0:00:03 > 0:00:07In September 1939, Britain stood on the brink of the Second World War.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11To avoid defeat,
0:00:11 > 0:00:13one battle would become more important than any other.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18The battle to produce food.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23Two thirds of Britain's food was imported.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28And now, it was under threat from a Nazi blockade.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32To feed the nation, an agricultural revolution of epic proportions
0:00:32 > 0:00:36was needed to at least double home-grown food production.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46Churchill called the farms of Britain the front line of freedom.
0:00:46 > 0:00:51Now, historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Alex Langlands
0:00:51 > 0:00:53and Peter Ginn are turning the clock back.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58We're about to embark on the greatest challenge
0:00:58 > 0:01:01ever faced by British agriculture, Peter, the Second World War.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14Over the next year, they'll work Manor Farm in Hampshire
0:01:14 > 0:01:17as it would have been during the Second World War.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23- Onward march!- Come on! Quick march!
0:01:23 > 0:01:28Here, the team will relive the struggle of wartime farmers
0:01:28 > 0:01:31to maximise food production...
0:01:31 > 0:01:33The plough, really, had become a weapon of war.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36..cope with shortages...
0:01:36 > 0:01:39Whoa! That is a bit of kit!
0:01:39 > 0:01:41..experience social revolution in the countryside...
0:01:41 > 0:01:44Whoa!
0:01:44 > 0:01:47..and protect and defend the south coast from the threat of invasion.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50Four men, evidence of explosives.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52PLANE FLIES BY
0:01:52 > 0:01:56This is the untold story of the countryside at war.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17CAR HORN TOOTS
0:02:17 > 0:02:19GEARBOX GRINDS
0:02:19 > 0:02:24- Oh!- Oh!- If you can't find it, grind it, as they say!
0:02:24 > 0:02:28In 1939, Britain's farmers prepared for war.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33Now, Alex, Ruth and Peter are on their way to their new farm in Hampshire.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38A few miles in from the south coast, near the ports of Southampton
0:02:38 > 0:02:44and Portsmouth, during the war, this was the front line against the Nazis.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46Like troops, farmers, too, were being mobilised.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53So important was their job to the nation's survival, the farming
0:02:53 > 0:02:58would become a reserved occupation, exempt from military conscription.
0:02:58 > 0:03:0260% of our food was being imported. Just so easy, isn't it,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05for the Germans to just cut-off the supply?!
0:03:05 > 0:03:08A ring of U-boats surrounding the British Isles,
0:03:08 > 0:03:09effectively starving us to death.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17Suddenly, all the overseas food on which Britain so depended
0:03:17 > 0:03:20was in jeopardy.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24German U-boats and warships threatens to destroy convoys
0:03:24 > 0:03:26transporting supplies across the Atlantic.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31To make things worse, farming in Britain had been in recession
0:03:31 > 0:03:34since the end of the First World War.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36And now they'd have to double production.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41This is probably one of the greatest challenges British
0:03:41 > 0:03:43agriculture had ever faced!
0:03:43 > 0:03:45Absolutely!
0:03:45 > 0:03:48How to turn it around after 20 years of neglect
0:03:48 > 0:03:50and a reinvestment in the countryside.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55But the main thing, we have got a new team member!
0:03:55 > 0:03:57- Isn't that right, Henry? - All right at the back there, Henry?
0:03:57 > 0:04:00He's going to make all the difference, isn't he?
0:04:00 > 0:04:02I think he most certainly will.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08- There you go.- That's really pretty.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16- What a farm!- Beautiful, isn't it?
0:04:22 > 0:04:25This is Manor Farm,
0:04:25 > 0:04:27eight miles from Southampton,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30which they will work on for the coming year.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37Handing over the keys is farm manager David Trenchard.
0:04:37 > 0:04:38Hello, David. Alex.
0:04:38 > 0:04:43- Alex.- Ruth.- Ruth, pleasure. Fantastic farm you've got here.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47Yes, it is. You wouldn't find a more typical Hampshire farm than this.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51Where is our first port of call going to be?
0:04:51 > 0:04:54I think we'll start in the yard and have a look at the stock.
0:04:54 > 0:04:55- OK.- Thank you.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00Manor farm was typical of the 1930s.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Cheap cereal crops imported from the United States and Canada
0:05:03 > 0:05:07meant British farmers could no longer compete.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12So instead of growing crops, they concentrated on livestock.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14Ah, the pigs!
0:05:14 > 0:05:18These are the pigs, yes, we keep two breeds on the farm at the moment.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21We keep Saddlebacks, and this is Middle Whites.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Good old pig for your sausages and everything else.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26In fact, they are a rare breed.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30Good girl, good girl.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32THEY LAUGH
0:05:32 > 0:05:35There you go.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45- Now, here's your girls. - Here's our girls.
0:05:45 > 0:05:50- You can tell they are milkers. - Yes, yes, very good milkers.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54- We have actually got a Guernsey, Jersey and an Ayrshire there.- Right.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57I mean this close to somewhere like Southampton,
0:05:57 > 0:06:01- there's definitely going to be a market for milk, isn't there?- Yeah.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06- This is our milking parlour.- Wow!
0:06:06 > 0:06:10Hey! It's a modern milking machine!
0:06:12 > 0:06:15Cups for the teats. I mean, it is such a reduction in labour.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17Yes, yes, we have modernised.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21So this really is the 1939 state-of-the-art milking parlour?
0:06:21 > 0:06:23This is it, yes, sit on that stool every morning
0:06:23 > 0:06:26spending 20 minutes milking the cow there.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29THEY LAUGH
0:06:29 > 0:06:33Before the war, Manor Farm also had beef cattle,
0:06:33 > 0:06:35sheep,
0:06:35 > 0:06:37workshops...
0:06:40 > 0:06:42..petrol-powered farm equipment...
0:06:47 > 0:06:51..and nearby, a wartime village hall.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55Oh, look at this! Dance Mania Foxtrot.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59- Wow, old gramophone records! - The One I Love. A foxtrot.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02So we're definitely between the two wars here, aren't we?
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Mmm. This must have been ringing, this place.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07Such a popular thing to do, during the war, dancing.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12Well, judging by the state of this place, it was an awesome party!
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Got this fantastic archaeological record here, haven't we,
0:07:15 > 0:07:18- of life during the war, really. - Absolutely.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25At the heart of the farm is a row of cottages.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30Here, Alex, Peter and Ruth will experience wartime domestic life.
0:07:30 > 0:07:36- Ah, the kitchen!- Let's have a look. - Nice light. A local stove.
0:07:36 > 0:07:41It's tiny. How am I supposed to manage with that?!
