85% domestic. In Scotland, for some varieties of national bread such as batch bread, etc, bakers were allowed to mix in up to an extra 12 1/2 % of imported flour.


https://howitreallywas.typepad.com/how_it_really_was/bread_rationing/ .


Thursday, April 11, 2019

Rationing

Rationing in Britain > .
Living On Rations In WW2 | I Was There > .
>> Homefront WW2 >>>
World war II: The resource war - Extra History playlist >> .
War Rationing - UK >> .
War Rationing - UK - RodG >>

WW2 Rations 1940: weekly, per one person (adult)

Butter: 50g (2oz)
Bacon or ham: 100g (4oz)
Margarine: 100g (4oz)
Cooking fat/lard: 100g (4oz)
Sugar: 225g (8oz).
Meat: To the value of 1/2d and sometimes 1/10d – about 1lb (450g) to 12ozs (350g)
Milk: 3 pints (1800ml) occasionally dropping to 2 pints (1200ml).
Cheese: 2oz (50g) rising to 8oz (225g)
Eggs: 1 fresh egg a week.
Tea: 50g (2oz).
Jam: 450g (1lb) every two months.
Dried eggs: 1 packet (12 eggs) every four weeks.
Sweets & Chocolate: 350g (12oz) every four weeks

http://www.lavenderandlovage.com/2012/11/the-wartime-kitchen-living-of-rations-with-ration-book-cooking-day-one.html .


Although food in Britain was rationed, it was in fact in plentiful supply. Whilst luxury items may have been more difficult to find, there was always sufficient bulk foods such as bread, potatoes and vegetables to make sure that the people did not go hungry. Britain did discriminate in favour of the armed service and industrial workers in terms of food supply, but this only accounted for 20 per cent of the population, and despite this there was still enough food supply for the remainder. This was coupled with the growth in dairy farming, and also the desire of the government to encourage individuals to open their own allotments and grow their own vegetables. As a result of German attacks against ships bringing foods to Britain, food imports of necessity fell, but home production increased, typified by the ‘dig for victory’ campaign.

Food waste was identified as a problem in the UK as early as World War I.

During World War II, rationing was imposed almost immediately. Restrictions were immediately more stringent than in the Great War as with effect from 8 January 1940 ration books were issued and most foods were subject to ration. By August 1940, legislation was passed that made the wasting of food a prisonable offence. Posters encouraged kitchen waste to be used for feeding animals, primarily swine but also poultry.

Many of the methods suggested by current campaigns to prevent food waste have taken inspiration from those of World War II. Despite this, it remains debatable whether the waste campaigns and rationing, during and post WWII, achieved any long-term change in people's attitudes towards waste.
.....
Combating food waste was one of the initial goals of the Women's Institutes (WI), set up in 1915, and remains a subject of their campaigns. Rationing was adopted during World War I, although it was voluntary, from February 1917; it was only between December 1917 and February 1918 that rationing began, in stages, to be made compulsory. As well, there is no evidence to suggest that by 1918 fines were imposed on either individuals or businesses for wasting food. Meanwhile, in the USA (where shortages were hardly comparable), legislators considered laws restricting the distribution of food in order to cut waste, breaches of which might be punishable by fines or imprisonment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_waste_in_the_United_Kingdom#History

Reducing Waste in Garden - ChDo > .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc-SOrhSDJE


Wartime Cooking - potato chips > .
Wartime Cooking - Elice >> .

Compost, chickens, soil, vermiculture - tb >> .

Motoring back on Ration > .
Resource War - tb >> .

Wartime Kitchen, Garden - Elice >> .
1940s House - Elice >> .
Fashion, rationing 30s, 40s - Elice >> .
Victorian Garden, Pharmacy, House - Elice >> .
Harvest - Elice >> .
Edible, Medicinal, Useful Plants - Elice >> .

Clothes rationing & flour sacks
https://youtu.be/LyGdRw6vK8Q?t=43m6s
continue, beauty products: https://youtu.be/LyGdRw6vK8Q?t=48m22s
Resource War ..


Wartime food & rationing

The Ministry of Food: Food Rationing in World War Two
http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/military-history/world-war-two/art76114

wartime videos on cooking and frugal living
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__XXJ_FHPww&list=PLnk8vXVlDJUiP0WygyIh6BMf-w5vYvm2M

playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLolzHiCNNbO-8Aw3KJ8x20ycSXIu_pZZA

A Family in Wartime: Rationing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDfID-vGxkE

WW2 Food
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuYyasab1Qg

Make Do & Mend
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4RpJcVs1VI

2 Cooks & 1 Cabbage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2evv45stEHw

Ministry of Food Info
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD3FFF82AEF2400AC

Tea-making tips (1941)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnvYymrCn4g

DIG FOR VICTORY

WW2 Food
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuYyasab1Qg

Homefront
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBGdSNi6Flc

Wartime Recipes 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRCtNXIBBpU

SUPERSIZERS WWII PLAYLIST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOE0VP0EZ0M&list=PLc8fLbug07X31kIQm3XfBfEd-Fqms2irB

Dining Room
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltDxY_7TMQw

Kitchen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPVvta-tHC8

Food Rationing & Nutrition - US
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRQH59_xdgs

Ration Coupons - US
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60qOtTaz6VQ

Original Victory Garden - US
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31hB5d__UT4


Victory gardens ww1 ww2 - US
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkPVInuJZII

Post-war meat rationing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6U1XWvdBXU

1948 - The Horsemeat Scandal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gaZdHLB5tY


2 Cooks & 1 Cabbage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2evv45stEHw

Ministry of Food Info
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD3FFF82AEF2400AC

Tea-making tips (1941)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnvYymrCn4g

DIG FOR VICTORY

WW2 Food
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuYyasab1Qg

Homefront
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBGdSNi6Flc

Wartime Recipes 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRCtNXIBBpU

SUPERSIZERS WWII PLAYLIST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOE0VP0EZ0M&list=PLc8fLbug07X31kIQm3XfBfEd-Fqms2irB

Dining Room
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltDxY_7TMQw

Kitchen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPVvta-tHC8

Food Rationing & Nutrition - US
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRQH59_xdgs

Ration Coupons - US
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60qOtTaz6VQ

Original Victory Garden - US
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31hB5d__UT4

Victory gardens ww1 ww2 - US
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkPVInuJZII

sī vīs pācem, parā bellum

igitur quī dēsīderat pācem praeparet bellum    therefore, he who desires peace, let him prepare for war sī vīs pācem, parā bellum if you wan...