0:00:02 > 0:00:04The Great British countryside.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10Setting for one of the most pivotal battles of the Second World War.
0:00:10 > 0:00:16Churchill called it "the frontline of freedom".
0:00:16 > 0:00:18It was a battle fought by the farmers of Britain.
0:00:21 > 0:00:27When war broke out, two-thirds of all Britain's food was imported.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31Now, it fell under threat from a Nazi blockade.
0:00:31 > 0:00:36The government turned to farmers to double home-grown food production.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39If they failed, Britain could be starved into surrender.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42The war started on day one for farmers.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45They were told, "You have to turn this land
0:00:45 > 0:00:48"into a food-producing nation again."
0:00:52 > 0:00:54Now, historian Ruth Goodman
0:00:54 > 0:00:58and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn
0:00:58 > 0:01:01are turning the clock back to the 1940s.
0:01:01 > 0:01:06Over the next year, they'll work Manor Farm in Hampshire
0:01:06 > 0:01:11as it would have been during the Second World War.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18This time, they face the conditions of 1940,
0:01:18 > 0:01:22when Nazi bombers brought death and destruction to Britain.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28The team must deal with rationing...
0:01:28 > 0:01:31That, in total, is your fat ration.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34That's particularly hard to make last the week.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37..make use of every last resource...
0:01:37 > 0:01:41This was an experiment. I can see why people hadn't picked it before.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44..and confront temptation round every corner...
0:01:44 > 0:01:48You're well on your way to becoming a black marketeer.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53..as the race begins to beat the shortages,
0:01:53 > 0:01:56on the wartime farm.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15BIKE BELL
0:02:15 > 0:02:19In 1940, German bombers were targeting Britain's docks...
0:02:22 > 0:02:28..destroying food imports by sea and by air.
0:02:28 > 0:02:34Britain's farmers were ordered to plough up an extra two million acres of land.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36But with so many fields growing food for people,
0:02:36 > 0:02:40there weren't enough to grow food for animals as well.'
0:02:43 > 0:02:45Oooh.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51- Nearly! - Cows are getting hungry.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53Hallelujah!
0:02:53 > 0:02:56If you hit the lever and get these belts running.
0:02:56 > 0:03:01Alex and Peter are preparing feed for their livestock.
0:03:01 > 0:03:06It was cereals like this that were now in short supply.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08Peter's milling up a barley meal.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12It's a classic feed for anything from pigs to cows.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15But of course, barley could be used to make beer,
0:03:15 > 0:03:17could be used to feed human beings.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20So it was considered a waste, really, to feed it to livestock.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23If we were to turn that into flour, make some bread,
0:03:23 > 0:03:26- you could feed a lot more people than you could animals.- Yeah.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29This competition for land
0:03:29 > 0:03:32was debated at the highest levels of government.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34The Ministry of Agriculture
0:03:34 > 0:03:38had been granted emergency powers to control farming.
0:03:38 > 0:03:44They now told farmers the time had come to make a difficult decision.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49- This is a map of Manor Farm, is it? - Yeah. This is Manor Farm.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52The Ministry of Agriculture are breathing down our necks,
0:03:52 > 0:03:55asking us to grow more food for human consumption.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57Essentially, looking at this map,
0:03:57 > 0:04:02there's not a lot of room on our farm for growing wheat.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06- You can't see the map for animals. - Exactly.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Wartime planners knew they could feed more people with a field
0:04:09 > 0:04:11of wheat than a herd of cattle,
0:04:11 > 0:04:16and encouraged farmers to drastically cut livestock numbers.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19You've got to make a call on what can stay and what can go.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23If we're going to keep anything, it ought to be the dairy herd.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27The ministry is saying that the priority should be milk production.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30Then all the other livestock only comes after that.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34In which case, we've got to lose the beef herd.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36These have all got to come out.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39If we're ploughing up the grassland,
0:04:39 > 0:04:41we're not going to have it to feed the sheep.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45I think they're going to have to go.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48Basically, pigs eat the same food as people.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51They're in direct competition, so I think they ought to go.
0:04:51 > 0:04:56- We've got a few chickens and a dairy herd.- That's all that's left.
0:04:56 > 0:05:01Millions of livestock were slaughtered in the wartime cull.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04They weren't the only ones affected.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07It begs the question, with no sheep on the farm...
0:05:07 > 0:05:09ALEX GASPS
0:05:09 > 0:05:12..what happens to little Henry dog?
0:05:14 > 0:05:19We're thinking, "Are we going to eat enough? Are people going to be starving?"
0:05:19 > 0:05:22You look at that thing in the corner and think,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25- "You're eating food that I could be eating."- It's a tough one.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29Imagine being in this situation. You've got the faithful sheepdog.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31Probably grown up with it.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34Many people felt it was a kindness to put them down,
0:05:34 > 0:05:36rather than pets starving to death.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38We just can't get rid of Henry.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42Cos we'll have lost our most intelligent member of the team!
0:05:42 > 0:05:44Got to keep the guy!
0:05:44 > 0:05:49It would be a little bit too much. He'll be useful. We'll need him.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55But we still have to try and find a way to keep a dairy herd going
0:05:55 > 0:05:57throughout the winter months.
0:06:02 > 0:06:03Come on, cows.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07The Ministry of Agriculture wanted dairy farmers to feed their cows
0:06:07 > 0:06:10on a foodstuff packed with protein -
0:06:10 > 0:06:12silage.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17Silage is made by starving freshly cut grass of oxygen,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20preserving its nutrients for feeding over winter.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25With so many fields being ploughed, grass wasn't always available.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27So the boys must find an alternative.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32- Where is it we're going?- We're going to a farm that grows sugar-beet.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36- Sugar-beet. OK.- So get yourself comfy. It's a bit of a drive.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40And I haven't quite mastered the gearbox on this old boy.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44GEARS CRUNCH
0:06:50 > 0:06:53So, we're going to pick up sugar-beet, yeah?
0:06:53 > 0:06:55No, not actually sugar-beet itself.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57We're going to pick up sugar-beet tops.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59You're going to have to swot up.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01Leaflet number four from
0:07:01 > 0:07:04the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries
0:07:04 > 0:07:08tells us all about sugar-beet tops and making silage.
0:07:08 > 0:07:14"Sugar-beet tops are equivalent in feeding value to the same weight of swedes." Wow!
0:07:14 > 0:07:18"In normal weather, they may remain fit to feed for several weeks."
0:07:18 > 0:07:20But...
0:07:20 > 0:07:24"If the supply of tops is too great to feed fresh,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27"the surplus should be ensiled for later use."
0:07:27 > 0:07:29That's the idea, Peter.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33If we make a silage clamp or some kind of drum to get the silage in,
0:07:33 > 0:07:36we can use that feed all the way through the winter.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38How many sugar-beet tops will fit in this car?
0:07:38 > 0:07:41I don't know. I'm sure we'll...
0:07:41 > 0:07:44- The glovebox is quite roomy. - ..get a handful!
0:07:48 > 0:07:51Sugar-beet was a vital wartime crop
0:07:51 > 0:07:54grown to take the place of sugar imports.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57But vast acres of sugar-beet
0:07:57 > 0:08:01created an urgent need for machines to harvest it.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05Farmers were required to master some ingenious new contraptions.
0:08:07 > 0:08:12- Morning, chaps.- Good morning. - Good morning, sir.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14Alex and Peter have come to meet
0:08:14 > 0:08:19the men of the Peterborough Farm Machinery Preservation Society,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22who are trying out one of the earliest of these harvesters,
0:08:22 > 0:08:25which was made in Denmark in the 1940s.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27What are you doing here?
0:08:27 > 0:08:30We're doing a bit of a modification
0:08:30 > 0:08:33to try to improve the performance of the machine.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37So we've caught you at a point of experimentation, have we?
0:08:37 > 0:08:39You have. Yes.
0:08:39 > 0:08:44This is almost certainly a scene you would have seen in 1939, 1940.
0:08:44 > 0:08:50With the outbreak of war and the introduction of this technology,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53farmers are confronted with this innovative equipment
0:08:53 > 0:08:56which they've got to tweak and tinker with to get to work.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59That's exactly what these guys are doing.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02Basically, a lot of fiddling with nuts and bolts.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06The machine does two different jobs.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08One part lifts the beets out of the ground
0:09:08 > 0:09:11and the other cuts the tops off.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15- You've got to steer this?- That's what worried me about that disc.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17- If it don't steer me. - LAUGHTER
0:09:17 > 0:09:22You've got a bit of extra muscle here, Ron, in case you need it.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25- I think we're ready to go, then? - Yes. I'm sure we're ready.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28If the tractor driver's ready.
0:09:30 > 0:09:31Whoa!
0:09:32 > 0:09:36- That's an early sign, Ron, that this thing could go...- Yes.- OK.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39- Didn't go far, did it?- No.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42- It's getting a rhythm going... - Whoa, whoa!
0:09:42 > 0:09:44- Spoke too soon. - Uh-oh.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Why did it miss there?
0:09:46 > 0:09:51- Right, third time lucky. - Try it again?
0:09:51 > 0:09:53Ooh! Whoa!
0:09:58 > 0:10:01So, what are they going to... Ooh! What are they going to do?
0:10:01 > 0:10:03Your guess is as good as mine.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08While the boys focus on making food for the dairy cows,
0:10:08 > 0:10:13back on the farm, there are other animals that won't be so lucky.
0:10:14 > 0:10:20Pigs were seen as a luxury, and bore the brunt of the wartime cull.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25Their numbers fell by nearly 60% over the course of the war,
0:10:25 > 0:10:29and pork became a much sought-after rarity.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32- PIG GRUNTS - Yeah.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35But there was one way around the shortage.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42Ruth's come to talk to stockwoman Debbie Underwood
0:10:42 > 0:10:44about a possible solution.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48I was wondering if we could hang on to one as the pig club.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50What do you mean by pig club?
0:10:50 > 0:10:54It was a wartime scheme to get together and raise a pig communally.
0:10:54 > 0:10:59People bring all their kitchen waste and their garden waste.
0:10:59 > 0:11:00When you slaughter the pig,
0:11:00 > 0:11:03you divide it up between everybody who's fed it.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07It was a way of keeping some bacon and pork in the system.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12Pig clubs were officially encouraged by the government
0:11:12 > 0:11:16and were popular, not just in the countryside, but in cities, too.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18Around 7,000 were set up
0:11:18 > 0:11:21raising 140,000 pigs between them.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24How are we going to choose one?
0:11:24 > 0:11:28- It's quite a nice even litter, isn't it?- Yes, it is.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31- They're good-looking piglets. - They are, yes.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35Maybe if I find some people who'd like to be in the pig club,
0:11:35 > 0:11:40then get together and cook up a batch of swill, feed it to those and see which one's greediest.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42Whichever one's the greediest
0:11:42 > 0:11:46is going to be the one that fattens quickest.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48Lift it out. Get it out there.
0:11:48 > 0:11:53The machine is still causing problems with the beet harvest.
0:11:54 > 0:11:59If they can't get it going, they'll have to lift the crop by hand.
0:11:59 > 0:12:00That's how it should be.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03Ron Knight harvested sugar-beet as a boy
0:12:03 > 0:12:05and remembers how it was done.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08They lay them out in rows like that.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11Then go along and chop them up.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14And that knife has been replaced by that machine.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17Yeah. You have a go chopping that and see how you get on.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20Mind your thumb. You don't get another one.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22Aim where I've marked it.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25Aim where you've marked it.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28- There you are.- That was quite an excessive chop there.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30You're only an inch out, look!
0:12:30 > 0:12:34To harvest this field by hand would take about a month.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38The machine should get it done in two days -
0:12:38 > 0:12:40if they can get it working.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44I think we're getting clogged up with the leaves it's cutting off the top of the beets.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46That we should be taking away for silage.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50I reckon, we need to shovel them out of the way of the machine.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54Looks like there's going to be some work for us here, Peter.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00The tops pulled out of the way, the machine is able to run smoothly.
0:13:02 > 0:13:07Those two forks get underneath the beet. They lift it up.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11As it goes round, the drum knocks all the dirt off,
0:13:11 > 0:13:15then kicks it up into a bucket on the other side.
0:13:15 > 0:13:20When that's full, Willy opens it and it dumps the load onto the ground.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24And this is what it's all about.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Here are our sugar-beet.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30They're a rather unsightly looking turnip.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35But six of these boiled down would make about a kilo of sugar.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38It's amazing to think that during the war,
0:13:38 > 0:13:42these were responsible for producing the domestic sugar ration.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45That's nearly three million tonnes of sugar.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51Sugar-beet was the ultimate wartime crop.
0:13:51 > 0:13:56It was transformed from being a niche product grown by a few farmers
0:13:56 > 0:14:00to being a mainstream crop, farmed all over the country.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15- Hello!- Hello!
0:14:15 > 0:14:18- Hey, you've brought the swill!- Yeah.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21Ruth's got some recruits for her pig club.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23Let's fatten that pig up.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25Oh, fantastic!
0:14:27 > 0:14:32- So, what we got?- Beetroot thinnings, ones that haven't fattened out.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34Tops of old cabbage plants.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38Old potatoes that are no longer suitable for our use.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42Slop it all in. I've got some on the go already, boiling away.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45The scraps will be turned into a soupy swill.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47All good stuff.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51The swill was often collected by one designated person,
0:14:51 > 0:14:54as pig club member Jill Dicks recalls.
0:14:54 > 0:14:59- I like to think, Jill, that your parents were in a pig club during the war.- That's right.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01It was operated by our butcher.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04- What was in the pig swill? - Everything that wasn't eaten.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06We didn't separate any of it out.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10If it was food, it wasn't eaten, it went straight to the pig.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13They did also use to take the bones as well.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16Nowadays, people would have kittens about that.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19They'd be worried about contaminating the food chain.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21Feeding pigs with animal by-products
0:15:21 > 0:15:24was linked to an increase in foot and mouth disease during the war.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28To avoid the hazards, Ruth's pig will only be fed
0:15:28 > 0:15:31with waste from the garden, not the kitchen.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34Are you going to be able to keep up the supply of swill?
0:15:34 > 0:15:36We will try.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38It's towards the end of the year.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41It's always more difficult during the autumn.
0:15:41 > 0:15:47- If we can keep it up, six months down the line, half a pig between us.- That sounds nice.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05The beets will be sent to a factory to be refined into sugar.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09Alex and Peter are collecting the tops,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11which they plan to turn into silage.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17- How are you feeling about this, Peter?- Well, I can see why...
0:16:17 > 0:16:23Obviously, they want to produce as much silage as possible to keep the animals going.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27But this was an experiment. I can see why people hadn't picked it as a silage crop before.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29This is going to be the key
0:16:29 > 0:16:33to keeping a dairy herd in a wartime farm, isn't it?
0:16:33 > 0:16:37This will provide the succulence, providing we get the silo right.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39Providing we get the silo right.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57I've got that first bucket of swill.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01- Ah, let's have a look. - I hope they're hungry.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04Funnily enough, it smells delicious.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07- Yeah.- Let's see if they're hungry. - Let's give this a go.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10Come on! Show us who's a big greedy pig!
0:17:12 > 0:17:14What do you think?
0:17:14 > 0:17:17She's turned her nose up!
0:17:18 > 0:17:22Which is quite easy for her. RUTH LAUGHS
0:17:22 > 0:17:24- This is going well! - This is going really well!
0:17:24 > 0:17:30Ruth's plan is to choose the greediest pig for her pig club.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32Come on, then. Little bit closer.
0:17:32 > 0:17:36- They're quite intrigued by this. - They are, aren't they?
0:17:36 > 0:17:40- They're interested. Not actually eating it yet.- Ooh. Yes, they are.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45- Especially her with the little short tail.- Yes.- Little shorty.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49That's a little female. That might be a nice one to keep.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Let's have a look at her. Grab her.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54PIGLET SQUEALS
0:17:54 > 0:17:56RUTH LAUGHS
0:17:56 > 0:17:58Well, she's certainly noisy.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02- Listen to you!- This is the one with the short tail.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05- She's good, isn't she? - Look at that fat belly on her!
0:18:05 > 0:18:09Yeah, I think so. I think this is the one for us.
0:18:11 > 0:18:16Ruth will keep Shorty and Snowflake but the other pigs have to go.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19Yeah. I know you're cute. Yes, you are.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22One piggy to another.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44Alex and Peter are back at the farm.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46They'll let the sugar-beet tops wilt for a few days
0:18:46 > 0:18:49before turning them into silage for the dairy cows.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53Get on! Get on!
0:18:53 > 0:18:59First, they must deal with the animals they don't want to keep.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01Sheep were considered a low-priority,
0:19:01 > 0:19:07as they needed to eat a lot of food to produce relatively little meat.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11All wartime farmers getting rid of livestock
0:19:11 > 0:19:15had to deal with a new force that would come to dominate their lives -
0:19:15 > 0:19:18the Ministry of Food.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24The idea of the ministry was to control all the produce from farms.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Pretty much anything produced would have to go through the Ministry of Food.
0:19:28 > 0:19:33The arrival of the Ministry of Food meant farmers were answerable
0:19:33 > 0:19:36to two government bodies.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40On this side of the farm gate, they had the Ministry of Agriculture.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44Anything on the farm was the concern of the Ministry of Agriculture.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46But this side of the gate was all about the Ministry of Food.
0:19:46 > 0:19:52When the livestock passed over this threshold, it became the concern of the Ministry of Food.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00The Ministry of Food was responsible for the biggest
0:20:00 > 0:20:03food distribution network attempted anywhere in the world -
0:20:03 > 0:20:07the rationing system.
0:20:07 > 0:20:13I've got here the ration for one person for one week in 1940.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Of course, not everything was rationed.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19You could have as much bread as you could afford,
0:20:19 > 0:20:23as much vegetables as you could get your hands on.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26But a whole range of things were rationed.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29Rationing began in January 1940,
0:20:29 > 0:20:33with bacon the first meat to go on the list.
0:20:33 > 0:20:354oz per person per week.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39You could have it as ham instead, but not as well as.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42It amounts to about four slices.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46Butter, however, is even more scarce.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49Imagine trying to manage on that much butter a week.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52You were allowed other fats.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55This is for cooking fat.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59And that, in total, is your fat ration.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03That's particularly hard to make last the week.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Joining the first wave of rationing was sugar,
0:21:06 > 0:21:08around 12oz per week.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12So, these foods were rationed in January.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15By March, fresh meat had joined the ration.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18Unlike these, which are based on weight,
0:21:18 > 0:21:20meat rationing was done upon value,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23how much money you were allowed to spend.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27If, in 1940,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30you bought a really good piece of meat,
0:21:30 > 0:21:36this is how far your one shilling and tenpence took you.
0:21:36 > 0:21:41So, that would be a week's meat.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45Not bad, but you'd only eat meat, say, two days a week.
0:21:45 > 0:21:46You could be a bit more canny.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49If I bought something like a shin of beef,
0:21:49 > 0:21:54which you can see immediately is a less quality cut,
0:21:54 > 0:21:56I could have an awful lot more.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58That is one pound of shin of beef.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01I could have had three times that amount
0:22:01 > 0:22:06for the same rationed money that I had for that cut of beef.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09And alongside it...
0:22:09 > 0:22:10offal.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14I've got here kidney and liver.
0:22:14 > 0:22:19This amount of offal cost the same as that little bit of beef.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23To a modern eye, you might think, "That's not so bad.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25"That's not so very little meat."
0:22:25 > 0:22:27And it's true.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30But this is the peak of meat eating during the war.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33You were allowed all of that.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37As the war went on, the amount of ration for meat reduced and reduced
0:22:37 > 0:22:40and reduced and reduced.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43Within a year and a half, it was half that size.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47Suddenly, your ration was one of those a week.
0:22:47 > 0:22:53The Ministry of Food made huge efforts to get people to accept the ration system.
0:22:53 > 0:22:58People talked a great deal about "fair shares", about "fairness".
0:22:58 > 0:23:03At this time of scarcity, the whole of the rationing system
0:23:03 > 0:23:08was presented to the population as about being about "fairness".
0:23:08 > 0:23:12Everybody had ration cards, including the royal family.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14That was important to people.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17It made people feel differently about the system.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21But though the scheme was based on fairness,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24those in the countryside had certain advantages.
0:23:32 > 0:23:37The ancient tradition of the hedgerow harvest came into its own,
0:23:37 > 0:23:41as people went out to forage for whatever they could find.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46Henry, you were supposed to be spotting these!
0:23:46 > 0:23:48Even in the depths of autumn,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51nature's bounty could be pressed into use.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57There's no doubt, townies came off a lot worse during the war.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01In the countryside, you've got so many more resources at your fingertips.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05Whether it's finding your mushrooms or acorns on the floor
0:24:05 > 0:24:10or horse chestnuts, sweet chestnuts or blackberries or whatever.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14There's just so much more food about in the countryside.
0:24:15 > 0:24:20There's loads of food, really, when you start looking.
0:24:20 > 0:24:26Alex and Peter are getting on with the job of deciding which farm animals to cull.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31- Ah!- We've got too many, haven't we? - There's definitely too many.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35Unfortunately, the writing's on the wall for some of these old birds
0:24:35 > 0:24:39A chicken lays most of its eggs in the first three years of its life.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42After that, its productivity declines.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46- I reckon that one there.- If I grab her feet, she's going to flap.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50If you grab both feet together, she will flap, but she'll be safe.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52CLUCKING That's the one!
0:24:52 > 0:24:55Straight down. Wrap her up.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Perfectly done. Beautiful.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Quite a red wattle and comb.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04This is a classic sign of an older bird, very deep red.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06And if you look at those feet...
0:25:08 > 0:25:11Look at the... Ooh!
0:25:11 > 0:25:14Got a bit of fight in her, hasn't she?
0:25:14 > 0:25:16She's got calluses on the bottom.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19Quite large calluses. You can tell she's an old bird.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22So, that's a natural bird to cull.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26Come on, then, boy.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29I'm sure there'll be something in here for you.
0:25:31 > 0:25:36It wasn't just wild food that added to rural diets.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40Having more land meant country people were more likely
0:25:40 > 0:25:44to reap the benefit of the Dig For Victory campaign.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47- Terry, you're already here. Sorry. - Hello, Ruth.
0:25:47 > 0:25:53Manor Farm gardener, Terry Budd, will help Ruth decide what to plant in the garden.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58We've got this leaflet from the Ministry of Agriculture,
0:25:58 > 0:26:02encouraging us to grow some of our own veg.
0:26:02 > 0:26:07"Savoys, sprouts, kales... Vegetables all the year round
0:26:07 > 0:26:11"if you dig well and crop wisely."
0:26:11 > 0:26:17The Dig For Victory leaflets were written to help gardeners get fresh produce every month of the year.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21They were widely distributed, or you could write and request one.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25That's a nice sensible plan. There's nothing fancy about it.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29There's nothing exotic. This is your basics through the year.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41There are already some vegetables to harvest in the garden.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44Ruth's making them go as far as she can.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48I'm making a giant, great big, enormous stew.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50Huge, several meals worth.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54Anything that isn't eaten as stew will be turned into soup later.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01Yum! I do like mushrooms.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Ruth's stove is powered by paraffin,
0:27:04 > 0:27:08but along with other types of fuel, paraffin was rationed,
0:27:08 > 0:27:12so cooking the stew for several hours would be a waste.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17There was a popular wartime solution that Ruth's keen to try.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19This is me cunning plan!
0:27:19 > 0:27:22I'm going to make a hay box.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25It's a funny thing, a hay box. There's no heat source.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28It's sort of...just insulation.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33But it does the job that you might think of, say, a slow cooker.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36So, hay.
0:27:36 > 0:27:42I'm making a really thick layer, not just on the bottom of the box,
0:27:42 > 0:27:47but up the sides of the box, and eventually in the lid as well.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50It's all about keeping the heat in.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54The stew that I've got on, when it's really thoroughly boiling,
0:27:54 > 0:27:56and it does have to be thoroughly boiling,
0:27:56 > 0:27:59I can transfer it from there straight into here.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03It's very fuel efficient.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06I'm only doing the cooking for that initial boiling stage.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16Snuggle it down in there.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21And then on with the lid.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24Seal it all up and you've kept the heat in.
0:28:24 > 0:28:30The heat can't escape so the heat stays there, carrying on cooking slowly and gently.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35That should do. Right, cooker off.
0:28:38 > 0:28:39BLOWS
0:28:43 > 0:28:49The perks of living in the countryside didn't go unnoticed by outsiders.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Strangers frequently turned up at farm gates,
0:28:53 > 0:28:58looking for ways to beat the rationing system.
0:28:58 > 0:29:04Mark Roodhouse is a historian who specialises in the wartime black market.
0:29:04 > 0:29:05Hello.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09- Oh, hello! You must be Mark.- Ruth. - Sorry, muddy hands.
0:29:09 > 0:29:14- Nice to meet you.- You're the chap who knows all the dodgy dealings.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17Yes. Where would you like to start?
0:29:17 > 0:29:24Secluded rural locations made the perfect base for black market activities.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26Underneath here...
0:29:27 > 0:29:31..we have various things for our black market experiment.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37Here, we've got red petrol. This would have been used by the army.
0:29:37 > 0:29:42Dyed red by the Armed Forces to stop people stealing petrol,
0:29:42 > 0:29:44which was rationed and in short supply.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48The police would take a sample from your tank and if it was red
0:29:48 > 0:29:52they would know that you had stolen the petrol and they could prosecute.
0:29:52 > 0:29:57What we're going to do is take the dye out of this petrol,
0:29:57 > 0:30:01so that we can put it in the tank of a car,
0:30:01 > 0:30:03without risk of being caught.
0:30:03 > 0:30:10There are lots of anecdotes about how people could get hold of this dyed petrol and remove the dye.
0:30:10 > 0:30:12So I thought that we could...
0:30:12 > 0:30:16have a go and see which of these proves the most effective.
0:30:16 > 0:30:18- Have you done this before?- No.
0:30:18 > 0:30:22I don't think anyone has tried this kind of experiment since the 1940s.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28The first method to be tried is mixing it with aspirin.
0:30:28 > 0:30:30KNOCKING That's supposed to separate out
0:30:30 > 0:30:32the petrol from the dye.
0:30:32 > 0:30:37- That do it?- Yeah. Should do it. - Was there much of this going on?
0:30:37 > 0:30:41There is a surprising amount of fiddling about with petrol,
0:30:41 > 0:30:43particularly on farms.
0:30:43 > 0:30:48Billy Hill, who was one of the big London criminals of the '40s,
0:30:48 > 0:30:52he had a run-in on a farm in Hertfordshire,
0:30:52 > 0:30:55which he used for storing stolen goods.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58He also used it as a base for operations such as this one.
0:31:01 > 0:31:03Maybe I got the wrong brand!
0:31:03 > 0:31:06Maybe it needs a bit of time.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10While they wait to see if the aspirin works,
0:31:10 > 0:31:13Ruth and Mark try filtering some petrol through charcoal.
0:31:13 > 0:31:15Go on. You do the honours.
0:31:15 > 0:31:19You're the one who's been reading about this stuff.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23I think we're getting something, but pour slower.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27It's definitely better than the aspirin,
0:31:27 > 0:31:28but it's a bit pink.
0:31:28 > 0:31:33Lastly, they'll try sieving it through bread.
0:31:33 > 0:31:35This seemed the least likely one.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39- It seemed such a waste of... - Good bread.- Waste of bread.
0:31:39 > 0:31:44- That's holding a lot of petrol. - Ah! It's coming through.- So it is.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47- That looks clear to me. - It flipping does!
0:31:47 > 0:31:51I can't believe that's worked! BOTH LAUGH
0:31:51 > 0:31:54- That is just amazing! - I'll have to eat my words.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58I never thought that would work and it does!
0:31:58 > 0:32:01In some ways, it's the cheapest and easiest of all the methods.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05Yeah, if you've got the bread to waste.
0:32:05 > 0:32:07Bread, of course, wasn't rationed.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11With the dye removed, the petrol could be sold on the black market.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14If you have this, you have your loaf of bread,
0:32:14 > 0:32:18you're well on your way to becoming a black marketeer.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22And pestering farmers, trying to get them into your dodgy dealing ways.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25- Absolutely.- You wicked man, you! - BOTH LAUGH
0:32:28 > 0:32:31Anyone involved in making or selling food
0:32:31 > 0:32:34had opportunities to make a bit on the side.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38Butchers could be notorious black market operators.
0:32:40 > 0:32:42Hello.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44- Looks tasty! - Me?
0:32:44 > 0:32:46LAUGHTER
0:32:46 > 0:32:50Mark has brought Ruth to meet local butcher Simon Broadrib.
0:32:50 > 0:32:54The Ministry of Food has worked out, speaking to various butchers,
0:32:54 > 0:32:57what they should be able to get off a carcass,
0:32:57 > 0:32:59allowing for a bit of wastage.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03But a skilled butcher like Simon can make more joints
0:33:03 > 0:33:06off that carcass than the ministry allows for.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10It's keeping the trimming to a minimum. Nice and lean.
0:33:10 > 0:33:11Under the ration system,
0:33:11 > 0:33:15consumers had to register with a particular butcher.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17So shopping around was not an option.
0:33:17 > 0:33:22Many butchers felt a temptation to sell off parts of the animal
0:33:22 > 0:33:24that would have gone to waste.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28Let me show you the difference between a wartime chop -
0:33:28 > 0:33:30big long bone, all untrimmed -
0:33:30 > 0:33:32to what the customer wants now.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35This lovely lamb cutlet, nice and meaty,
0:33:35 > 0:33:38not too much bone, hardly any fat.
0:33:38 > 0:33:43- Our wartime chop is almost twice as long, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45I'd get more money for that.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48- Well, the customer would get less meat.- Right.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51A lot of your weekly ration, you would take as the bone.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54It's important, if the customer wants a good cut of meat,
0:33:54 > 0:33:57they get to know Simon, and Simon likes them.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01- It changes the relationship between customer and retailer.- I like this.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05The customer's not always right. The retailer's always right.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08By including plenty of bone on their cuts,
0:34:08 > 0:34:13butchers could achieve the weight of sales the Ministry of Food was expecting
0:34:13 > 0:34:18and still have plenty of meat left over to trade on the black market.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21- You've not got too many qualms, have you?- No, no.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24And I deserve it. I'm working hard. No qualms at all.
0:34:24 > 0:34:30If you're making sacrifices in other areas life, aren't you entitled to a bit of home comfort?
0:34:30 > 0:34:34You've sent your sons off to war. Your daughter's in the factory.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37You're working extra shifts, extra hours.
0:34:37 > 0:34:42Surely, there should be a little bit of reward for that extra work.
0:34:46 > 0:34:52By the autumn of 1940, black marketeering was becoming widespread in the countryside.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56At the same time, ships importing food to Britain
0:34:56 > 0:34:58were being sunk by the Nazis.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02ON RADIO: This is the BBC Home Service...
0:35:02 > 0:35:04Among them was the HMS Jervis Bay,
0:35:04 > 0:35:09whose heroic self-sacrifice enabled the rest of her convoy to escape.
0:35:09 > 0:35:14ON RADIO: I would first like to mention the gallant action of the Jervis Bay.
0:35:14 > 0:35:16Without one thought for their own safety,
0:35:16 > 0:35:19her crew immediately attacked the raider,
0:35:19 > 0:35:23without one thought of defeating the enemy.
0:35:23 > 0:35:29Words fail to express the gallantry of the men aboard the Jervis Bay.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34Really emphasises the, um... the cost to human life.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38It makes you think about the value of what they were carrying.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42If you'd been wasting that, doing something a bit dodgy,
0:35:42 > 0:35:46meaning that more stuff had to come in, then you're culpable.
0:35:46 > 0:35:48Many people in 1940,
0:35:48 > 0:35:53who had perhaps not taken the rationing system quite as seriously,
0:35:53 > 0:35:57may then have reflected back on the severity of what they were doing.
0:36:01 > 0:36:06It's time to see whether Ruth's hay box has done its job.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17It's one of the best stews I've ever eaten.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21- Those hay boxes are really efficient.- Less fuel, I suppose.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24Less fuel and less time as well.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26Tea.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31Brought in from the four corners of the empire, Peter.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34Thanks to brave merchant shippers.
0:36:34 > 0:36:36We'll drink to them.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40To the merchant seamen.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45OWL HOOTS
0:36:49 > 0:36:53With merchant ships taking a hammering throughout 1940,
0:36:53 > 0:36:55imports fell rapidly.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58Livestock farmers in particular felt the impact,
0:36:58 > 0:37:01with imports of animal feed falling by over a third.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04Where is that dog? Henry! Come on, Henry.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06Mind of his own.
0:37:06 > 0:37:10Home-grown alternatives, like silage, took on a new urgency.
0:37:10 > 0:37:13The boys are ready to have a go at making it.
0:37:13 > 0:37:18The first step is building an air-tight container, or silo,
0:37:18 > 0:37:20for the sugar-beet tops.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24But there's some bad news.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28- We have the remnants of a sugar-beet crop.- Look at this!
0:37:28 > 0:37:32We've got hoof prints, cow poo. Wonder who the culprit was!
0:37:33 > 0:37:38The cows got into the field where the tops were kept, and eaten them.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42They've eaten all the green material and left us with the sugar-beet.
0:37:42 > 0:37:48They've had a good old snack on what is, essentially, their winter feed.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51- So they've raided the larder early. - They really don't understand.
0:37:51 > 0:37:55- This is all for their benefit. - Yeah.
0:37:56 > 0:38:01We have to go out there with the scythes, with the forks and get some more material.
0:38:06 > 0:38:11There was plenty of official advice about unorthodox ways to make silage.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14It's a measure of how desperate the government had got
0:38:14 > 0:38:18that they were advocating harvesting nettles, which is a weed.
0:38:18 > 0:38:25Nettles are very nutritious - good iron content, good protein content.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28They just grow everywhere.
0:38:29 > 0:38:34It isn't just scraps to go IN the silo that the boys need to gather.
0:38:38 > 0:38:43They must also forage for materials to make the structure itself.
0:38:43 > 0:38:48All of the metal in Britain in 1940, of course, would be used
0:38:48 > 0:38:51to build bombers, fighter planes.
0:38:52 > 0:38:57So we're going to have to make do with scrap from the farmyard.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03- It's a lot of work.- It's a hell of a lot of work.- We need some help.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06I should get down the Labour Exchange
0:39:06 > 0:39:11and see if we can't pick ourselves up a couple of land girls to help,
0:39:11 > 0:39:13because we're going to need it.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16The wartime drive for food production
0:39:16 > 0:39:19meant extra labour was desperately needed.
0:39:19 > 0:39:25An intense campaign encouraged women to join in the battle of the fields.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28Thousands responded, and the Women's Land Army
0:39:28 > 0:39:32soon became a feature of farms across the country.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40Historians Nicola Verdon and Caroline Bressey
0:39:40 > 0:39:46have come to help build the silo, a classic job for the indispensable land girls.
0:39:46 > 0:39:51- This is Peter.- Hi. - Nicola and Caroline are our land girls for the day.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55Nicola, shall we get cracking on sorting this tin out?
0:39:55 > 0:39:59- If you do that, we'll go grab some tops to stick in it.- Sure.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01For when... IF we finally build it.
0:40:03 > 0:40:09- Henry's not enjoying this damp ground.- I don't think anyone's enjoying this damp ground.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12Land girls worked at least 50 hours a week,
0:40:12 > 0:40:19with full-timers paid roughly two-thirds the wages of male agricultural labourers.
0:40:19 > 0:40:24Nicola Verdon has written extensively on the history of women in the British countryside.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27Was there a clamour to join the Women's Land Army?
0:40:27 > 0:40:32Certainly, it was a very attractive proposition for some women,
0:40:32 > 0:40:35who saw it as a way to get out the city centres
0:40:35 > 0:40:38and to enjoy the outdoor life.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42They may have had a certain image of what farm work was like.
0:40:42 > 0:40:47The government propaganda and posters were rather glamorous.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50The reality when they got here was rather different.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54It must have been a steep learning curve for many of these girls,
0:40:54 > 0:40:58coming from the town to a completely alien environment
0:40:58 > 0:41:00and an alien set of jobs.
0:41:00 > 0:41:04Farmers, and also a lot of women themselves, had to be persuaded
0:41:04 > 0:41:08that they were both physically capable of doing the work
0:41:08 > 0:41:10and doing it well.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13There was quite a lot of prejudice amongst the farming community.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15But women proved themselves.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19They proved that they were physically capable of doing the work,
0:41:19 > 0:41:23that they were honest and honourable workers.
0:41:23 > 0:41:25A lot of farmers were won over.
0:41:25 > 0:41:27Certainly a great story.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31And we're incredibly indebted to you for your help today.
0:41:31 > 0:41:35Otherwise, I don't think we'd get this done in the time we have.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40The number of women in work rose by over two million
0:41:40 > 0:41:47between 1939 and 1943, and voluntary organisations also flourished.
0:41:49 > 0:41:51..in the orchard.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54The tree round the back's got quite a lot on.
0:41:54 > 0:41:58Ruth is getting involved with the Women's Institute, or WI,
0:41:58 > 0:42:00and has roped in her daughter Eve
0:42:00 > 0:42:04to help with her first task - food preservation.
0:42:04 > 0:42:07So, Mum, what exactly is the WI?
0:42:07 > 0:42:09It's a women's organisation
0:42:09 > 0:42:15that was very much part of that whole desire to do your bit
0:42:15 > 0:42:20and to try and sort out some of the problems that war had caused the population.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24Food preservation was high on their agenda.
0:42:24 > 0:42:29Over 5,000 tonnes of food that would have just rotted on the floor
0:42:29 > 0:42:31and been eaten by wasps and things.
0:42:31 > 0:42:36- 5,000 tonnes!- That's a lot. - Extra food because of this.
0:42:36 > 0:42:41You could feel that every apple you pick is one in the eye for Hitler.
0:42:41 > 0:42:42LAUGHTER
0:42:42 > 0:42:47- He ain't gonna starve us out cos we're gonna sort it!- Yeah.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51Ruth will collect apples from all over the farm,
0:42:51 > 0:42:56then take them to a WI centre to be preserved.
0:42:59 > 0:43:04At the silo, the girls of the Land Army are proving their worth.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08This one's a bit shorter than that one.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12Doesn't matter about the length, but the camber will be the same.
0:43:12 > 0:43:17- Right. OK.- The internal circumference. Does that make sense?
0:43:17 > 0:43:19I haven't got a clue what you're talking about!
0:43:19 > 0:43:23I've worked with Peter for years so I know his strange language.
0:43:23 > 0:43:28But not all women were accepted into its ranks.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35An infamous rejection was that of London-born Amelia King,
0:43:35 > 0:43:38who tried to join the Land Army in 1943.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45Caroline Bressey has studied Amelia's case.
0:43:45 > 0:43:49Initially, she was rejected from the Land Army, from serving,
0:43:49 > 0:43:51because she was a black woman.
0:43:51 > 0:43:56- The woman who was recruiting noted the colour of her skin...- Right.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59..and suggested that it might be a problem.
0:43:59 > 0:44:01Amelia was rejected four times.
0:44:01 > 0:44:03Eventually, she went to her MP
0:44:03 > 0:44:07and questions were raised in the House of Commons.
0:44:07 > 0:44:09That's when it hit the headlines.
0:44:09 > 0:44:14Amelia's plight was taken up by the national press.
0:44:17 > 0:44:22The Land Army claimed that no farmer would employ a black woman.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26But one farmer went out of his way to challenge this -
0:44:26 > 0:44:28Alfred Roberts.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34He said, "If she's willing to work, I'm happy to take her on."
0:44:34 > 0:44:37So she said, "Yes, I'd like to do that job,
0:44:37 > 0:44:41"but only if the Land Army employs me as a land girl."
0:44:41 > 0:44:45It was a matter of principle that she wanted them to take her on.
0:44:45 > 0:44:49The fact that he'd come forward undermined their argument
0:44:49 > 0:44:52of prejudice with the farmers, so they took her on.
0:44:53 > 0:44:57The story was especially famous at Manor Farm,
0:44:57 > 0:45:00because Alfred Roberts was a neighbouring farmer.
0:45:00 > 0:45:05- Where are you in this photograph? - I'm in the background somewhere.
0:45:05 > 0:45:10His daughter, Betty Rudd, worked side-by-side with Amelia King.
0:45:10 > 0:45:14- Is that you there?- That's me. - You're right behind Amelia.
0:45:14 > 0:45:15Right behind her, yes.
0:45:15 > 0:45:22Betty, your father was the farmer who gave Amelia King a job.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25Yes. He was, yes.
0:45:25 > 0:45:27Do you know why he did that?
0:45:27 > 0:45:30Well, because he felt so strongly about it.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33Why should she be refused to work?
0:45:33 > 0:45:37It was in the headlines in every paper, that particular time.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39Nobody would accept her.
0:45:39 > 0:45:44So he immediately got hold of the phone number and phoned these people
0:45:44 > 0:45:46and said, "She can come here."
0:45:46 > 0:45:50- Amelia came and she was part of the gang?- She was.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53- She enjoyed her time here? - She did.
0:45:53 > 0:45:58She was very good, and also the other girls were good to her, they accepted her.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01It was hard work, very hard work.
0:46:01 > 0:46:08When you think of it, looking back, they all said it seemed like five years just went like that.
0:46:08 > 0:46:11Because we were enjoying ourselves so much doing things
0:46:11 > 0:46:13for the country.
0:46:13 > 0:46:15ALEX: Growing food.
0:46:15 > 0:46:17Which was the essential thing.
0:46:17 > 0:46:19After her time in the Land Army,
0:46:19 > 0:46:23Amelia King disappears from the pages of history.
0:46:23 > 0:46:28It's believed she died in 1995, but her actions as a young woman
0:46:28 > 0:46:32helped to chip away at the prejudice in British society,
0:46:32 > 0:46:36as wartime pressures forced barriers to be broken down.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46Although women were doing the same jobs as men,
0:46:46 > 0:46:48they were still expected to run the home.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52The Women's Institute advised their members to let nothing go to waste.
0:46:54 > 0:46:59I got this great book come through from the WI, Thrift Crafts.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02It's got all sorts of things, including what to do with feathers.
0:47:02 > 0:47:07Which, considering we've just had to cull the chickens, makes sense.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10The WI put out wartime publications
0:47:10 > 0:47:13with a heavy emphasis on reviving old-fashioned rural skills.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17Using every feather off every bird you pluck,
0:47:17 > 0:47:21people in the countryside have been doing that for centuries.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24But it had fallen out of favour.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28You didn't really need to. Things were more available in the shops.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31Here we all are, at the beginning of the '40s,
0:47:31 > 0:47:35suddenly having to go back to this older, more thrifty way.
0:47:35 > 0:47:40The WI were in pole position to be the ones to disseminate knowledge
0:47:40 > 0:47:44to a much wider section of the population.
0:47:44 > 0:47:49The book recommends using the chicken's wing feathers to make dusters.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53As well as being the very best feathers for feather dusters,
0:47:53 > 0:47:56the wing feathers are some of the hardest to pull.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59You'd expect it really, wouldn't you?
0:47:59 > 0:48:02You've got this nice strong quill at the bottom,
0:48:02 > 0:48:05which is what makes them so good for the job.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13It doesn't say in the book how you make the feather duster,
0:48:13 > 0:48:15it just says that you should.
0:48:15 > 0:48:19I thought I'd probably tie them with some thread.
0:48:19 > 0:48:21My theory is,
0:48:21 > 0:48:26if I start with a little... like a posy or a tuft to do the top.
0:48:26 > 0:48:27# Do-do-do-do #
0:48:27 > 0:48:29I wonder if this is going to work.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35Binding the feathers in a spiral
0:48:35 > 0:48:39makes a duster that will get into every crevice.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47Quite serviceable, I think.
0:48:47 > 0:48:51Thank goodness for the WI and all their little booklets.
0:48:55 > 0:49:00With the silo built, the team can start filling it.
0:49:00 > 0:49:03First, they must make careful preparation
0:49:03 > 0:49:07to ensure the silage material isn't contaminated with soil.
0:49:07 > 0:49:13Otherwise, unwanted bacteria will develop and ruin the taste of the cows' milk.
0:49:13 > 0:49:15I think that's a pretty good covering.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18Right, pitchforks. Choose your weapon.
0:49:18 > 0:49:21- Your work is in there, Nicola. - Do I stay in here?- Stay in there.
0:49:21 > 0:49:25As Caroline forks it over, with our help...
0:49:25 > 0:49:27- You got your fork handy? - I have.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31You're going to tread it like an Italian treading grapes.
0:49:32 > 0:49:37- So am I trying to kind of shift it? - It's the trampling down that counts.
0:49:41 > 0:49:45Treading the material forces oxygen out of it,
0:49:45 > 0:49:49which in turn allows the nutrients to be preserved - a bit like pickling.
0:49:49 > 0:49:53It's actually very hard work. I'm quite out of breath now.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56But it's getting higher.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59Although silage had been known about for centuries,
0:49:59 > 0:50:04until the Second World War, many farmers in Britain had never tried making it.
0:50:04 > 0:50:08This really is at the forefront of 1940s farming.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11All their lives, farmers had been making hay,
0:50:11 > 0:50:13and that was really very much more of an art form.
0:50:13 > 0:50:17Making silage was a science that they didn't really understand.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20So they were deeply, deeply sceptical.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23The government wanted this to happen on every farm,
0:50:23 > 0:50:26but the reality was it happened on very, very few farms.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29We would have been innovators of our age.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36- Where do you want it? - That far corner.
0:50:48 > 0:50:52The Women's Institute preserving day has begun,
0:50:52 > 0:50:56staffed by ladies of the Hampshire WI.
0:51:01 > 0:51:05Throughout the war, centres like this operated all over the country,
0:51:05 > 0:51:09preserving thousands of tonnes of produce for the nation.
0:51:13 > 0:51:15Ann Stamper is the WI's archivist
0:51:15 > 0:51:19and has come along to supervise proceedings.
0:51:21 > 0:51:26The sheer numbers of tins, the sheer numbers of pounds of fruit is huge!
0:51:26 > 0:51:28Yes, yes.
0:51:28 > 0:51:32Just on this one page here,
0:51:32 > 0:51:3768 and a half pounds of fruit, 41 and a half pound of sugar,
0:51:37 > 0:51:41and that yielded 74 pounds of jam and jelly.
0:51:41 > 0:51:44- Free.- Free, yeah.- In one day.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51Though the WI was famous for jam making,
0:51:51 > 0:51:55that wasn't the only preserving method at their disposal.
0:51:56 > 0:52:01In 1940, home canning machines were donated to Britain from North America.
0:52:03 > 0:52:07But home front housewives had never seen this technology before.
0:52:07 > 0:52:11- You don't hear much about home canning, do you?- Not very much.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14- Have you done it? - I haven't done it, no.- Really?
0:52:14 > 0:52:18- No.- Has anybody here ever canned any fruit?
0:52:18 > 0:52:21ALL: No.
0:52:21 > 0:52:23Bottled and jammed but not canned.
0:52:23 > 0:52:27I hope we get this right, then. Oops.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30Ruth's about to put this machine into action
0:52:30 > 0:52:33for the first time since the Second World War.
0:52:33 > 0:52:35Line it up carefully.
0:52:35 > 0:52:37- It sits in there.- That's quite easy.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39So, lock it in.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42Clunk. And now...
0:52:42 > 0:52:46Got to turn the handle at least 20 times.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50One, two...four, five, six,
0:52:50 > 0:52:52seven, eight, nine, ten, 11,
0:52:52 > 0:52:5512, 13, 14, 15...
0:52:57 > 0:53:0020! Did anything happen there?
0:53:04 > 0:53:07It's stuck.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12- Well, it seems to have worked! - ALL LAUGH
0:53:12 > 0:53:14So this has got to be sterilised.
0:53:14 > 0:53:17- This is what this other pan of water's for.- That's right.
0:53:17 > 0:53:23So we sort of cook it in the can. I think we can get the hang of this.
0:53:26 > 0:53:28After being peeled and cored,
0:53:28 > 0:53:32the apples are covered in sugar syrup so no oxygen gets in.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35Working closely with the Ministry of Food,
0:53:35 > 0:53:39the WI sent their produce straight into the rationing system,
0:53:39 > 0:53:41with no reward for themselves.
0:53:43 > 0:53:48- And all these people in here would have been volunteers.- Oh, yes.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51These women or other WI members would be coming in here
0:53:51 > 0:53:55from nine in the morning till five in the evening.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59So, as a volunteer, you're making a gift of your apples,
0:53:59 > 0:54:03making a donation of your time, you get nothing back, personally.
0:54:03 > 0:54:07No, it's your contribution, as a countrywoman, to winning the war.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28- OK, Peter, are you ready with the molasses?- We are, Alex.
0:54:28 > 0:54:33This is another by-product of the sugar-beet industry.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36OK? It's a bit like brown sauce, this stuff.
0:54:36 > 0:54:41It's really sweet, but it was absolutely crucial to making silage.
0:54:41 > 0:54:43Whereas sugar was rationed,
0:54:43 > 0:54:50the government were so keen for farmers to make silage they gave them dispensation to use this.
0:54:52 > 0:54:56Molasses was seen as vital to the preservation process,
0:54:56 > 0:55:00helping fermentation of the crop to begin.
0:55:00 > 0:55:04The government encouraged all wartime farmers to make silage,
0:55:04 > 0:55:08and though it never became widely popular, levels of production
0:55:08 > 0:55:13are estimated by some to have reached a million tonnes.
0:55:14 > 0:55:19The ladies of the Women's Institute are celebrating a successful canning drive.
0:55:19 > 0:55:23Together, the WI and the Land Army engaged
0:55:23 > 0:55:26almost 600,000 women in the war effort.
0:55:26 > 0:55:29The two organisations were headed by the same person,
0:55:29 > 0:55:33Lady Gertrude Denman, who did everything she could
0:55:33 > 0:55:35to ensure they helped each other out.
0:55:35 > 0:55:41In this copy of Home And Country, which was the WI magazine,
0:55:41 > 0:55:45Lady Denman actually wrote a letter...
0:55:46 > 0:55:50..which she actually headed "An appeal to farmers' wives".
0:55:50 > 0:55:53Oh, yeah.
0:55:53 > 0:55:58"The prejudice against a woman attempting to do a man's work dies hard."
0:55:58 > 0:56:00That's true enough, isn't it?
0:56:00 > 0:56:04"The progress of the Land Army in the past year shows that it can be overcome."
0:56:04 > 0:56:10She goes on in that letter to suggest that one of the ways WI members can help
0:56:10 > 0:56:13is by inviting land girls into their houses
0:56:13 > 0:56:16to have a bath,
0:56:16 > 0:56:19if the place where they're working hasn't got a bath.
0:56:19 > 0:56:23She suggests they come as guests to the WI meetings.
0:56:23 > 0:56:25That did happen. Quite a few joined the WI.
0:56:28 > 0:56:30You're getting higher.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33In tribute to their sisters in the field,
0:56:33 > 0:56:36the ladies of the WI are rounding off the day
0:56:36 > 0:56:40with the Land Army's official anthem, Back To The Land.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43PIANO ACCOMPANIMENT
0:56:43 > 0:56:46# Back to the land We must all lend a hand
0:56:46 > 0:56:51# To the farms and the fields we must go
0:56:51 > 0:56:55# There's a job to be done Though we can't fire a gun
0:56:55 > 0:57:00# We can still do our bit with the hoe
0:57:00 > 0:57:06# When your muscles are strong You will soon get along
0:57:06 > 0:57:11# And you'll think that a country life's grand... #
0:57:11 > 0:57:15- Race against time, this. - Yeah. Rain's coming.
0:57:16 > 0:57:18Got to move faster.
0:57:18 > 0:57:22A little over that there. Yeah.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25- Not a bad job, that. - A brilliant job.
0:57:25 > 0:57:27It makes you realise how hard work it was.
0:57:27 > 0:57:30We're extremely grateful for your help.
0:57:30 > 0:57:36With autumn's bounty safely preserved, the team are ready to face the winter,
0:57:36 > 0:57:39and the shortages that wartime would continue to bring.
0:57:39 > 0:57:42# ..all you can help in the war
0:57:42 > 0:57:47# If you come with us back to the land. #
0:57:47 > 0:57:51- Hip, hip! - Hooray!
0:57:51 > 0:57:58Next time...an influx of evacuees means a shortage of space.
0:57:58 > 0:58:03It's warm, it's dry, better than being in the city centre of Southampton.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06Emergency repairs are needed.
0:58:06 > 0:58:10- Whoa! Whoa! - Peter, what are you doing?
0:58:10 > 0:58:14And the team prepare for Christmas under fire.
0:58:14 > 0:58:18Put it to the back of your mind and have what fun one can, while you can.
0:58:18 > 0:58:22Make the most of it while you can.