0:07:41 > 0:07:45This coal cooking range dates from well before the First World War.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48By the 1930s, they were being superseded by cleaner
0:07:48 > 0:07:52- and more efficient cookers.- Look, look, I'll show you what I want.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54I've been looking. Look, see! That's what I want, that.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57- What is that? Gas, is it? - An electric cooker.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01I mean, there's gas cookers and electric cookers going in like crazy all across Britain.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05It's clean, takes far less work and the government is actually
0:08:05 > 0:08:07saying with war coming, we know we're going to be short of coal,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10we need that fuel for other things, electricity is much more efficient.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14It's really encouraging people to move over to electric cooking.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17So, the lady gets a new cooker because it's all
0:08:17 > 0:08:21- part of the war effort, is what you're trying to say to us?- Yeah.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28I'm really looking forward to bringing this place back to life
0:08:28 > 0:08:32and seeing what it was like living in rural Britain
0:08:32 > 0:08:33during the Second World War.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40Wartime in many people's minds is all about guns and aeroplanes,
0:08:40 > 0:08:42and tanks and young men in uniform.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45But it's also a period in which the British countryside,
0:08:45 > 0:08:50and British country people really came back into their own.
0:08:50 > 0:08:51Timber!
0:08:51 > 0:08:53The farmers had to produce food,
0:08:53 > 0:08:56and provide accommodation for a huge section of the population.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00It was an enormously important part of the war effort,
0:09:00 > 0:09:03and I do think that sometimes it gets forgotten.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08This is an opportunity to explore an untold history.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11Here, we've got a very, very different battle being fought -
0:09:11 > 0:09:13a battle, really, for food -
0:09:13 > 0:09:16and that untold story is one that I'm thrilled to be exploring.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24ROOSTER CROWS
0:09:29 > 0:09:31Even before war was declared,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34the government anticipated that a German blockade would
0:09:34 > 0:09:38drastically reduce food imports, so Britain would have to feed itself.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42To do so, farmers would have to increase their harvest.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Over there, we've got dog-tail coppice.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50The government set up war agricultural executive committees
0:09:50 > 0:09:54in every county to drive through these changes.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57Known as War-Ags,
0:09:57 > 0:10:00they had the power to tell farmers what fields to plough up.
0:10:02 > 0:10:07So Alex and Peter are surveying the farm's 30 acres to see how it can be done.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09So, this is Manor Farm here.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13Yeah, that's the farm and we are bound by the River Hamble here,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16- coming around this horseshoe shape. - Yeah.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20So all of these fields around here would relate to Manor farm.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23But of course, the majority of this land
0:10:23 > 0:10:27- was all being used for rearing livestock.- Yeah.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30But using land for livestock production
0:10:30 > 0:10:33was not the most efficient way of feeding the nation.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35It's a simple principle, really, isn't it?
0:10:35 > 0:10:39Instead of growing all of this feed to feed animals,
0:10:39 > 0:10:44to slaughter, to then feed people, why don't you actually just
0:10:44 > 0:10:47grow the feed and feed the people directly, and it's a much more
0:10:47 > 0:10:52economic way of feeding, because you lose a lot of that calorific value
0:10:52 > 0:10:53from the original food,
0:10:53 > 0:10:57by putting it through livestock before you feed people.
0:10:57 > 0:11:03In 1939, war breaks out, you had months to get around your farm,
0:11:03 > 0:11:08as we'll be doing, and looking at the field and saying, that - wheat,
0:11:08 > 0:11:10that - beans, that - barley,
0:11:10 > 0:11:14- and that's exactly what we're going to have to do, aren't we?- We are.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18Over the six years of conflict, the War-Ag instructed farmers to grow
0:11:18 > 0:11:24an extra 6.5 million acres of crops, a total area bigger than Wales.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31Many farmers were ill-equipped for this monumental challenge,
0:11:31 > 0:11:34as they didn't have the machinery or suitable land.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42Welcome to the badlands. If I were a potter,
0:11:42 > 0:11:45I could make my fortune here.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48It's beautiful, beautiful clay, but at the moment,
0:11:48 > 0:11:52this clay is a hindrance. The water, it sits on it.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56If we attempted to grow crops here, they would be ruined,
0:11:56 > 0:12:02so we need to find some way of draining this sitting water
0:12:02 > 0:12:04and then we'll be able to grow a fantastic crop.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09It actually, according to the map,
0:12:09 > 0:12:12dips away towards a brook in the bottom of the field.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14So I am worried about sitting water.
0:12:20 > 0:12:25In this field, they have decided to grow wheat, used to produce bread.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36I've got a leaflet here, Peter,
0:12:36 > 0:12:39this is what the ministry have furnished me with.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41"Mole drainage for heavy land."
0:12:41 > 0:12:45What the War-Ag is recommending is the use of a mole subsoiler,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48essentially, it's a kind of deep cultivation, if you like.
0:12:48 > 0:12:53It's like a little torpedo that is dragged through the soil
0:12:53 > 0:12:55at a depth of, what, Peter?
0:12:55 > 0:12:58- About just over a foot.- OK. - A foot or a foot and a half.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01- Just over a foot.- It's got to be deeper than the plough,
0:13:01 > 0:13:02- if it's going to happen.- Yeah.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06Traditionally, farmers had drained fields with hand-dug ditches
0:13:06 > 0:13:08and clay pipes.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12But using a mole subsoiler was much quicker and cheaper
0:13:12 > 0:13:16and used extensively during the war.
0:13:16 > 0:13:21First, they need to survey the field to find out which way it slopes.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26Now, it might look obvious to start with, but I can see already,
0:13:26 > 0:13:28we've got a dip in there. There's a danger that
0:13:28 > 0:13:32if we just drained all the way down to this point, OK,
0:13:32 > 0:13:33even if we drained through it,
0:13:33 > 0:13:37we'd still get a build-up of water in this area.
0:13:37 > 0:13:42As archaeologists, surveying is second nature to Alex and Peter.
0:13:42 > 0:13:48Yeah, there, perfect. And just work down a little bit.
0:13:48 > 0:13:49- So, here?- Yeah.
0:13:49 > 0:13:56- OK.- So that's what? Five feet seven? - About five, six.- Five, six. There we go.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00OK, Alex! Shall we do another line?
0:14:02 > 0:14:05Knowing the lay of the land, they can work out where to use
0:14:05 > 0:14:08the mole subsoiler to make underground drainage channels.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15Doubling food production put enormous demands on labour,
0:14:15 > 0:14:19so women were drafted to work on the land.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21This made it important to reduce housework
0:14:21 > 0:14:23by modernising the kitchen.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27Ruth's called on expert in household technology, Dr Karen Sayer.
0:14:27 > 0:14:32Oh! You've caught me! I'm still cleaning! Hello! Come in! Sorry!
0:14:32 > 0:14:35- That's fine.- I'm absolutely filthy! Lovely to see you.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37Good to see you, too.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41I found this fantastic picture in my book here, about furniture
0:14:41 > 0:14:44and how to layout the home.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49And that. You see? That's just exactly what I had in mind.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54We've got the electric cookers, the kitchenettes, it's a modern,
0:14:54 > 0:14:58- new kitchen, ready!- I have to disappoint you a little bit.- Oh.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02- THEY LAUGH - The kitchenette is fine,
0:15:02 > 0:15:06but electric cooker is going to be a big problem.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09- Do you have mains electricity? - No, not the mains.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11So the fact that we're not on the grid here,
0:15:11 > 0:15:13was that common for farms at the outbreak of war?
0:15:13 > 0:15:16Absolutely. The majority of farms were not on the grid.
0:15:18 > 0:15:23In 1939, just one in ten rural houses had mains electricity.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26But there was an alternative.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31A portable petrol-powered generator.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35Philip Everson has brought one along.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37ENGINE CHUGS
0:15:37 > 0:15:39- Goodness, you got it going!- Yes!
0:15:39 > 0:15:41Hopefully, now we can have some light.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45That looks frankly like you are about to restart Frankenstein.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47Well, it would probably do that as well,
0:15:47 > 0:15:49but first of all, we should have...light!
0:15:49 > 0:15:50Oh, wow!
0:15:50 > 0:15:52SHE LAUGHS
0:15:53 > 0:15:57This is a 50 volt set. It runs 50 volts and up to 1,000 watts.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00This is what you call a cottage lighting plant
0:16:00 > 0:16:05so you run the engine during the day to charge a set of batteries up
0:16:05 > 0:16:07and when they were fully charged you put the lights on at night
0:16:07 > 0:16:10so you can have the lights without listening to the engine,
0:16:10 > 0:16:12and use the engine to keep the batteries charged.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14- That's quite a doable thing. - Yeah, absolutely.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18We could use it to light a workshop, we could use it to light the house.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21Were there a lot of these about?
0:16:21 > 0:16:24They made these engines from 1926 up until 1964
0:16:24 > 0:16:27and the actual basic engines, they made a quarter of a million of them.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30They were one of the most successful small power engines
0:16:30 > 0:16:32ever made in the UK.
0:16:32 > 0:16:33They were almost impossible to kill.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35You could work them and abuse them
0:16:35 > 0:16:39and they still came back for more so the farmers loved them.
0:16:41 > 0:16:42Before they can sow the wheat,
0:16:42 > 0:16:47the team need a mole subsoil to improve the drainage.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50But low incomes during the agricultural depression
0:16:50 > 0:16:53meant farmers didn't have the money to buy equipment.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58So, like farmers of the time, Peter must improvise
0:16:58 > 0:17:03by calling on the services of a blacksmith like Simon Summers.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07This is, essentially, a bullet-shaped piece of iron
0:17:07 > 0:17:13that gets dragged through the ground and leaves in its wake a channel.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15Basically, like a pipe without any...piping
0:17:15 > 0:17:17Yeah, yeah, you want a solid bit of iron.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19You want some strength there, for that.
0:17:19 > 0:17:20Serious strength. Yeah.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22- All right. - Cos this is quite an undertaking.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28In 1939, scrap metal was going to the war effort
0:17:28 > 0:17:31for armaments production - resulting in shortages.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34Well, that looks like the base of a seed drill.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36Yeah, there's some good wheels on that.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39The blacksmith, whose craft had long been in decline,
0:17:39 > 0:17:43now found himself once more in demand.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47There's an adjustable linkage there, so that could go on to the tractor.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50He had the skill to make do and mend,
0:17:50 > 0:17:52turning rusty metal into new machines.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55The thing I'm most concerned about is the actual physical lump
0:17:55 > 0:17:58of metal that gets dragged through the grounds.
0:17:58 > 0:17:59- That's iron, that is.- That's iron, is it?
0:17:59 > 0:18:01That's raw iron, that shaft is.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03- Well, that's pretty... - We could use that.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05It's good-quality iron, this.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08Henry, we're looking for iron, not potatoes!
0:18:15 > 0:18:18In the forge, Simon begins the process of transforming
0:18:18 > 0:18:22the scrap-iron axle into a brand-new mole.
0:18:25 > 0:18:30OK? That's it. Now we're going to put it back in the fire.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33The first job is to make a bullet-shaped nose on the mole,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36so it can be pulled easily through the clay soil.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40This is where the sledge comes and you're going to follow my pattern.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43- You tell me where to hit and I hit it.- Yeah.
0:18:43 > 0:18:44OK.
0:18:57 > 0:19:02Right, we're just driving... this in to cut a slot.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06We have to be very careful, cos it's so hot.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12Simon has to keep cooling the tool otherwise it gets stuck in there
0:19:12 > 0:19:14and will essentially forge the two together.
0:19:19 > 0:19:20That's perfect.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30Once the fields have been drained with Peter's mole subsoiler,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33they'll return to bare earth, by ploughing.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35But Alex had spotted another problem.
0:19:37 > 0:19:43You can't plough a field when it's got big, thick sward, you know,
0:19:43 > 0:19:46a thick grass on the top of it. It just doesn't work.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49You've got to have it eaten down so it's almost like a carpet.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52To do this, Alex is calling on the beef cattle,
0:19:52 > 0:19:54reared by Debbie Underwood.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59So you've built up a real rapport with this herd.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03- This one we've had since she was two weeks old.- Really?
0:20:03 > 0:20:06I used to pick up and carry her around. I don't do that any more.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08- No, I can imagine! - She's like a lovely, soppy Labrador.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10- This is Abigail.- Abigail?
0:20:10 > 0:20:12Yeah. Isn't she gorgeous?
0:20:15 > 0:20:16Come on, then.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21But back then, this herd would have faced an uncertain future.
0:20:21 > 0:20:27You would have had farmers, like Debbie here, who had grown-up
0:20:27 > 0:20:29with cattle all their lives but with more looming
0:20:29 > 0:20:31and this desire to grow more cereals,
0:20:31 > 0:20:36the Ministry for Agriculture wasn't going to reward farmers
0:20:36 > 0:20:37who kept beef, cattle.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42Come on!
0:20:42 > 0:20:46It will take the cattle about three weeks to graze this grass
0:20:46 > 0:20:48ready for ploughing.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50This is my new kitchenette.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52I am so pleased with this.
0:20:52 > 0:20:57Ruth and Karen are furnishing the kitchen with labour-saving devices.
0:20:57 > 0:20:58It's clean.
0:20:58 > 0:21:04A lovely enamel surface, easy to wipe down for pastry preparation.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08- Absolutely.- All your food storage, all cleanly tidied away, it's great.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13With the generator finally connected up,
0:21:13 > 0:21:15Ruth has electric light in the cottage.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17Fantastic!
0:21:21 > 0:21:22SHE LAUGHS
0:21:25 > 0:21:26BULB SMASHES
0:21:26 > 0:21:28Hopefully, she'll have better luck with the radio.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30Whoops!
0:21:32 > 0:21:34RADIO TUNES IN AND OUT
0:21:34 > 0:21:36Of course, this is how you're going to get all the news
0:21:36 > 0:21:38and current affairs.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Particularly as you go further into the war,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44the newspapers themselves had to cut down incredibly
0:21:44 > 0:21:48- and sometimes there were only four sides at a time.- Right.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52So the best way of finding out exactly what's going on is the radio.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54This really is your connection with the wider world.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56It's your connection, absolutely.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01Electricity also meant new labour-saving gadgets.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06Now we're talking!
0:22:06 > 0:22:10Perfect appliance to make your life so much easier.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14Traditionally, an iron was a piece of flat metal heated on a coal range.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18Now they were replaced by ones you could plug in.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22- So, it's a bayonet or like a bulb. - It's a bayonet exactly like a bulb.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24That's it.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27- Wow!- Now, how much faster is that?
0:22:27 > 0:22:31- That's not only fast but it's so clean.- It's so clean.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34You don't have to worry about smuts getting on your laundry.
0:22:34 > 0:22:39Small generators weren't capable of powering large appliances, though,
0:22:39 > 0:22:41like electric cookers.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45But there was a modern convenient replacement for the coal range.
0:22:45 > 0:22:46Oh, it's a paraffin stove!
0:22:46 > 0:22:50They're supposed to just free stand, no plumbing in.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54There's no fixing to anything, it's just a little stand-alone box.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Well, again, this is the way forward. This is modernity.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03So, it's just a series of flat paraffin lamps.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06- This is nothing new, is it? - No, this is exactly like oil lamps.
0:23:06 > 0:23:11People would have been very used to using this and this helps with
0:23:11 > 0:23:14the adoption of technology as well and you can see that in the styling.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17It's all painted black to look like a range
0:23:17 > 0:23:19and yet it's made of really thin sheet metal.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22Absolutely, and that's to make people feel very comfortable.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24I am really looking forward to cooking on this.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27- I bet you are! - It's going to be so different.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30It is going to be so much easier presumably.
0:23:30 > 0:23:31Look, no smoke.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34You're not having to shovel coal or anything.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37It's much less labour intensive.
0:23:43 > 0:23:44- OK, you get the sledge, Peter.- Yeah.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48To drain the boggy land for cereal production,
0:23:48 > 0:23:52Peter and blacksmith Simon Summers are making a mole subsoiler.
0:23:52 > 0:23:53Whack it down, yeah.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58So far, they've made the head of the mole.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01Next, they must make a strong bracket
0:24:01 > 0:24:02to hold it in place below the ground.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05- Now we need to make another cut up here.- Right.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09Move it along, probably about there.
0:24:09 > 0:24:14But the best they can find is a rusty Victorian cartwheel rim.
0:24:19 > 0:24:24It's really good iron. It's such a waste if we don't re-use it.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27Once we get up to a certain temperature,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30the rust just comes off so it will be like bright new iron again.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38The bracket's finished. Now to attach it to the mole itself.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49Right, here comes the hot rivet. In it goes.
0:24:49 > 0:24:54So, through... it catches the mushroom. OK, flip...
0:24:54 > 0:24:55Flip!
0:24:55 > 0:24:57CLANGING
0:24:58 > 0:25:01You can see why blacksmiths went deaf!
0:25:01 > 0:25:04And there we have it, entirely made from scrap iron
0:25:04 > 0:25:06that we found in the hedgerow.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10Old machinery that we turned into a new machine. Fantastic.
0:25:15 > 0:25:20Peter is building a chassis to carry his mole subsoiler.
0:25:20 > 0:25:26So hopefully this is going to aid keeping the mole in the ground.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28And there we go.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32Slide that in like that.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36This project is a mix of quite intense stress
0:25:36 > 0:25:39because obviously, it's got to be done and done to a certain time limit
0:25:39 > 0:25:42but also one of immense joy because it's so much fun
0:25:42 > 0:25:45to have a workshop, to have a forge, to be able to tinker around.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48All good, all good stuff.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51Peter will need a machine to pull the mole subsoiler
0:25:51 > 0:25:54through the ground.
0:25:55 > 0:26:01But in 1939, there were 20 horses to every tractor on Britain's farms.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04If farmers were to double food production to meet the demands
0:26:04 > 0:26:08of war they'd have two replace horsepower with mechanical power.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11Unlike horses, tractors don't need to rest.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17Pete Diggs, who has farmed in this area his whole life, is giving
0:26:17 > 0:26:21Alex and Ruth a lesson in driving the most popular wartime tractor,
0:26:21 > 0:26:23the Fordson.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27- Hello, Peter.- So this is her, is it?
0:26:27 > 0:26:30- She's going to do all the work for us?- Well, we hope so!
0:26:30 > 0:26:33You've got a nice sprung seat here.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35There's no cushions
0:26:35 > 0:26:40but I can remember putting straw into a sack and tying that on.
0:26:40 > 0:26:46- Yeah.- It was much more comfortable on the bum.- I bet it was!
0:26:46 > 0:26:50But it's no easy job starting it.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54- Make sure you've got plenty of oil there.- OK.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58During the war, tractor numbers on British farms would more than
0:26:58 > 0:27:04triple from 55,000 to over 175,000.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08But the Fordson was notoriously difficult to start...
0:27:08 > 0:27:10as Ruth's about to discover.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13And then wind with the starting handle.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15Shall we make Ruth crank this, do you think?
0:27:15 > 0:27:18Oh, you'll have muscles now!
0:27:18 > 0:27:19I've got muscles!
0:27:22 > 0:27:23Blinking heck.
0:27:25 > 0:27:26Jeepers.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30Doubling crop production would need a huge increase in labour
0:27:30 > 0:27:33so women were called upon to drive the tractors.
0:27:35 > 0:27:36SHE GASPS
0:27:39 > 0:27:41Much easier to take a horse out of a stable!
0:27:41 > 0:27:44Yeah, probably quicker at my rate and all!
0:27:44 > 0:27:47- ENGINE SPLUTTERS AND DIES - Oh, did you hear that?
0:27:47 > 0:27:50Oh, nearly! Nearly!
0:27:50 > 0:27:52How you doing? Do you want me to...?
0:27:52 > 0:27:54No.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00The kind of wartime attitude we need, Ruth.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02ENGINE STARTS
0:28:04 > 0:28:06Congratulations, Ruth.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08Oil and all!
0:28:12 > 0:28:16- You are going to stand well back, aren't you?- Yes, absolutely, Ruth!
0:28:19 > 0:28:21SHE GRINDS GEARS
0:28:31 > 0:28:33Let's let her get on with it, Peter.
0:28:34 > 0:28:35Yes!
0:28:38 > 0:28:41Pete was just seven when war broke out
0:28:41 > 0:28:45and he witnessed the transition from horse power to mechanical power.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48That was Captain and that was Dick.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52As you can see, I started very, very young.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56Look, that's you on top of that. That's a big dray, isn't it?
0:28:56 > 0:28:57That's it.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01- I take it these aren't your boots here.- No, they are my fathers.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05I nicked them one day and was off down to the farm.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08- What, you wanted to be a farmer from a young age?- That's it.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11Come on! Come on, come on.
0:29:11 > 0:29:12ENGINE STALLS
0:29:12 > 0:29:16Argh! I stalled her!
0:29:16 > 0:29:19- The gear changes.- Were you attempting second, there?
0:29:19 > 0:29:22- I was trying second.- You were attempting second gear.- Yeah.
0:29:32 > 0:29:33I'd better go over and see.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36HE LAUGHS
0:29:39 > 0:29:43In the workshop, Peter's mole subsoiler is taking shape.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47But there aren't enough hours of daylight to get it finished in time.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50Using the generator to light the workshop should help.
0:29:50 > 0:29:57This is going to make such a difference.
0:29:57 > 0:30:02Because it is going to enable me to work throughout the evening.
0:30:03 > 0:30:07If they don't get the fields drained and ploughed
0:30:07 > 0:30:10in the next few days, they won't get the wheat crops sown in time.
0:30:13 > 0:30:14Finally!
0:30:16 > 0:30:17Oh, dear.
0:30:25 > 0:30:30On third September, 1939, at 11:15 in the morning,
0:30:30 > 0:30:33Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain made the announcement
0:30:33 > 0:30:36the nation had been bracing itself for.
0:30:36 > 0:30:40- NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN:- This morning, the British ambassador in Berlin
0:30:40 > 0:30:44handed the German government a final note
0:30:44 > 0:30:48stating that, unless we heard from them
0:30:48 > 0:30:53by 11 o'clock, that they were prepared at once to withdraw
0:30:53 > 0:30:58their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us.
0:31:00 > 0:31:06I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received
0:31:06 > 0:31:12and that consequently, this country is at war with Germany.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23Somebody who was my age in 1939...
0:31:23 > 0:31:26I'd have been in my mid-20s in the First World War,
0:31:26 > 0:31:28the sort of age when you're losing husbands, losing brothers.
0:31:28 > 0:31:35You have such a strong experience of it and then here it is all again.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37So you're sat here listening to Chamberlain saying,
0:31:37 > 0:31:43"I regret to tell you we're now at War-Again, against the same people."
0:31:43 > 0:31:45You could lose your husband in the first war
0:31:45 > 0:31:46and your son in the second.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50Even so, you'd be sat here looking out the window
0:31:50 > 0:31:52scarcely able to believe it.
0:31:52 > 0:31:53A beautiful summer's day like this.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07Britain was now expecting to be bombed by the Nazis at any time.
0:32:10 > 0:32:12Air raid precaution wardens were tasked
0:32:12 > 0:32:14with protecting the population.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18Steve Taylor is an expert in wartime civil defence.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21One for you.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24One for you.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26The government assumed that the Nazis would used poison gas
0:32:26 > 0:32:30on the population so a gas mask was issued to every man,
0:32:30 > 0:32:32woman and child in the country.
0:32:32 > 0:32:34How do we know there's going to be a gas attack?
0:32:34 > 0:32:37Are we just looking out ourselves for bombers?
0:32:37 > 0:32:40No, you will hear an air raid siren or a rattle.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44I've got the rattle here that I can show you.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47Once you hear that, it's gas masks on immediately.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49As soon as there is an all clear,
0:32:49 > 0:32:53there will be an all clear siren or my trusty ARP whistle.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56THREE LOUD WHISTLES
0:32:56 > 0:32:58- It will tell you it is all clear. - Right, OK.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03It was also feared that Britain would suffer night bombing.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06A total blackout on the ground would make locating the target
0:33:06 > 0:33:09much more difficult for the enemy.
0:33:09 > 0:33:13Steve's demonstrating how doors were blacked out using a light break.
0:33:13 > 0:33:18So, it's late at night and there is a kerfuffle in the farmyard.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21Sound of a fox at the chickens.
0:33:21 > 0:33:25I go in here, make sure I've closed the curtain first.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28And then open the door.
0:33:28 > 0:33:29And door open.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33- Can you see any light coming in the edges?- Only through moth holes.
0:33:33 > 0:33:34There we go.
0:33:37 > 0:33:43To black out the windows, Alex and Peter are making removable frames.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51One bespoke blackout frame.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56- Not a single pinprick. - Proper job, mate.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00- Right, fantastic. - That is a great job.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03Now all we need to do is get that blackout curtain up.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05All YOU need to do is get a blackout curtain up.
0:34:05 > 0:34:07Right. Others have mole ploughs.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09Of course, you need to get that done, don't you?
0:34:11 > 0:34:15With war, the threat of German U-boats cutting off imports
0:34:15 > 0:34:18became a reality.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22It wasn't just staple foods like wheat that were under threat.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26Imported fruits containing vitamin C were essential to the health of
0:34:26 > 0:34:28the nation, particularly children.
0:34:28 > 0:34:32As a boy, Ruth's father, Jeff Stealy,
0:34:32 > 0:34:37was sent into the countryside to forage for alternatives.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40I remember you telling me all about doing this.
0:34:40 > 0:34:45- How much did they pay you? - Tuppence a pound.- Tuppence a pound!
0:34:45 > 0:34:49Which was quite good for pocket money days, it really was.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52If you did it on the wet days, of course, they weighed more.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55Which was quite good.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58That was your compensation for being out in bad weather.
0:34:58 > 0:35:00And with all the men away,
0:35:00 > 0:35:03it was left to the women and largely the boys,
0:35:03 > 0:35:07to go around the hedges, finding apples, picking berries.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10Why rosehips so much? There's not much food value in them.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13Ah, but there's vitamin C.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15So the sources of vitamin C that we've got used to,
0:35:15 > 0:35:17all the oranges and lemons, are no longer coming in.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19And limes, all sorts of Mediterranean stuff,
0:35:19 > 0:35:23couldn't get through. So we're scratching about trying to find
0:35:23 > 0:35:25- native British equivalents.- Yes.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31Ruth is preserving the rosehips in syrup
0:35:31 > 0:35:34so it can be taken throughout the winter.
0:35:34 > 0:35:40The long, slow, gentle cooking has suited them quite well
0:35:40 > 0:35:46so now I just need to strain all that liquid off.
0:35:46 > 0:35:50Look at the colour!
0:35:50 > 0:35:54So what I am getting out here is the vitamin C.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56And that fleshy bit around the seed,
0:35:56 > 0:35:59it is just like making jam or jelly really.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06And once this is all drained out,
0:36:06 > 0:36:10I will just have to make it into a syrup with sugar.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15The sugar is there to preserve the fruit,
0:36:15 > 0:36:17and then when I bottle it, it will keep.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28Finally, Peter's mole subsoiler is finished.
0:36:33 > 0:36:38And the team can drain the field in preparation for sowing the wheat.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43- Finally, all of those hours out of the shed.- Yeah.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45It is quite a contraption, isn't it?
0:36:45 > 0:36:50I've got a plan that Peter and I will survey the field,
0:36:50 > 0:36:53we put in all the levels, but the first thing to do is
0:36:53 > 0:36:57to just concentrate on getting in these main drains.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59Yeah.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01Before Peter's contraption can prove itself,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04there's the perennial problem of getting the tractor to start.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06Damn the Fordson!
0:37:10 > 0:37:13ENGINE STARTS
0:37:25 > 0:37:27Stand back!
0:37:29 > 0:37:30GEARS CRUNCH
0:37:36 > 0:37:39It's not going according to plan.
0:37:39 > 0:37:41Ideally, the mole should be cutting a channel
0:37:41 > 0:37:44about a foot beneath the surface.
0:37:49 > 0:37:50Try standing on this.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55Yeah.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12Can we dig a hole and put the mole in so we start with it
0:38:12 > 0:38:17already in the ground rather than trying to go down?
0:38:17 > 0:38:21When war broke out, there were almost four million acres of land
0:38:21 > 0:38:23like this that needed draining.
0:38:30 > 0:38:32OK, let's go.
0:38:37 > 0:38:42The problem is it's pulled the path of least resistance which is up,
0:38:42 > 0:38:44out of the ground.
0:38:45 > 0:38:47It's clear the chassis built by Peter is too light
0:38:47 > 0:38:50to keep the mole in the ground.
0:38:50 > 0:38:54In a corner of the farmyard, Alex has found a much heavier chassis
0:38:54 > 0:38:56to fit Peter's mole subsoiler.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58That sun's nearly down.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03- That's it, lovely.- That's wonderful!
0:39:03 > 0:39:08But things are about to go from bad to worse.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11The improvised bracket holding the mole has bent
0:39:11 > 0:39:12because it isn't strong enough.
0:39:15 > 0:39:17Well, that's that, then, isn't it?
0:39:17 > 0:39:19Time is running out to get the crops sown
0:39:19 > 0:39:22so they'll have to abandon draining the field.
0:39:25 > 0:39:31As Peter has discovered, improvising farm machinery is no easy task.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35But for the wartime farmer, this could have been disastrous
0:39:35 > 0:39:37and incurred the wrath of the War-Ag.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41If our fields flood, the War-Ag would look at us
0:39:41 > 0:39:44and say, "We need to move them on."
0:39:44 > 0:39:47So we'd just better hope against hope
0:39:47 > 0:39:50that we have an extremely dry summer.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59A farmer's duties to the nation didn't end with attempting
0:39:59 > 0:40:01to double crop production.
0:40:02 > 0:40:06Their knowledge of the landscape made them invaluable recruits
0:40:06 > 0:40:10to one of the war's most secretive organisations.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12The auxiliary units.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15Your names have been put forward
0:40:15 > 0:40:20as men who would like to do something more for the war effort.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24- Is this something? - Absolutely. Everything we can.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28The auxiliary unit was an resistance force in waiting,
0:40:28 > 0:40:31a last line of defence against Nazi invasion.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36Steve Mason is an expert on the auxiliary units
0:40:36 > 0:40:38stationed here on the south coast.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41Do you think you could kill another man in cold blood?
0:40:41 > 0:40:44- HE INTAKES BREATH - Tough.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48Those were the sort of questions being put to people at the time.
0:40:48 > 0:40:50- Farmers?- Absolutely.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54But it really comes down to your personal mettle.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57This is something beyond the Home Guard.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01- This is actually a sort of secret service, isn't it?- Absolutely.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03Just like the cells they were setting up in Europe at the same time.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06A resistance movement.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08We've heard of the Home Guard. Why don't we hear of these guys?
0:41:08 > 0:41:11The people who joined this particular resistance movement
0:41:11 > 0:41:14had to sign The Official Secrets Act.
0:41:14 > 0:41:15I suppose if, during the war,
0:41:15 > 0:41:18we were held back in a reserved occupation
0:41:18 > 0:41:21and we were of a certain age, then we would be seen as,
0:41:21 > 0:41:26if we both knew the land, as farmers and also quite able-bodied.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28Absolutely.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32So, these are photographs of the men who actually were
0:41:32 > 0:41:35the auxiliaries for this locality.
0:41:35 > 0:41:37You were never to discuss this thing, ever.
0:41:37 > 0:41:41I've spoken to one survivor who was 18 at the time,
0:41:41 > 0:41:44so he's young enough still, now, to talk about it.
0:41:44 > 0:41:49He only wants to discuss the people in that photograph who are dead.
0:41:49 > 0:41:51With the Nazis poised to invade,
0:41:51 > 0:41:55the auxiliary unit were ready to go to ground
0:41:55 > 0:41:58and form a guerrilla network to destroy the enemy's infrastructure.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02Their instruction manuals were cunningly disguised.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06It's got a cover, so if a German invader were to pick it up,
0:42:06 > 0:42:09he would hopefully think that it was an out-of-date calendar
0:42:09 > 0:42:10and not look inside.
0:42:10 > 0:42:15And this tells you how to handle explosives.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18And again, more tricks of the trade.
0:42:18 > 0:42:20How to blow up a petrol tank.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24How to blow up railway lines.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27Do you think, putting yourselves back there,
0:42:27 > 0:42:30would you really actually have signed up for it?
0:42:30 > 0:42:32I... I think so.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36If you were a reserved occupation like a farmer, for example,
0:42:36 > 0:42:40is there going to be a sense that you want to be out on the front line?
0:42:40 > 0:42:44Although you're farming, you want a bit of action.
0:42:44 > 0:42:45Itching to get involved.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48Yeah, I wonder whether that might have played a part
0:42:48 > 0:42:50in some people signing up.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52A number of them do say that. They actually just wanted
0:42:52 > 0:42:55to get their hands on some action, as corny as it sounds.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07Unbeknown to the boys, like many farmers' wives,
0:43:07 > 0:43:11Ruth, too, has been conscripted into secret service.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19Gardening has taken on a whole new significance.
0:43:19 > 0:43:21Particularly in this potting shed.
0:43:21 > 0:43:26Because, whilst the boys think I'm out in the garden, and they are
0:43:26 > 0:43:32well out of the way in the fields, what I'm really doing in here...
0:43:32 > 0:43:34is this.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39Ruth's been recruited into the Special Duties Section.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41Their mission -
0:43:41 > 0:43:45to handle communication between the auxiliary units in the field and HQ.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48This is my aerial.
0:43:48 > 0:43:53About 3,500 people were involved - vicars, barmaids, farmers,
0:43:53 > 0:43:55farmers' wives and housewives.
0:43:55 > 0:43:58And yet, almost nobody knows about it.
0:43:58 > 0:44:00They really just kept that quiet.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04There are instances in which a wife was doing this with the radio,
0:44:04 > 0:44:08whilst the husband was out doing other auxiliary work,
0:44:08 > 0:44:10and neither of them told each other
0:44:10 > 0:44:14until they were in their 80s or 90s, years and years later.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18In some ways, it's comical. But it's also really serious.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20People were expecting to be invaded.
0:44:20 > 0:44:22They were expecting that this sort of work
0:44:22 > 0:44:24put their lives in serious danger.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28If you had been caught with a radio when the Germans came
0:44:28 > 0:44:30you were looking at not just execution,
0:44:30 > 0:44:31but probably at torture too.
0:44:39 > 0:44:44We confirm a successful patrol manoeuvre, four men,
0:44:44 > 0:44:46evidence of explosives.
0:44:46 > 0:44:52Northwest of Arbor Wood. Approximate time, 0015. Location, Hamble. G.
0:44:53 > 0:44:58Despite their important top-secret military duties, the priority
0:44:58 > 0:45:02for farmers was doubling crop production to feed the nation.
0:45:05 > 0:45:08Although the team were unable to mole drain the boggy field,
0:45:08 > 0:45:11the task now is to plough as quickly as possible
0:45:11 > 0:45:14in preparation for sowing the wheat.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20With the days drawing shorter, the War Agricultural Committee
0:45:20 > 0:45:24encouraged farmers to plough on into the night.
0:45:30 > 0:45:32We've got to plough through the night,
0:45:32 > 0:45:35and this was something that was expected during the war.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38Not something I expect people did willingly, really,
0:45:38 > 0:45:42but unfortunately, we've just got to do this, because we're so behind.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45Ploughing at night creates unique problems.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50Right, so this is our lantern, and it's just in the hedge,
0:45:50 > 0:45:54and it's going to give something for Ruth to fix on, on the horizon,
0:45:54 > 0:45:57so she can drive, theoretically, in a straight line.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02I'm a bit worried about using these lights in the blackout.
0:46:02 > 0:46:08I reckon that the lamps in the hedge probably could be hidden, anyway.
0:46:08 > 0:46:12This one's already got a hood on it. And this lamp would be moving.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15- So, I just aim at the light in the hedge?- Yep, that's the idea.
0:46:37 > 0:46:42When you think about ploughing, you think about the horseman,
0:46:42 > 0:46:45out there with his horses, gently ploughing away in the quiet,
0:46:45 > 0:46:47perhaps on a nice, sunny spring morning.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49But, during the Second World War,
0:46:49 > 0:46:51ploughing was a very different monster.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54And the plough, really, had become a weapon of war.
0:46:54 > 0:46:57It was the farmer's principal weapon of war.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02Now, I'm not entirely sure we're getting this right,
0:47:02 > 0:47:06but we're putting our all into it and Ruth's doing a fantastic job.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10Hopefully, by the end of the month, we'll have the field done.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24Next morning, Ruth is called into action
0:47:24 > 0:47:27by the Special Duties Section.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31Her mission? To pass a message on to the auxiliary unit.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37Hampshire, with its strategic ports of Southampton and Portsmouth,
0:47:37 > 0:47:39was a key target for invasion.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42So more auxiliary units were stationed here
0:47:42 > 0:47:45than any county in Britain.
0:47:45 > 0:47:50Military expert Gerald Sutcliffe is leading Alex and Peter's patrol.
0:47:50 > 0:47:55What we are going into now, is an OB, and operation base.
0:47:55 > 0:47:57We've got, basically, a little bunker.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01We've already got some equipment, munitions and rations in.
0:48:01 > 0:48:05Let's go and have a look at it now, shall we?
0:48:11 > 0:48:14All over the country, around the coast in particular,
0:48:14 > 0:48:16groups like us,
0:48:16 > 0:48:20we're going to be providing a nasty surprise for Herr Hitler.
0:48:20 > 0:48:24Unlike the other countries which had the unfortunate experience
0:48:24 > 0:48:28of these jackboots going over them, we are ready.
0:48:28 > 0:48:32We're going to come up behind him and blow up his petrol dumps.
0:48:32 > 0:48:34We're going to blow up his ammunition dumps.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38We're going to sabotage his tanks. We're going to shoot his officers
0:48:38 > 0:48:40and anybody that helps him.
0:48:42 > 0:48:45The aim was to transform ordinary farmers with no military experience
0:48:45 > 0:48:49into guerrilla saboteurs.
0:48:49 > 0:48:51Alex has picked up the message
0:48:51 > 0:48:54dropped by the Special Duties Section
0:48:54 > 0:48:56with details of a training exercise.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59We've been left a note advising us
0:48:59 > 0:49:04that a German patrol of ten men was expected.
0:49:04 > 0:49:10At the moment, my thoughts are, we will ambush their patrol.
0:49:10 > 0:49:16This is a typical exercise, passed on by the mysterious Agent R.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20- Agent R, I wonder who that could be.- That's the point.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23You will never know. And neither will I.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26You never know the names of the intelligence section
0:49:26 > 0:49:28and they don't know you.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31They just leave little messages for us.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34And we pick them up and we never see them, or them us.
0:49:38 > 0:49:42Training by night and working in the fields by day
0:49:42 > 0:49:46meant a wartime farmer could find himself working 17-hour days.
0:49:49 > 0:49:53I want two members of the team to go up on the ridgeline,
0:49:53 > 0:49:57while I go down and arrange a couple of surprises.
0:49:57 > 0:50:00And one of you can cover me while that's going on.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06Why do I have to go in front all the time, Peter?
0:50:06 > 0:50:09Alex and Peter keep watch from the ridge line.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14Following instructions set out in the auxiliary unit manual,
0:50:14 > 0:50:16Gerald sets a booby trap.
0:50:16 > 0:50:22What I'm going to rig up is a grenade with the pin removed,
0:50:22 > 0:50:25but sufficient pressure on top of it,
0:50:25 > 0:50:27so that when somebody kicks it,
0:50:27 > 0:50:33it's going to release the lever and go bang.
0:50:34 > 0:50:36OK.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38And rejoin the others.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41This being an exercise, there are no Germans,
0:50:41 > 0:50:44and Gerry's grenade is simply a thunder flash.
0:50:45 > 0:50:47- ALL:- Bang! Bang! Bang!
0:50:50 > 0:50:52Stop!
0:50:53 > 0:50:55Well, good for a first attempt.
0:50:55 > 0:50:57- You think so?- I think so.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01- They would have used all sorts of methods to simulate combat.- OK.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04I did it that way because you weren't expecting it,
0:51:04 > 0:51:07- to add that bit of tension and realism.- Yeah.
0:51:07 > 0:51:12So you were both conditioning us and testing us at the same time?
0:51:12 > 0:51:13Yes.
0:51:21 > 0:51:26Alex, Ruth and Peter have now been wartime farmers for two months.
0:51:32 > 0:51:34For Ruth, the work in the fields
0:51:34 > 0:51:35has left little time for domestic duties,
0:51:35 > 0:51:39so she's taken another step towards modernising the kitchen
0:51:39 > 0:51:41by fitting lino.
0:51:41 > 0:51:43Fantastic!
0:51:46 > 0:51:49You often hear about labour-saving things in the kitchen,
0:51:49 > 0:51:52and you sort of imagine it's all about gadgets.
0:51:52 > 0:51:55Nah. It's about things like this -
0:51:55 > 0:51:58the things that make the big difference.
0:51:58 > 0:52:01Instead of spending, you know,
0:52:01 > 0:52:0345 minutes twice a day on the floor,
0:52:03 > 0:52:07like you might have to with a stone/flag floor,
0:52:07 > 0:52:12I can run over with a mop and bucket in ten minutes.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21The paraffin stove is also helping to save time.
0:52:21 > 0:52:27Unlike an old-fashioned coal range, it's up and running in seconds.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31Ruth's using it to cook a quick meal from her 1930s cookbook -
0:52:31 > 0:52:34fried bacon with bananas.
0:52:34 > 0:52:37It's such an odd recipe to find in a late '30s book.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39It took me so by surprise.
0:52:39 > 0:52:43Bacon's going to become a thing of scarcity.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46By 1939, we were already bringing in
0:52:46 > 0:52:50quite a significant proportion of our bacon from Denmark.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56And then the bananas go in the butter.
0:52:56 > 0:53:00Bananas would soon disappear completely from the shops,
0:53:00 > 0:53:03as the government requisitioned banana boats to import
0:53:03 > 0:53:05materials essential to the war effort.
0:53:07 > 0:53:13From the declaration of war in September 1939 until May 1940,
0:53:13 > 0:53:18no bombers appeared overhead, and the gas attacks didn't materialise.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20It became known as the Phoney War.
0:53:23 > 0:53:26But by June 1940, after the British had been
0:53:26 > 0:53:29driven into the sea at Dunkirk, the mood was darkening.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36France fell to the Nazis, and as the new Prime Minister
0:53:36 > 0:53:39Winston Churchill warned, Britain was next in line.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43..and growing strength in the air,
0:53:43 > 0:53:46we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.
0:53:46 > 0:53:49We shall fight on the beaches,
0:53:49 > 0:53:52we shall fight on the landing grounds,
0:53:52 > 0:53:56we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
0:53:56 > 0:53:58we shall fight in the hills.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01We shall never surrender.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03I think it's quite interesting, isn't it,
0:54:03 > 0:54:06that that speech is so iconic.
0:54:06 > 0:54:08It must have been terrifying for people, as well,
0:54:08 > 0:54:13to think that there could possibly have been fighting on the beaches
0:54:13 > 0:54:16and in the fields, and somewhere like Hampshire, where we are,
0:54:16 > 0:54:18I gather would be sort of on the front line.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21It's the whole problem, isn't it, of looking back at the war?
0:54:21 > 0:54:23- We know that we won.- Mmm.
0:54:23 > 0:54:27People at the time did not know that.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30So I suppose the farmers at the time, they'd be -
0:54:30 > 0:54:35hopefully - buoyed up to get a success in that harvest.
0:54:35 > 0:54:38It would have loaded a lot of pressure on their shoulders,
0:54:38 > 0:54:41you know? It would have really hammered home
0:54:41 > 0:54:45just how important it would have been to have brought that crop in,
0:54:45 > 0:54:47and to have a brought a brilliant crop in as well.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49And that's all about the connectedness too, isn't it?
0:54:49 > 0:54:52You know, everybody's hearing that, all together.
0:54:52 > 0:54:57You feel like you've absolutely got to do it right to do justice
0:54:57 > 0:55:00to the effort that was put in from '39 through...
0:55:00 > 0:55:03I certainly feel a big responsibility
0:55:03 > 0:55:05to those people who went through this and who are still alive.
0:55:05 > 0:55:09- You know, it's not something to be taken lightly, is it?- No.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12We're messing with people's memories as well as with Britain's history.
0:55:12 > 0:55:13Well, indeed.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15KNOCK AT DOOR
0:55:15 > 0:55:18- Hello?- I haven't put that curtain up, you know.
0:55:18 > 0:55:20It'll be all right, don't worry.
0:55:20 > 0:55:22- Oh, hello, Steve. - Good evening, Peter.
0:55:22 > 0:55:25- Hello!- Hello, Ruth. - A pleasant surprise.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27- Come and join us! Take a seat. - How are you? Good to see you.
0:55:27 > 0:55:31- You're in luck. Have a cake. - Good grief!
0:55:31 > 0:55:34I'm on my rounds. I have to say, what a marvellous job you've done
0:55:34 > 0:55:37- with all your windows. - Peter, I told you there...
0:55:37 > 0:55:39- But...- Oh.
0:55:39 > 0:55:41You're going to be in for a fine,
0:55:41 > 0:55:44- cos you're showing the light under your door.- Really?- Yeah.
0:55:44 > 0:55:45You haven't put the curtain up.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48So what is the consequences?
0:55:48 > 0:55:50The County Court will summons you.
0:55:50 > 0:55:54Anything from three shillings to seven and six, I would think.
0:55:54 > 0:55:55Of course, the other thing to mention
0:55:55 > 0:55:57is the excessive lights you're burning.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59For a small room, you've got three lights.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02- So that would incur another fine. - Oh, good grief.
0:56:02 > 0:56:06- Lord!- I was just enjoying having electricity!
0:56:06 > 0:56:09It's that classic thing where you're not physically doing the thing,
0:56:09 > 0:56:12like filling your oil lamp. If you've just got electricity,
0:56:12 > 0:56:15you don't think about that power source and how much you're using.
0:56:15 > 0:56:19Well, I think we should enjoy these desserts while we can,
0:56:19 > 0:56:20cos I think from now on in,
0:56:20 > 0:56:23- things are only going to get tougher, aren't they?- Mmm.
0:56:23 > 0:56:24- What, like this guy?- Yeah!
0:56:24 > 0:56:25THEY LAUGH
0:56:25 > 0:56:28You put that light out, I'll put this one out.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31- And the radio! - Let's get this curtain up, then.
0:56:37 > 0:56:39Keep it running, Ruth!
0:56:52 > 0:56:54The team's back on track
0:56:54 > 0:56:57with the task of increasing the farm's food production.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00The wheat field is ploughed.
0:57:00 > 0:57:03Next, it's harrowed to break-up the earth...
0:57:06 > 0:57:09..and sowed with the wheat seed.
0:57:09 > 0:57:11If all goes well, in nine months' time,
0:57:11 > 0:57:14they should have a good crop to harvest.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17We have cracked on, haven't we? We really have cracked on.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20How many million acres was it they ploughed up extra in '39?
0:57:20 > 0:57:22By the spring of 1940, 1.7 million acres.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25- Extra.- Extra. On top of what they were already doing.
0:57:25 > 0:57:27On top of what they were already doing.
0:57:27 > 0:57:30A lot of farmers said it couldn't be done.
0:57:30 > 0:57:32They shook their heads and said, "No, you can't do that."
0:57:32 > 0:57:34And they turned around and did it.
0:57:37 > 0:57:42Wartime farmers didn't know it yet, but this was just a start.
0:57:42 > 0:57:45They still had five years of war to endure,
0:57:45 > 0:57:48and conditions were only going to get tougher
0:57:48 > 0:57:51as they struggled to feed the nation.
0:57:58 > 0:58:00Next on Wartime Farm...
0:58:01 > 0:58:05The team face the conditions of 1940, and the Blitz.
0:58:07 > 0:58:09They confront rationing...
0:58:09 > 0:58:13That's particularly hard to make last the week.
0:58:14 > 0:58:16..make use of every last resource,
0:58:16 > 0:58:20and there's temptation round every corner.
0:58:20 > 0:58:22You're well on your way to becoming...
0:58:22 > 0:58:23- BOTH:- A black marketeer.
0:58:25 > 0:58:28To find out how Britain fed itself during the Second World War,
0:58:28 > 0:58:31and how rationing affected the wartime diet,
0:58:31 > 0:58:34order the Open University's free Wartime Farm booklet.
0:58:34 > 0:58:36Call, or go to the website...
0:58:41 > 0:58:43..and follow the links to the Open University.
0:59:07 > 0:59:10Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd