0:00:03 > 0:00:05The great British countryside -
0:00:05 > 0:00:09setting for one of the most pivotal battles of the Second World War.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13Churchill called it the "front line of freedom".
0:00:17 > 0:00:20And it was fought by the farmers of Britain.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24It was the battle to feed a nation.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30Over the course of a year, archaeologists Alex Langlands
0:00:30 > 0:00:35and Peter Ginn, and historian Ruth Goodman, worked Manor Farm in Hampshire
0:00:35 > 0:00:38as it would have been during the Second World War.
0:00:41 > 0:00:48Now, Ruth and Peter are returning to Manor Farm to recreate the conditions of Christmas 1944,
0:00:48 > 0:00:49the sixth of the war.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51A bit of fun at Christmas.
0:00:51 > 0:00:57This time, they're without Alex so they'll have their work cut out.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01With shortages biting deeper than ever, the southeast of England
0:01:01 > 0:01:05was in the grip of the worst bombing campaign since the Blitz of 1940.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12Ruth and Peter are about to discover how the countryside came to the aid of people
0:01:12 > 0:01:15living in cities in their hour of need.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19They provided food...
0:01:19 > 0:01:23Real country Christmas for the townspeople this, isn't it?
0:01:23 > 0:01:25..drink...
0:01:25 > 0:01:29We've got a magical Christmas brew.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31..and gifts to lift the spirits.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34Happy Christmas!
0:01:34 > 0:01:38This is the untold story of the Wartime Farm at Christmas.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58In 1939, at the outbreak of war, the government set farmers
0:01:58 > 0:02:03strict targets to double home-grown food production by 1944.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07They grew an additional 6.5 million acres of crops,
0:02:07 > 0:02:10an area the size of Wales.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14But by December 1944, farmers faced a new challenge.
0:02:15 > 0:02:21Five years of fighting had devastated farmland and transport across Europe.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23Food was becoming scarce.
0:02:26 > 0:02:32The government demanded an extra 700,000 acres of pasture to be ploughed up.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39Farmers were fighting a battle to grow crops on unsuitable land
0:02:39 > 0:02:42that was prone to flooding.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Hedging and ditching are really winter jobs,
0:02:46 > 0:02:50especially round here where we have such trouble with drainage.
0:02:50 > 0:02:55Keeping the ditches open and clear is vital to the productivity of the land.
0:02:57 > 0:03:03There's a whole network of ditches here round all the fields to carry the water.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06The plan is to make all this water drain out into the river faster,
0:03:06 > 0:03:08rather than sitting on the land.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15In wartime Britain, there were no machines you could really turn to for this.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19It still had to be done traditionally in the old hand way
0:03:19 > 0:03:23with people and spades and rakes and billhooks.
0:03:23 > 0:03:29MUSIC: "O Holy Night", Instrumental
0:03:29 > 0:03:33You can start to see the water flowing already.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35It just proves how blocked up this ditch was.
0:03:37 > 0:03:43Undertaking hard, physical work on a rationed, wartime diet was particularly challenging.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46Pies!
0:03:46 > 0:03:50I've got your pies. Come and get them. Well deserved!
0:03:50 > 0:03:53So, the Ministry of Food set up the Rural Pie Scheme
0:03:53 > 0:03:58to fill the stomachs of hard-working farm labourers.
0:03:58 > 0:03:59Dig in!
0:03:59 > 0:04:00Pies, pies, pies!
0:04:00 > 0:04:04Professor Karen Sayer has researched how the scheme worked.
0:04:04 > 0:04:10By 1944, it was distributing over one million pies a week.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13Can you imagine the logistical effort involved there?!
0:04:13 > 0:04:16It runs from 1941 through beyond the war.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18So, they're keeping people going.
0:04:18 > 0:04:24This was all part of the attempt to provide more calories for those involved in heavy, physical labour.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26Absolutely. Literally feed them.
0:04:26 > 0:04:27Take pies.
0:04:27 > 0:04:32And it really did mean that women in uniform turned up in fields carrying trays of pies.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34It really did, yes. Exactly.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37I just love it. It's so British, isn't it? Hey, we haven't got enough food.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41Well, I know what we'll do. We'll have a national pie scheme!
0:04:42 > 0:04:45The pies were distributed by one of the most important
0:04:45 > 0:04:50organisations of the Second World War, the Women's Voluntary Service.
0:04:52 > 0:04:57Founded in 1938 by Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading,
0:04:57 > 0:05:01at its peak, the WVS had over a million members.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04Often older, middle-class ladies,
0:05:04 > 0:05:08they did whatever they could to support the war effort.
0:05:08 > 0:05:13Christmas 1944 saw them called into action in cities,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16helping families who had lost everything in the bombing.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20They fed them, found them accommodation, clothing,
0:05:20 > 0:05:22and even toys for children.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29So by '44, the women in the voluntary services in the cities
0:05:29 > 0:05:31are stretched to the absolute maximum.
0:05:31 > 0:05:37They are getting really punch drunk and they are having to call on women in the countryside,
0:05:37 > 0:05:39through the WVS, to come in and help them.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43So, someone like me, who'd spent the rest of the war in the countryside,
0:05:43 > 0:05:46might not be particularly comfortable in town, maybe,
0:05:46 > 0:05:51suddenly finds themselves helping people who have been struggling on for years side by side.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Having had this movement of townspeople into the countryside,
0:05:55 > 0:06:00there is a beginning of a movement of country people moving back into the towns to give help.
0:06:00 > 0:06:06To offer real practical help for people who, by this point, are in considerable distress,
0:06:06 > 0:06:09who are absolutely worn down now, at their wits' end.
0:06:09 > 0:06:15They deal with everything and they just tried to make everybody's life a little bit better.
0:06:18 > 0:06:24In 1944, London was under threat from terrifying new Nazi weapons,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27the V bombs.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30First came the V-1s, known as doodlebugs.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34Unmanned flying bombs, difficult to detect by radar.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38When they reached their target, the engine cut,
0:06:38 > 0:06:40putting the bomb into a deadly dive.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47At their peak, more than 100 doodlebugs a day were hitting London
0:06:47 > 0:06:50causing almost 23,000 casualties.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Christine Wight lived in London as a small child
0:07:00 > 0:07:04and remembers the devastation they caused.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12The doodlebugs - I hated that sound. You could see them.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16I remember watching one once and just watching this thing going over
0:07:16 > 0:07:18and suddenly it stopped.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23My mum, I was out on the street, and she came haring out,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26dragged me in, "Get in here!"
0:07:27 > 0:07:29At one point, my school was bombed,
0:07:29 > 0:07:34but luckily they got all the children into the shelters and things like that.
0:07:35 > 0:07:41In September 1944, the Nazis unleashed a new, even more terrifying weapon -
0:07:41 > 0:07:44the V-2 rocket.
0:07:45 > 0:07:50At least 500 hit London, killing some 9,000 civilians.
0:07:50 > 0:07:55Travelling at over 3,000mph, they seemingly appeared from nowhere,
0:07:55 > 0:07:58bringing terror and loss of life wherever they fell.
0:08:02 > 0:08:07Many also had to cope with the loss of family and friends on the battlefield.
0:08:09 > 0:08:15By Christmas 1944, hundreds of thousands of British servicemen and women had been killed.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22For Christine, this was to be the first Christmas without her father.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26He had been killed six months earlier during the D-Day landings.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30I presume your mother heard fairly quickly?
0:08:30 > 0:08:36Yes. I mean, it's odd because I remember she was running down the road with this paper in her hand
0:08:36 > 0:08:38and I'm thinking, "What's going on?"
0:08:38 > 0:08:41She was obviously very upset. It must have been a telegram, I presume,
0:08:41 > 0:08:45but they didn't tell children that someone had died in those days.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48You'd just suddenly wonder, "Why isn't Daddy around?
0:08:48 > 0:08:50"Why is he not home?"
0:08:52 > 0:08:56Christine still treasures the letters her father sent to her before he died.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02A crumb of comfort as the bombs rained down and Christmas approached.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06- These are from your father? - Yes, these are from my dad.- Oh!
0:09:06 > 0:09:09And he's saying things like, "Look after Mummy for me."
0:09:09 > 0:09:12"Hope you learn all your ABC by the time I come home."
0:09:12 > 0:09:13Yes.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16"Tell Mummy, I love you both." Oh!
0:09:16 > 0:09:20- Yeah.- "Loads of love, Daddy." - Yeah.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22Christmas '44 must have been a pretty grim Christmas for you.
0:09:22 > 0:09:28Well, I can't remember it so it must have been very much a non-event.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33To protect people from bombing,
0:09:33 > 0:09:39in 1939 the government issued over 1.5 million domestic air raid shelters.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43Although they offered some protection, their shortcomings were quickly exposed.
0:09:46 > 0:09:51Lots of people during the war, after that initial enthusiasm for Anderson Shelters,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54found them less than ideal.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57For a start, they tended to flood.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01Any heavy rain and you could find yourself more than ankle deep in water.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06And then there was the problem of how secure they were.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10There were awful stories of people who were buried alive inside
0:10:10 > 0:10:13and that put a lot of people off using them.
0:10:13 > 0:10:19So, increasingly, they became rather abandoned and, like me, people started using them
0:10:19 > 0:10:21for storage more than anything else.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27By Christmas 1944, many had been abandoned.
0:10:29 > 0:10:35London, by far the most populated city in Britain, took the brunt of the attacks.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38So people there sought out deeper, communal air raid shelters
0:10:38 > 0:10:42where they decamped, sometimes for weeks on end.
0:10:44 > 0:10:49It fell to organisations like the Women's Institute, Red Cross, Salvation Army
0:10:49 > 0:10:54and Women's Voluntary Service to provide relief, especially at Christmas.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02I was talking to Karen about the WVS and they talked so much
0:11:02 > 0:11:08about what that group and other groups were doing for people in emergency situations
0:11:08 > 0:11:11and I was wondering if we ought to do our bit.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Well, definitely. In the countryside you have got access to ingredients.
0:11:15 > 0:11:21We may not have many of the traditional Christmas ingredients, but we do have plenty of food.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24It's good food, it's fresh. Food that's going to lift people's spirits.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28This is the one day of the year when everyone wants to forget there's a war on.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30Just celebrate life.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33We ought to do something for the children though, really.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Yes, a form of distraction, toys or something. Or games.
0:11:36 > 0:11:41There wouldn't have been much in 1944 to buy a child. You'd have to have made it.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45This is it. You don't buy Christmas, you make Christmas. It isn't about what you buy in shops.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49Christmas is about the people you gather around you and what you do with your time.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51Yeah. Well, that is the truth isn't it?
0:11:51 > 0:11:53Everything else...can go.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02Until now, it had been the role of the countryside to grow food for the nation
0:12:02 > 0:12:05and to take in evacuees from the cities.
0:12:07 > 0:12:13By 1944, with many London streets reduced to rubble and services at breaking point,
0:12:13 > 0:12:18the country people headed for the city to help.
0:12:20 > 0:12:26The government recognised that one thing in particular was vital to keeping up British morale.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28Beer.
0:12:30 > 0:12:35They instructed it should never be rationed and during the war production rose by a third.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40Churchill demanded all front line troops should receive four pints a week.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47And women factory workers were encouraged to drink beer for the first time,
0:12:47 > 0:12:51becoming known as the pint-pot girls.
0:12:53 > 0:12:59The main ingredient of beer is malting barley and, before the war, nearly 40% was grown abroad.
0:13:02 > 0:13:07The war cut off imports so brewers were forced to water down their beer to meet demand.
0:13:09 > 0:13:16By 1944, shortages became so acute that the Ministry of Food urged brewers to experiment
0:13:16 > 0:13:18with alternative ingredients.
0:13:23 > 0:13:28Peter's going to make his own beer - a morale booster for those forced to spend Christmas underground.
0:13:28 > 0:13:33He's calling on expert in rural crafts, Colin Richards, for help.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38You can see it's dark and damp, nobody knows where they are.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43During the war, it was imperative that nothing went to waste,
0:13:43 > 0:13:47so when the Ministry of Food got wind of a surplus of potatoes,
0:13:47 > 0:13:50they suggested they should be used to make beer.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54Colin's surplus is stored in a tunnel.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58Was it common to keep potatoes underground in the war?
0:13:58 > 0:14:03Well, the Ministry of Supply requisitioned a lot of underground workings
0:14:03 > 0:14:08for the storage of sort of military goods, particularly ammunition, torpedoes etc,
0:14:08 > 0:14:14but for farms and farmers in rural areas that had old mine workings,
0:14:14 > 0:14:18it was an opportunity to keep things safe, and not just for themselves,
0:14:18 > 0:14:24but for other villagers and for whole communities so that, if there was an incident,
0:14:24 > 0:14:31you know, if there were bombs or if there were the smashing of services - sewers, water -
0:14:31 > 0:14:34then the food wouldn't be lost.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39The first stage in making the beer is to crush the potatoes,
0:14:39 > 0:14:42a job that calls for a bit of improvisation.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46And Colin's coal-powered ambulance.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56Henry and I have been given our instructions by Colin.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00Potato beer. Sounds a bit strange. Apparently it makes you fart.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05We've been told to wash the potatoes, which we've done,
0:15:05 > 0:15:09bag the potatoes in small sacks, which we've done,
0:15:09 > 0:15:14and lay the potatoes out on this metal track,
0:15:14 > 0:15:15which we're doing.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19Because basically, these potatoes have to be somehow broken up
0:15:19 > 0:15:20so we can release the starches
0:15:20 > 0:15:25and sugars to make our wort which forms the basis for our beer.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28And Colin has got an idea along those lines.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44That's exactly what we want, really, isn't it?
0:15:44 > 0:15:46Absolutely perfect.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49We've crushed it enough to expose the inner surface of the potato,
0:15:49 > 0:15:54but not so much that it's just going to turn into one big stodgy mass.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58Rationing and shortages made celebrating Christmas a challenge.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06Despite this, the Women's Voluntary Service tried to make it
0:16:06 > 0:16:09as normal as possible for displaced families.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16Magazines published ideas on creating make-do-and-mend decorations.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21I'm making lanterns from any bit of coloured paper.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24I've got a bit of old wallpaper I found out the back.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28Karen's getting tips from the 1944 land girls' newsletter
0:16:28 > 0:16:31on using the papery covering around the fruit
0:16:31 > 0:16:35of the physalis plant, commonly known as Chinese lanterns.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39During the war, they were a garden favourite.
0:16:41 > 0:16:46The letter to the editor says, "I would like to suggest the use of Chinese lanterns..." -
0:16:46 > 0:16:50which are these - "..for Christmas decorations.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52"Strip the lantern from the stalk of the plant
0:16:52 > 0:16:55"and thread cotton through the stalks of the lanterns.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58"They look very nice hung around pictures or make a bright splash
0:16:58 > 0:17:02"of colour strung across a room, as paper chains used to be strung."
0:17:02 > 0:17:05And in fact, they're absolutely right - it's making the most
0:17:05 > 0:17:09beautiful Christmas decoration. Look at this - that is going
0:17:09 > 0:17:13to be gorgeous, and it is very colourful.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15But you can imagine in families which have been bombed out,
0:17:15 > 0:17:18that have been...they've suffered all sorts of trauma -
0:17:18 > 0:17:22if they could have salvaged something like this, which is
0:17:22 > 0:17:25part of the family, it would help them to remember that,
0:17:25 > 0:17:27and it would help them
0:17:27 > 0:17:30to remember lost family members that are no longer with them.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34So I think it's something that becomes very powerful, actually.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40Christmas trees were scarce, as wood was taken by the war effort.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46Tight controls on the use of paper meant decorations were
0:17:46 > 0:17:49reused year after year,
0:17:49 > 0:17:52and with the fall of the Far Eastern rubber plantations
0:17:52 > 0:17:54to the Japanese, balloons were scarce.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59But the enemy, inadvertently,
0:17:59 > 0:18:03dropped an ideal Christmas decoration from the sky -
0:18:03 > 0:18:06strips of metal foil called chaff.
0:18:07 > 0:18:12Well, this was dropped by enemy planes to confuse the radar,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15to make it look like a huge force was coming over.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19So a single German plane would come over and chuck this stuff out.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24We, looking at our radar screens, would think, "Oh, my goodness! There's a huge squadron coming!"
0:18:24 > 0:18:28We'd scramble everybody, they'd all go up in the air and there'd be nothing.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31Yes, and pick this up from the fields - one in the eye for the Germans.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34I'm now going to turn this into a Christmas decoration.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38You think this is a force for evil? It's not - it's a Christmas decoration!
0:18:38 > 0:18:41So I suppose these things are just to cheer people up, really.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45A bit of fun at Christmas, something a bit different.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49Some sort of feeling of a special day.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52You can't do it by buying loads of stuff,
0:18:52 > 0:18:54you can't do it by giant expensive presents,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57you can't do it by over-indulging in posh food.
0:18:57 > 0:19:02- You've got to do it somehow, haven't you? - Using any resource you have to hand.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06In the spirit of wartime improvisation, Colin, too, is using
0:19:06 > 0:19:10any resources he has to hand to build a makeshift Christmas brewery.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19Right. This is our sort of mash tun, I suppose.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21We are going to pop the potatoes in here,
0:19:21 > 0:19:24pop some water in here, and it will gently heat but it won't boil.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28That will hopefully bring out the starches and the sugars.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30Stick some water in the bottom first.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33This sugar-starch solution, known as wort,
0:19:33 > 0:19:35will form the basis of the beer.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40Time for the tatties.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42Oh, they're nicely crushed.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44I've got confidence, Colin, how about you?
0:19:44 > 0:19:50I think so, because, you know, everything you need to make beer,
0:19:50 > 0:19:52we've got here. We've got the heat,
0:19:52 > 0:19:54we've got the potatoes,
0:19:54 > 0:19:57so everything else is down to nature, really.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00I like the fact you class potatoes as something you need to make beer,
0:20:00 > 0:20:05and I suppose in 1943 with shortages, and 1944, it kind of was.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08Keeping morale up and particularly at Christmas,
0:20:08 > 0:20:10you know, it was very important.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13- There's a lot on our shoulders, isn't there? - There will be if you drop that!
0:20:13 > 0:20:17Right, I suppose we just need to fill this up with water now.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21It wasn't just ingredients for the beer that were in short supply.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23Containers to put the beer in
0:20:23 > 0:20:26were becoming increasingly scarce by 1944.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30I've just been hunting round the farm for a container
0:20:30 > 0:20:33to put our beer in, and the obvious choice is a barrel,
0:20:33 > 0:20:36and they are beautiful pieces of craftsmanship, and they are built to last,
0:20:36 > 0:20:40but sadly, because it's an organic material...they don't.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46And that's...that's dry rot.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49This is pretty much useless.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53I mean, back in the day, we could have just fixed this,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56but during the war we can't get hold of this oak,
0:20:56 > 0:21:00because although we've got oak in Britain, it's the wrong type of oak.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03I know it sounds absurd, but it's all knotty and gnarly,
0:21:03 > 0:21:07and it's tough to work, and this stuff was coming from the Baltics,
0:21:07 > 0:21:09but that is completely cut off,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12so we're going to have to be slightly inventive
0:21:12 > 0:21:16about where we get a container for our beer,
0:21:16 > 0:21:19and it is quite critical, because beer...
0:21:19 > 0:21:22it will condition in its container.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25Wartime brewers turned to an ancient alternative...
0:21:26 > 0:21:31..using a raw material Britain still had in abundance - clay.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39Peter's calling on the services of potter Mike Fletcher
0:21:39 > 0:21:41to make some wartime beer flagons.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46So I suppose during the war, pottery wasn't a reserved occupation,
0:21:46 > 0:21:50so all those young potters that had been training up, they've gone off.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54- So I suppose the old boys are left... - And left people like myself...
0:21:54 > 0:21:58who are too old to fight, but still can pot-throw,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02are left behind, so we were extremely busy.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06OK, the next stage, Peter, is we open the clay out.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17And then, I can then start squeezing from the bottom...
0:22:19 > 0:22:21..and then you start pulling the clay up.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26This flagon will hold a gallon,
0:22:26 > 0:22:29but during the war even bigger stoneware containers were made
0:22:29 > 0:22:31to hold nine gallons -
0:22:31 > 0:22:35so big, they had to be reinforced with iron rings.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37You make it look so easy.
0:22:39 > 0:22:44Then just make the neck - like so.
0:22:46 > 0:22:51In 1944, the V weapons destroyed thousands of homes in London,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54leaving many children not just homeless,
0:22:54 > 0:22:55but without any possessions.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59Many had never known a peacetime Christmas.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05The Women's Voluntary Service recognised the importance
0:23:05 > 0:23:08of toys in distracting children from the horror that surrounded them
0:23:08 > 0:23:12and began a drive for makeshift Christmas presents.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20Second World War expert Biff Raven-Hill has come to help Ruth
0:23:20 > 0:23:23turn household waste into doll's house furniture.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26It's all just rubbish, really. The sort of things that
0:23:26 > 0:23:30most people would throw out in a modern world,
0:23:30 > 0:23:35just sort of finding a new life and a use, tiny little bits and bobs.
0:23:35 > 0:23:40Making toys from junk had been a popular pastime before the war
0:23:40 > 0:23:43and this 1930s book, Practical Suggestions In Toymaking,
0:23:43 > 0:23:45is full of ideas for children.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49But now, in wartime, it became a necessity.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53I mean, nowadays there is a doll's house industry
0:23:53 > 0:23:56and people can buy ready-made bits and bobs,
0:23:56 > 0:24:00but dolls' houses were really do-it-yourself during the war.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04Now I found this - this is Christmas 1943,
0:24:04 > 0:24:07and of course there were lots of articles in here.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09I mean, it looks so modern, doesn't it?
0:24:09 > 0:24:13It's wonderful. "Let the doll's house go modern." I love it.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15And it's basically made of wire and bits of canvas,
0:24:15 > 0:24:17and it's just bent round.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20Yeah! "Just a few yards of flexible wire,
0:24:20 > 0:24:23"a bit of gummed paper tape - the sort pasted on to windows
0:24:23 > 0:24:26"during the Blitz, and a fragment of material from the piece box can be
0:24:26 > 0:24:30"converted into an enchanting set of furniture for the dolls."
0:24:30 > 0:24:33And of course, during the war, all resources were so precious
0:24:33 > 0:24:38and every single bit of everything was saved and scavenged,
0:24:38 > 0:24:42and because things like these cigarette packets, so many people
0:24:42 > 0:24:45smoked that there would have been tons of these around, and the same
0:24:45 > 0:24:49with matchboxes, of course. That's all been made out of matchboxes.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51And then cigarette cards, I noticed as well,
0:24:51 > 0:24:53which everyone used to collect at the time.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56Well, these make super pictures for a bedroom wall
0:24:56 > 0:24:59or a sitting room wall, because again you can add matchsticks.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02Yes, they're about the right scale to make little frames.
0:25:02 > 0:25:08- You're making a little bedspread, aren't you?- Yes, I am, and I've made a pillow.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11- It's a gingham kind of doll's house. - It is a bit, yes.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14And then your coverlet on the top.
0:25:17 > 0:25:18Look! A little bed.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21THEY LAUGH
0:25:21 > 0:25:23Here's the truth, let's go for it.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25The beer flagon has dried.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28Now it must be glazed to make it watertight.
0:25:31 > 0:25:32And out.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35And there it is, glazed.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37What exactly is a glaze?
0:25:37 > 0:25:40A glaze is glass. It's sealing the pot.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42So there's tiny, tiny particles of glass in here?
0:25:42 > 0:25:43Really, at the end of the day, yes,
0:25:43 > 0:25:45because it's the same recipe as glass.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51The neck is also glazed, traditionally a darker shade.
0:25:51 > 0:25:57We've added red iron oxide at 2% and 2% manganese oxide,
0:25:57 > 0:26:01and that will give it that lovely honey colour.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04Take it like that. It's heavier than you think.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08Nice and level, so look at the top,
0:26:08 > 0:26:11and you want to go about an inch past the shoulder.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14- Here we go.- Go on - down, down.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17- That's about an inch. - Down, and then up.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20Fantastic. One glazed pot!
0:26:23 > 0:26:27The pot must be fired at 1,300 degrees Celsius,
0:26:27 > 0:26:30so Colin is rigging up a makeshift kiln.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32Here we are, Colin.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34- Wow.- What do you think?
0:26:34 > 0:26:37- You made that. - I'd like to say I did, but I didn't!
0:26:38 > 0:26:42To reach this temperature, they're using a highly combustible fuel,
0:26:42 > 0:26:46brought to Britain during the Second World War by American troops -
0:26:46 > 0:26:47propane.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53Propane gas, such as this, was discovered in 1910.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57It is a by-product of the refining process of making petrol,
0:26:57 > 0:27:00and it was very, very big in America.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04It was essentially introduced to the UK when the troops came across,
0:27:04 > 0:27:08because we basically had town gas that was produced by coal.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11After the Second World War, propane gas had its golden age.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15It became a major fuel source, not only in America,
0:27:15 > 0:27:17but also in this country as well.
0:27:20 > 0:27:25- Anyway, we should get a lid on this. - Yes. Well, it's not just a lid.
0:27:26 > 0:27:32You've wanted to get as much benefit out of this gas that's going in,
0:27:32 > 0:27:36so I though what we could do is actually create another chamber
0:27:36 > 0:27:41where we could put resinous pine, and try and extract some pitch
0:27:41 > 0:27:42and oil out of the pine.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49During the war, fuel was precious and wasn't to be wasted, so in true
0:27:49 > 0:27:54wartime spirit, Colin is also using the kiln's heat to make pine oil.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01When pinewood is heated to around 300 degrees Celsius, oil is released
0:28:01 > 0:28:05and can be used as a lubricant or to protect wood and metal
0:28:05 > 0:28:10from corrosion - a great resource to have around a wartime farm.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14In the areas where there were a lot of pine forests,
0:28:14 > 0:28:17you would do this on a colossal scale, really.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23With the pine oil and the pot cooking away,
0:28:23 > 0:28:25the beer is flavoured with hops,
0:28:25 > 0:28:28and the fermenting of sugar in the potatoes into alcohol
0:28:28 > 0:28:29is begun with yeast.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37Producing beer and gifts would go a long way to bring Christmas cheer
0:28:37 > 0:28:40to those under attack in cities.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43But people also looked for comfort and hope from another,
0:28:43 > 0:28:45more spiritual, source.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50# While shepherds watched their flocks... #
0:28:50 > 0:28:54Places of worship had a vital role to play, especially at Christmas.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01St Bartholomew's Church is where workers at Manor Farm
0:29:01 > 0:29:02have prayed for centuries.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08This is the sixth Christmas of the war and much has changed
0:29:08 > 0:29:10since peacetime.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12Many of our loved ones are still far from home
0:29:12 > 0:29:16and will again not be joining us this Christmas.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20The danger of invasion has now passed,
0:29:20 > 0:29:24and with quiet confidence, we can see the end in sight.
0:29:24 > 0:29:28Before the war, religion had been declining in popularity,
0:29:28 > 0:29:32but by Christmas 1944, there had been a marked change.
0:29:32 > 0:29:37# Hark! The herald angels sing
0:29:37 > 0:29:42# Glory to the newborn king... #
0:29:42 > 0:29:45The church had quite a special place in wartime Britain.
0:29:45 > 0:29:50For many people, it was a source of great comfort and strength.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54But then there were other people who found that the war turned
0:29:54 > 0:29:58them right off religion, and you noticed that the numbers of people
0:29:58 > 0:30:02going to church begin to fall very rapidly after the Second World War.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06It was a time when people went one way or the other,
0:30:06 > 0:30:10a sort of polarisation when some turned to the church
0:30:10 > 0:30:14with more fervour, perhaps, than they'd had before, and others turned away.
0:30:14 > 0:30:21# ..angels sing Glory to the newborn king. #
0:30:21 > 0:30:25The government was looking to the Church for a binding
0:30:25 > 0:30:29together of the community, of all people, and this was happening
0:30:29 > 0:30:34right across the whole of the Western world.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37Stalin - amazingly, in Russia, having banned religion -
0:30:37 > 0:30:40actually re-encouraged Christianity during the war,
0:30:40 > 0:30:43hoping for this effect amongst the Russian population,
0:30:43 > 0:30:46before once again banning religion afterwards.
0:30:46 > 0:30:51And our government thought that the Church could offer something
0:30:51 > 0:30:53that bound the British people together.
0:30:53 > 0:30:58# Pleased as man with man to dwell
0:30:58 > 0:31:03# Jesus, our Emmanuel
0:31:03 > 0:31:08# Hark! The herald angels sing
0:31:08 > 0:31:12# Glory to the newborn king. #
0:31:14 > 0:31:18It wasn't just the British people the church bound together.
0:31:18 > 0:31:23By Christmas 1944, one in five farm workers were German
0:31:23 > 0:31:27or Italian prisoners of war, as Godfrey Wight recalls.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30He became friends with two Germans stationed nearby.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33Do you remember prisoners of war?
0:31:33 > 0:31:38Oh, yes. I knew two by name.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42Frank Schoen, who's died now, but Georg Kabur is still alive.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45They both married ladies from the area.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48Some were accepted by the local church...
0:31:48 > 0:31:52and there are accounts of them singing carols to the congregation
0:31:52 > 0:31:53in German.
0:31:53 > 0:32:00# Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht
0:32:02 > 0:32:10# Alles schlaft, einsam wacht... #
0:32:10 > 0:32:13Do you know how they were regarded by the wider community?
0:32:13 > 0:32:16There was a little bit of... not quite...
0:32:16 > 0:32:18everything didn't go quite smoothly,
0:32:18 > 0:32:21but the ones that I knew were very good.
0:32:21 > 0:32:23We got on very well with them.
0:32:23 > 0:32:28# ..im lockigen Haar, schlafe in... #
0:32:28 > 0:32:32I suppose it's very easy to always think of the Germans as Nazis, but...
0:32:32 > 0:32:36Oh, yes, Frank Schoen, he was in the Waffen SS,
0:32:36 > 0:32:37he was in the Hitler Youth,
0:32:37 > 0:32:42and was forced into it, if you like, rather than volunteer.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44- So it was sort of... - You had to.- Yeah.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49Both Frank, and as I say, Georg Kabur,
0:32:49 > 0:32:53both involved themselves with the church at Botley.
0:32:53 > 0:32:57- So the church was very much a centre of the community. - Very much a centre of the community.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00Especially at a time like this at Christmas.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03When you can put your differences aside.
0:33:03 > 0:33:05MUSIC: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
0:33:13 > 0:33:17After six hours of brewing, Peter's come to see how the potato beer
0:33:17 > 0:33:18is coming along.
0:33:31 > 0:33:35- Shall we give it a go?- Right. - It almost looks like beer.
0:33:38 > 0:33:39Yes, smells good.
0:33:39 > 0:33:40It does, doesn't it?
0:33:43 > 0:33:44COUGHING
0:33:44 > 0:33:48It's very hoppy, and it's quite sweet and very hot.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54Actually, it's very nice!
0:33:54 > 0:33:56- It's lovely.- It is!
0:33:56 > 0:34:01- I'd certainly welcome this type of beer.- Yeah.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04So our little clay pot for our beer is cooking away in the kiln.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06The oil is coming out.
0:34:06 > 0:34:11And it almost tastes like we've got a magical Christmas brew.
0:34:11 > 0:34:12It certainly does.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27Working for the war effort came in addition to the day-to-day duties
0:34:27 > 0:34:29of running the farm
0:34:29 > 0:34:33365 days a year - even Christmas Day.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37Let's wash your udders off first.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41Just make sure she's reasonably clean so nothing gets into the milk.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45But unlike those living in cities,
0:34:45 > 0:34:49country people didn't have to survive purely on rations.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54Our cows really represent one of the major differences between life
0:34:54 > 0:34:58and food, particularly, for country dwellers,
0:34:58 > 0:35:01to those who were living in the towns.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05All the milk officially from all our cows goes into the central
0:35:05 > 0:35:10rationing system, prioritising mothers and babies in particular.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14But as an incentive, farmers were allowed to take
0:35:14 > 0:35:18as much milk as they wanted from their cows for personal use.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22So there is no shortage of milk, butter and cream for us.
0:35:26 > 0:35:28Peter's also busy on the farm.
0:35:28 > 0:35:33Heating the pine wood on the kiln has extracted oil.
0:35:33 > 0:35:34- That's quite nice.- It is.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38He's using it to weatherproof farm tools.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43I can't believe we managed to get so much oil
0:35:43 > 0:35:47and such great oil out of so little wood.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50Fantastic.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54Ruth and Peter are going to leave the countryside and head to London
0:35:54 > 0:35:58to bring some Christmas cheer, as many farmers did in 1944.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04They've made improvised presents for children...
0:36:07 > 0:36:11..and created makeshift decorations to brighten up
0:36:11 > 0:36:15underground air raid shelters.
0:36:15 > 0:36:16The clay flagons are fired
0:36:16 > 0:36:19and filled with morale-boosting potato beer.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25Communal feeding was also important to keep spirits up,
0:36:25 > 0:36:29a job undertaken by the Women's Voluntary Service.
0:36:29 > 0:36:35In London, Ruth's going to help cook a WVS-style Christmas feast.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38By the sixth Christmas of the war,
0:36:38 > 0:36:41food rationing was more severe than ever.
0:36:41 > 0:36:46Traditional fare was not an option, so they had to find alternatives.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50Yet at times, there were huge surpluses of vegetables.
0:36:50 > 0:36:53This was thanks to the government's Dig For Victory campaign.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00Nothing went to waste in wartime, so Ruth's kept a surplus
0:37:00 > 0:37:03of carrots in the Anderson Shelter for Christmas.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06Boy, have I got a lot of carrots!
0:37:06 > 0:37:07SHE SIGHS
0:37:07 > 0:37:10At least we've got something for Christmas.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12- Go on!- Let me have that one.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18I think this beer is really going to boost morale.
0:37:18 > 0:37:19Colin's coal-powered ambulance
0:37:19 > 0:37:22is only capable of travelling short distances.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS
0:37:25 > 0:37:28So Ruth and Peter are taking the train to London.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34Unlike petrol, which was in short supply,
0:37:34 > 0:37:36coal was a fuel that Britain had in abundance.
0:37:51 > 0:37:53You all right with that?
0:37:55 > 0:37:56It's just a bit fragile.
0:37:58 > 0:38:03Before the war, the railways had employed over 500,000 men.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06But with 100,000 of them called up to fight,
0:38:06 > 0:38:08like so many other roles in wartime,
0:38:08 > 0:38:10their shoes were filled by women.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18They're really struggling with those couplings, aren't they?
0:38:20 > 0:38:23It's amazing, you get women doing absolutely everything on the railways,
0:38:23 > 0:38:25all the heavy work, except for driving trains.
0:38:25 > 0:38:29I mean, it's the only thing that they didn't draft women in for.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31It takes so long to train an engine driver
0:38:31 > 0:38:36that that remained with the male workers who had the experience.
0:38:36 > 0:38:38Women doing the shunting, women doing the portering,
0:38:38 > 0:38:41women in the booking lodge, women in the signal boxes.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43- Women losing fingers. - Women losing fingers.
0:38:49 > 0:38:53With rail travel the only viable option over long distances,
0:38:53 > 0:38:56by 1944, passenger numbers had doubled.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00Getting a seat was a luxury.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04Troops and war-related freight took priority,
0:39:04 > 0:39:08so journeys were often delayed and sometimes painfully slow.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26We are lucky to go on a train, aren't we?
0:39:26 > 0:39:29I mean, when you think of how much pressure the railways were under
0:39:29 > 0:39:33during this period of the war, they're moving all the munitions, all the troops around the place,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36you're trying to do such a large proportion of the freight to get it off the roads
0:39:36 > 0:39:38to keep the roads free.
0:39:38 > 0:39:43You get this HUGE pressure of running extra trains but they're also busily saying,
0:39:43 > 0:39:46"Is your journey necessary?" Is our journey necessary?
0:39:46 > 0:39:49Um...Yes, of course it's necessary.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52- Important war work, Ruth, you know. - War work(!)
0:39:56 > 0:39:59- I'm going to have a look in the GPO. You know, the mail.- Yeah.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01See you in a bit.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05During the war, the Royal Mail was entirely dependent
0:40:05 > 0:40:09on the railways to move post around the country.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12On top of the surge in passenger traffic,
0:40:12 > 0:40:17there were some 350 million items of post to move at Christmas.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19With families split apart by war,
0:40:19 > 0:40:22more Christmas cards than ever were sent.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS
0:40:24 > 0:40:27Ruth is meeting post office historian
0:40:27 > 0:40:29Cyril Parsons to see how it coped.
0:40:29 > 0:40:31- Hi, Cyril.- Hello.- I love this.
0:40:31 > 0:40:36This is such an iconic image, the travelling post office.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39I mean, did they keep running right throughout the war?
0:40:39 > 0:40:41The actual sorting of letters on the train
0:40:41 > 0:40:47ceased in the middle of 1940, and the reckoning is that
0:40:47 > 0:40:49the service was curtailed
0:40:49 > 0:40:53because the trains were disrupted by bombing and so forth,
0:40:53 > 0:40:56trains had to be re-routed and, of course, travelling post offices
0:40:56 > 0:41:01had previously ran to very strict timetables over strict routes
0:41:01 > 0:41:05but, of course, the trains were still vital for carrying the letters.
0:41:10 > 0:41:15But all the extra mail to and from those in the armed forces was bulky.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18So the Post Office came up with an ingenious solution.
0:41:18 > 0:41:19The airgraph.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25To save space, letters were miniaturised onto microfilm,
0:41:25 > 0:41:26flown to their destination,
0:41:26 > 0:41:29then blown up and printed at the other end.
0:41:31 > 0:41:35Quite early in the war, the Post Office came to photograph
0:41:35 > 0:41:39the letters written on standard forms and you could perhaps have
0:41:39 > 0:41:451,500 letters on one roll of film taking up far, far less space.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48- So you get something sort of that size?- That's right.
0:41:48 > 0:41:49In the aeroplane,
0:41:49 > 0:41:53- flying across arriving in a post office in Britain.- Yes.
0:41:53 > 0:41:57And somebody has to open the film and develop it and each frame
0:41:57 > 0:42:01then becomes a letter that goes through the standard mail.
0:42:01 > 0:42:02That's right.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04These are just incredible, aren't they?
0:42:05 > 0:42:08This is a really lovely one - "Dear Dad,
0:42:08 > 0:42:10"Just to wish you a happy Christmas
0:42:10 > 0:42:13"and may all your wishes for the New Year come true.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16"Your loving son, Eric." And at the bottom, "Here's hoping!"
0:42:17 > 0:42:20And this busy system creaking at the seams,
0:42:20 > 0:42:23how much more important at Christmas than at any other time,
0:42:23 > 0:42:26I mean, keeping these communication lines open
0:42:26 > 0:42:28must have been...
0:42:28 > 0:42:31well, just so emotionally important to people.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38The Lord Nelson locomotive, built in 1926,
0:42:38 > 0:42:40actually worked on these routes during the war.
0:42:40 > 0:42:43- Up you come.- Thank you.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47The task of running an overloaded and overstretched rail system
0:42:47 > 0:42:4924 hours a day, seven days a week
0:42:49 > 0:42:52was made even more difficult at night by the blackout.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58Fireman Bob Cartwright joined the railways 50 years ago
0:42:58 > 0:43:01and was trained by drivers who worked through the war.
0:43:05 > 0:43:10If you could imagine at night the glare from one of these engines
0:43:10 > 0:43:14was considerable and there was a danger of enemy aircraft seeing that
0:43:14 > 0:43:15so the whole cab was sheeted in.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18There would have been a sheet from the top of the cab
0:43:18 > 0:43:21back to those irons there.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24Anything to stop light showing through.
0:43:24 > 0:43:26So, you couldn't really see where you were going.
0:43:27 > 0:43:31Apart from the little bit of night vision that you had.
0:43:31 > 0:43:36And, of course, one of these engines ran into a bomb crater
0:43:36 > 0:43:40during the war. It just went straight in.
0:43:40 > 0:43:42But I suppose all that extra pressure during the war,
0:43:42 > 0:43:45all those extra journeys, must have had a toll.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48There was, but you shared the work.
0:43:48 > 0:43:50And there was a tremendous camaraderie.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53You would help one another out, you look after one another.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57It's a very old-fashioned system, one, unfortunately,
0:43:57 > 0:44:01which died a death with modern thinking and the modern world.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS
0:44:11 > 0:44:14Peter and Ruth are heading to Chislehurst,
0:44:14 > 0:44:17southeast of London, just ten miles from the city centre.
0:44:19 > 0:44:20Thank you.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25Oh, it's lovely and rainy again.
0:44:25 > 0:44:27Well, it's Christmas, isn't it?
0:44:27 > 0:44:29We're lucky it ain't snowing.
0:44:33 > 0:44:34100 feet below ground
0:44:34 > 0:44:38is one of London's largest wartime air raid shelters.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46Chislehurst Caves are made up of 22 miles of tunnels,
0:44:46 > 0:44:49dug by hand between the 13th and 19th centuries,
0:44:49 > 0:44:52to extract chalk and flint to build London.
0:44:55 > 0:44:58In 1944, the Women's Voluntary Service,
0:44:58 > 0:45:01along with the Red Cross and the Salvation Army,
0:45:01 > 0:45:03were here to offer food and support
0:45:03 > 0:45:05to those sheltering from V-2 rockets.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13Today, Jim Gardner owns the caves
0:45:13 > 0:45:15and his father was a warden here during the war.
0:45:15 > 0:45:19- Jim, you all right? Good to meet you. - Hello, Peter! How are you?
0:45:19 > 0:45:22- Very well, thank you. - Well, welcome to Chislehurst Caves.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24What was it like down here in Christmas 1944?
0:45:24 > 0:45:27Packed. It was probably at the height of its use -
0:45:27 > 0:45:30the V-2s were coming down like rain.
0:45:30 > 0:45:34There were 15,000 people down here, at the busiest times,
0:45:34 > 0:45:39from all over south London, north Kent,
0:45:39 > 0:45:41living down here, sheltering from the bombs.
0:45:41 > 0:45:43One or two bombs landed right above us
0:45:43 > 0:45:46and they didn't hear a thing down here.
0:45:47 > 0:45:5015,000 people living in the caves
0:45:50 > 0:45:54warmed the air temperature by ten degrees centigrade...
0:45:54 > 0:45:57and after the war it took a whole year to cool down again.
0:45:58 > 0:46:02The sign here says they were selling tickets, six pence a week,
0:46:02 > 0:46:03to shelter down here,
0:46:03 > 0:46:06and that covered the cost of the sanitary works that they had to do.
0:46:06 > 0:46:10Because if you can imagine several thousand people in a cave,
0:46:10 > 0:46:13come morning, there's a bit of stuff to move.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16And I suppose since you couldn't hear the bombs down here,
0:46:16 > 0:46:18you could actually get a silent night at Christmas.
0:46:18 > 0:46:24Yes, apart from 15,000 people breathing and sighing, and snoring!
0:46:24 > 0:46:26Yes, it was a very peaceful night.
0:46:27 > 0:46:31Cooking food in the caves would have burnt too much oxygen,
0:46:31 > 0:46:34so the Women's Voluntary Service prepared meals above ground.
0:46:38 > 0:46:42So the WVS actually initially just set up,
0:46:42 > 0:46:46sort of, tea wagons outside such places...
0:46:46 > 0:46:47- Geniuses!- Yeah!
0:46:47 > 0:46:50So the people can at least go and get a hot cup of tea!
0:46:50 > 0:46:52And then gradually that evolves into organising more food,
0:46:52 > 0:46:55and particularly at Christmas.
0:46:55 > 0:47:00With turkey scarce, stuffed rabbit was a wartime substitute.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03We've got loads of rabbit meat.
0:47:03 > 0:47:07It's going to be a country Christmas for the townspeople this, isn't it?
0:47:09 > 0:47:12We've got to do enough stuffing for eight bunnies.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15It's made out of parsley and celery,
0:47:15 > 0:47:18which is out of this cool little magazine.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23The Ministry of Food produced a booklet in 1944,
0:47:23 > 0:47:27to help cook a Christmas meal using non-rationed ingredients.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31They estimated that only one family in ten
0:47:31 > 0:47:34would get turkey or goose for their Christmas dinner
0:47:34 > 0:47:38but a stuffed, baked rabbit made a tasty alternative.
0:47:38 > 0:47:40It doesn't do any harm to have loads of stuffing though
0:47:40 > 0:47:43because those rabbits have got to go between everybody.
0:47:46 > 0:47:50Chances are that many of the people that we are feeding, being townies,
0:47:50 > 0:47:51are not used to eating rabbit,
0:47:51 > 0:47:55- whereas you know, country people always eat rabbit.- Yeah.
0:47:55 > 0:47:58And there was always a, sort of, social snobbishness
0:47:58 > 0:48:00about it as a meat before the war.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03- Rabbit was a meat of the poorer country sort...- Yeah.
0:48:03 > 0:48:05..and that other people didn't touch it.
0:48:05 > 0:48:07They were slightly snobby and sneered at it.
0:48:07 > 0:48:10- Of course, as the war goes on... - Suddenly, it's all they can afford.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13..it starts to look a lot more attractive!
0:48:13 > 0:48:16And you find that townspeople begin keeping rabbits for meat
0:48:16 > 0:48:18in their back yards.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21Whereas, originally, it had only been country people who did that.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23- Yeah.- You know, you, sort of, see it moving through society.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26Rabbit became really popular for a while.
0:48:26 > 0:48:27And it's a real shame, really,
0:48:27 > 0:48:30that since the war it's disappeared from the modern British diet
0:48:30 > 0:48:31because it is nice.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44Underground, in Chislehurst Caves,
0:48:44 > 0:48:48Peter's seeing how the 15,000 Londoners were accommodated,
0:48:48 > 0:48:50sometimes for weeks on end.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54So, did people live just wherever they wanted?
0:48:54 > 0:48:56Well, they were assigned an area.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58For instance, this is where it all started,
0:48:58 > 0:49:00you can see the number on the wall, "A1."
0:49:00 > 0:49:03They thought that A1 down to A29,
0:49:03 > 0:49:06three or four beds bunked underneath each number,
0:49:06 > 0:49:07that would probably be enough.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10But, from then on, it just grew and grew.
0:49:10 > 0:49:13They were into the X, Y and Zs in the end.
0:49:13 > 0:49:16So there is quite a lot of infrastructure down here?
0:49:16 > 0:49:18Oh, yes, by 1944 the government had spent the money,
0:49:18 > 0:49:20they had put in all mod cons...
0:49:21 > 0:49:23..and it became an underground town.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27And people lived down here for weeks, possibly months at a time.
0:49:32 > 0:49:36Their homes in London had been bombed out, they had nowhere to go,
0:49:36 > 0:49:40and this was warm, not particularly comfortable,
0:49:40 > 0:49:42but it was safe and everything was provided.
0:49:43 > 0:49:45There was an underground cinema...
0:49:45 > 0:49:46chapel...
0:49:46 > 0:49:48Citizens Advice Bureau...
0:49:48 > 0:49:49even a hospital.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58Set up as a full-time facility,
0:49:58 > 0:50:02- it had a doctor and two nurses on call every day.- Yeah.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04Did you get any births down here?
0:50:04 > 0:50:09One, that we know of, and they named her Cavena...
0:50:09 > 0:50:12to celebrate the fact she'd been born in a cave.
0:50:12 > 0:50:14Not something I think she overly appreciated in later life!
0:50:17 > 0:50:20By Christmas 1944, most of the ingredients needed
0:50:20 > 0:50:23to cook Christmas dinner were severely rationed.
0:50:24 > 0:50:28So Ruth's making a wartime version of candied orange -
0:50:28 > 0:50:30candied carrot.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34Candying carrots is really easy, like candying peel,
0:50:34 > 0:50:36you don't have to be that delicate with it.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39If you try and candy whole soft fruit
0:50:39 > 0:50:40it's a really long slow process...
0:50:40 > 0:50:42Yeah, you've got to be really careful with it.
0:50:42 > 0:50:44..and it can go wrong very easily
0:50:44 > 0:50:47but carrots and orange peel you can do in a day.
0:50:47 > 0:50:49So, you sort of need something
0:50:49 > 0:50:52that's got a little bit of structural integrity to it.
0:50:52 > 0:50:58- Yeah.- Then you boil them, very briefly, really, in a sugar syrup.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03The WVS actually got an additional sugar ration for this sort of work,
0:51:03 > 0:51:04which would have helped.
0:51:06 > 0:51:08Rationing called for culinary innovation.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10Some made their cooking fat go further
0:51:10 > 0:51:12by mixing paraffin with it,
0:51:12 > 0:51:17while ground dried beans mixed with almond essence replaced marzipan.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21It looks much more like orange peel, doesn't it?
0:51:21 > 0:51:22- Out of marmalade, now.- Mm.
0:51:24 > 0:51:26To bulk out the meagre rationed ingredients,
0:51:26 > 0:51:29Ruth's making the most of the carrot glut.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32There will be boiled carrots to accompany the rabbit,
0:51:32 > 0:51:35carrot soup, carrot cake...
0:51:35 > 0:51:38and carrot fudge made with grated carrot in gelatine.
0:51:39 > 0:51:41This is just such an odd recipe.
0:51:41 > 0:51:43I think it's another one of these wartime things
0:51:43 > 0:51:48in which they're trying to, sort of, mimic familiar foods, you know?
0:51:48 > 0:51:51You can't make fudge, you can't afford fudge
0:51:51 > 0:51:53cos it's made entirely of fat and sugar.
0:51:53 > 0:51:58So how do you make something that gives people a feeling of fudge,
0:51:58 > 0:52:01even though there's next to no fat and next to no sugar?
0:52:01 > 0:52:04Get a handful of grated carrots...
0:52:04 > 0:52:06and then that's my orange essence,
0:52:06 > 0:52:09another handful of grated carrot.
0:52:09 > 0:52:14So I just need to turn it into a basin or a tray and let it set.
0:52:31 > 0:52:33Christmas Day -
0:52:33 > 0:52:36traditionally a time of peace and goodwill to all mankind...
0:52:37 > 0:52:41..but in wartime, celebrating Christmas was an act of defiance
0:52:41 > 0:52:45in the face of death, bomb damage and constant shortages.
0:52:47 > 0:52:51In 1944, the population of Britain was more determined than ever
0:52:51 > 0:52:54to creative festive spirit against all odds.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00On Christmas Day itself the bombing stopped.
0:53:02 > 0:53:05The 15,000 people sheltering in Chislehurst Caves
0:53:05 > 0:53:06weren't to know this
0:53:06 > 0:53:09so it would be another day spent underground.
0:53:13 > 0:53:17The food prepared by the Women's Voluntary Service is ready
0:53:17 > 0:53:21and Ruth's joined by Peter, who's brought along his potato beer.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31Got to be very careful with this beer...
0:53:31 > 0:53:34it makes you very gassy and we are in caves so...
0:53:35 > 0:53:36Have a taste.
0:53:40 > 0:53:42It tastes all right, it just smells horrific.
0:53:42 > 0:53:44It smells more like cider, that's what it is.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47It smells more like really scrumpy cider.
0:53:49 > 0:53:53Food was recognised as vital to maintaining the health and morale
0:53:53 > 0:53:55of those in emergency situations.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00Once again, notice, here's the WVS making the most of things,
0:54:00 > 0:54:03jumping in when there's an emergency.
0:54:03 > 0:54:04- Yeah.- Extraordinary circumstances.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08- Would you like some rabbit? - Certainly would. Thank you very much.
0:54:08 > 0:54:10Keeping morale up in these sort of conditions
0:54:10 > 0:54:11is really important, isn't it?
0:54:11 > 0:54:14I mean, if you're going to ward off the cold and cope with the dark,
0:54:14 > 0:54:16you've got to have something
0:54:16 > 0:54:18that just gives you a gee up every now and again.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21But, I mean, you know, we've created a Christmas out of...
0:54:21 > 0:54:22Out of next to nothing.
0:54:22 > 0:54:24Well, also out of a surplus stock.
0:54:24 > 0:54:27So, surplus potatoes to make this beer,
0:54:27 > 0:54:30surplus carrots to make everything carroty.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33- Which is pretty much everything down here! - SHE LAUGHS
0:54:33 > 0:54:35It's a very carrot themed meal!
0:54:35 > 0:54:38You've got shredded carrot, you've got boiled carrot...
0:54:38 > 0:54:41Carrot cake, you can have carrot fudge.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44- Candied carrot?- Yes, please. - Help yourself, that's it.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47- Thank you, Merry Christmas. - Merry Christmas.
0:54:47 > 0:54:52You'd definitely like some beer. Tastes better than it smells!
0:54:52 > 0:54:56With so many sheltering underground, there was no communal eating area
0:54:56 > 0:54:58so people simply ate by their beds.
0:55:01 > 0:55:03Those who had lost everything to bombing
0:55:03 > 0:55:06also needed clothing and bedding...
0:55:06 > 0:55:09and again the WVS came to the rescue.
0:55:09 > 0:55:10I've got another blanket here for you.
0:55:10 > 0:55:12Can I just tuck it on the bed, at the back?
0:55:12 > 0:55:14You're going to need that later, aren't you?
0:55:14 > 0:55:15Right, stick the blindfold on.
0:55:15 > 0:55:19Even children's games took on a wartime theme.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22None more popular than Pin The Moustache On Hitler.
0:55:22 > 0:55:25Right, here you go, in your hand.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27- You good with that? You can feel the pin?- Yeah.
0:55:27 > 0:55:28You're going to stick that on Hitler
0:55:28 > 0:55:32- but first these guys are going to spin you around.- Oh, no!
0:55:32 > 0:55:37Historian Dr John Martin is an expert on wartime farming.
0:55:37 > 0:55:39Is this quite a common thing in the war?
0:55:39 > 0:55:42Variations of games like this were very common in the war,
0:55:42 > 0:55:44particularly encouraged by the government
0:55:44 > 0:55:47to reinforce the idea who the evil people were.
0:55:47 > 0:55:51THEY LAUGH Good effort.
0:55:51 > 0:55:53It's propaganda designed to,
0:55:53 > 0:55:55particularly in terms of humiliating a figure
0:55:55 > 0:55:57who was actually sending over V rockets,
0:55:57 > 0:55:59particularly in the latter stage of the war,
0:55:59 > 0:56:01which were completely indiscriminate.
0:56:01 > 0:56:03So, I suppose to poke fun at them?
0:56:03 > 0:56:06Yeah, poke... I think that's very important, to poke fun at them.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09- THEY APPLAUD - Well done!
0:56:09 > 0:56:10That's pretty good!
0:56:14 > 0:56:18The Salvation Army, too, specialised in disaster relief,
0:56:18 > 0:56:22providing spiritual support, basic comforts...
0:56:22 > 0:56:24and, of course, music.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27MUSIC: "Once in Royal David's City"
0:56:27 > 0:56:32At Christmas 1944 they played here in the caves.
0:56:36 > 0:56:42# Once in Royal David's city
0:56:42 > 0:56:47# Stood a lowly cattle shed... #
0:56:47 > 0:56:49What an atmosphere, though.
0:56:49 > 0:56:51I know, it's a strange mix, isn't it?
0:56:51 > 0:56:53There's a lovely, jovial party atmosphere,
0:56:53 > 0:56:55especially in such a confined space,
0:56:55 > 0:56:58but thinking about what must have been going on up there.
0:57:00 > 0:57:06# Mary was that mother mild... #
0:57:06 > 0:57:09I have to say, the whole of this exploring the wartime thing,
0:57:09 > 0:57:12I've found myself with deeply mixed emotions.
0:57:12 > 0:57:15There's a bit of me that feels full of patriotic pride
0:57:15 > 0:57:18and there's a bit of me that is in awe of people
0:57:18 > 0:57:21who somehow found the courage and the energy to go through it.
0:57:25 > 0:57:29On Boxing Day, at 9.20 in the evening,
0:57:29 > 0:57:31the bombing of London resumed,
0:57:31 > 0:57:35with a V-2 hitting a pub in Islington, killing 68 people.
0:57:37 > 0:57:38It would be eight more long months
0:57:38 > 0:57:41before the war would finally be over.
0:57:43 > 0:57:47Christmas 1944 would be the last of the Second World War.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54Well, here's to make doing and mending.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57Here's to make doing and mending, here's to a peaceful future
0:57:57 > 0:58:01and may there never have to be another Christmas underground.
0:58:01 > 0:58:04- Happy Christmas.- Happy Christmas.
0:58:04 > 0:58:06- Happy Christmas!- Cheers.
0:58:08 > 0:58:11To find out more about how Britain fed itself
0:58:11 > 0:58:13during The Second World War,
0:58:13 > 0:58:15The Open University has produced a free booklet
0:58:15 > 0:58:18and online interactive challenges...
0:58:25 > 0:58:27Happy Christmas.
0:58:50 > 0:58:53Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd