0:00:02 > 0:00:05The Great British Countryside -
0:00:05 > 0:00:09setting for one of the most pivotal battles of the Second World War.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13Churchill called it "the front line of freedom".
0:00:16 > 0:00:19It was a battle fought by the farmers of Britain.
0:00:21 > 0:00:26When war broke out, two-thirds of all Britain's food was imported -
0:00:26 > 0:00:30now it fell under threat from a Nazi blockade.
0:00:32 > 0:00:37The government turned to farmers to double home-grown food production.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39The plough had become a weapon of war.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42It was the farmer's principle weapon of war.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45If they failed, Britain could be starved into surrender.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54Now, archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn,
0:00:54 > 0:01:00and historian Ruth Goodman, are running Manor Farm in Hampshire,
0:01:00 > 0:01:02as it would have been during Second World War.
0:01:07 > 0:01:08Yes!
0:01:08 > 0:01:12By 1944, the tide of war was about to turn
0:01:12 > 0:01:15in favour of the Allies on D-Day.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23Farmers would be crucial to its success.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26Growing thousands of acres of flax
0:01:26 > 0:01:29to make parachutes, ropes, tents and aircraft
0:01:29 > 0:01:31critical to the D-Day landings.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38Accommodating prisoners of war to bring in the harvest
0:01:38 > 0:01:41and pressing their racing pigeons into service
0:01:41 > 0:01:44to work as top secret military messengers.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46Who would have thought the pigeon
0:01:46 > 0:01:49would have played such a crucial role at D-Day?
0:01:49 > 0:01:53This is the untold story of the countryside at war.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12By 1944, Britain had been at war for five long years.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18The Allies now had the upper hand,
0:02:18 > 0:02:24controlling the skies of Europe and shipping in the Atlantic,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27so imports from the United States could again flow into Britain.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30But, instead of shipping food,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34they were charged with importing military hardware.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36So, for the farmers of Britain,
0:02:36 > 0:02:40their drive to double home-grown crop production went on.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43Meanwhile, the Allies were assembling
0:02:43 > 0:02:46the largest naval task force in history.
0:02:46 > 0:02:51The aim - to land 160,000 troops on the beaches of Normandy,
0:02:51 > 0:02:54to liberate France from the Nazis.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00This was the prelude to a full-scale invasion.
0:03:00 > 0:03:06Three and a half million troops, 7,000 boats and 54,000 vehicles
0:03:06 > 0:03:09lay in wait in the southern counties of England.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12- They ours, Peter? - No, they're Yanks, they are.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15- Yanks?- Yeah, they're American.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18The military took over 11 million acres of land -
0:03:18 > 0:03:20a fifth of Britain -
0:03:20 > 0:03:24for camps, bases, munitions dumps and training grounds.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27Much of this was valuable farmland.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31Farmers like ourselves would be watching convoys like this
0:03:31 > 0:03:33and be thinking, "Look, guys.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36"Be careful, we've got hay there, we've got wheat here,
0:03:36 > 0:03:38"about to drive into the flax field."
0:03:38 > 0:03:42The amount of land that must have been requisitioned from farmers to actually house them.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45The thing is, they've got to do their manoeuvres,
0:03:45 > 0:03:47so they've to do this somewhere, Peter.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50Oh, yeah, yeah, and they're all in single file,
0:03:50 > 0:03:55so any damage to the crop is going to be absolutely minimum.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59But damage, nonetheless, is a bugbear for people like us,
0:03:59 > 0:04:02who have spent the whole war doing everything they can to grow these crops.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14Key to the success of D-Day was flax,
0:04:14 > 0:04:19from which fibres used make linen and canvas were extracted.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21Before the war, this had been imported
0:04:21 > 0:04:24from countries like Russia and Eastern Europe,
0:04:24 > 0:04:25but, with supplies cut off,
0:04:25 > 0:04:28it fell to the wartime farmer to meet demand.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33Parachute webbing, fighter aircraft fuselages, tents,
0:04:33 > 0:04:37ropes and hoses required vast quantities,
0:04:37 > 0:04:41so the government instructed farmers to boost production.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45It was so important to the military that, over the course of the war,
0:04:45 > 0:04:50production was increased from 1,000 to 60,000 acres.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55Four months ago, the team planted a crop of flax on Manor Farm.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57It SHOULD soon be ready to harvest,
0:04:57 > 0:04:59but it's not looking good.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04We want the plants to be, what, about a metre high?
0:05:04 > 0:05:06At least waist high.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10The problem is just... we have had this year,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12and, of course, this didn't happen in the war.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16In the war, actually, we were gifted with really quite good summers,
0:05:16 > 0:05:18proving that God was on our side.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21But, unfortunately, God isn't on our side in the present
0:05:21 > 0:05:25because we've have had more rain in this last month
0:05:25 > 0:05:28- than since records began.- Yeah.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30Six inches in a month.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34And it's not a case of flax doing bad and everything else doing well,
0:05:34 > 0:05:38Because not even the weeds are coping with the water logging here.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45Well, it is heavy clay soils, and this is the worst soil for flax.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49And I suppose the War Ag at the time were forcing farmers
0:05:49 > 0:05:50to go against their intuition
0:05:50 > 0:05:55and grow crops on land they knew wasn't suitable for that crop.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57And everything's conspired against us.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04To stand any chance of survival,
0:06:04 > 0:06:07the flax needs a spell of dry, warm weather.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Another threat to the flax crop are wood pigeons,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16who eat the seeds before they've even had chance to grow.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21The team hopes their bird scarer will keep them at bay.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27But there was another type of pigeon, the carrier pigeon.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30Often raced by wartime farmers as a hobby,
0:06:30 > 0:06:32they possessed a unique skill
0:06:32 > 0:06:35of always returning to their home loft when released.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39Before D-Day, radio blackouts were imposed
0:06:39 > 0:06:41to keep invasion plans secret.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45So carrier pigeons were used to carry messages from the front line.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49Oh, Chris, hello!
0:06:49 > 0:06:54Historian Dr Chris Williams is showing Ruth how the system worked.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58I've brought you two pigeon containers.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02Every bomber that goes over Germany, or every coastal command aircraft,
0:07:02 > 0:07:04has two pigeons in it to give a distress signal,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07particularly if it has to land in the sea.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10They've not got the radio, they're in the dinghy
0:07:10 > 0:07:13they let the pigeon off, the pigeon flies back to its own home loft
0:07:13 > 0:07:17and that can be the difference between life and death for a bomber crew.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21When the radio doesn't work, you use an animal instead.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24The military had no time to train up enough birds,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27so civilian racing pigeons were often used.
0:07:27 > 0:07:32Many were parachuted behind enemy lines in France,
0:07:32 > 0:07:33picked up by the Resistance,
0:07:33 > 0:07:38and then given messages with intelligence to courier back home.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41The box would be dropped on this parachute -
0:07:41 > 0:07:44quite a small parachute but pigeons land well
0:07:44 > 0:07:47and they're quite light - over enemy-held territory.
0:07:47 > 0:07:52This was done about 16,000 times between 1941 and 1944.
0:07:52 > 0:07:57That's quite amazing, isn't it? In a war that has radar, radio,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00sort of modern communications, to all intents and purposes,
0:08:00 > 0:08:02they are still using carrier pigeons.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05This is one of the interesting things about this war,
0:08:05 > 0:08:07is the different sorts of technology.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09You've got the Allies, who invented the atom bomb,
0:08:09 > 0:08:13and they're using hundreds of thousands of pigeons as well.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15I've heard somewhere, I'm not frankly quite sure where,
0:08:15 > 0:08:18that this medal that's given to animals for bravery
0:08:18 > 0:08:21has been won more times by pigeons than by any other species.
0:08:21 > 0:08:22That's right.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26During the Second World War, pigeons got about 30 of them,
0:08:26 > 0:08:30horses about three, dogs about 18, pigeons were way ahead with this.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32We've actually got one here.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34This is the Dickin Medal,
0:08:34 > 0:08:38which was awarded to a bird called Mercury
0:08:38 > 0:08:41of the Army Pigeon Service, Special Section.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45Mercury was a spy pigeon.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49Now if your pigeons worked well for the RAF in the routine way,
0:08:49 > 0:08:51particularly if they can home across sea well,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54they may get picked up for special service.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58Mercury carried a vital message 480 miles
0:08:58 > 0:09:00from the Danish Resistance to Britain,
0:09:00 > 0:09:04making her the most celebrated of all wartime carrier pigeons.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07But, although this homing instinct came naturally,
0:09:07 > 0:09:10carrier pigeons had to build up their stamina
0:09:10 > 0:09:12to fly such long distances
0:09:12 > 0:09:15and farmers would have trained their own birds.
0:09:15 > 0:09:20What you've also got here is a diary of a pigeon trainer,
0:09:20 > 0:09:24and what he's got is records of how he's sending his birds away.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28"Saturday 12th December - two more young birds. All flying well,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31"except blue cock with bad foot."
0:09:31 > 0:09:35He's recording every day how his loft is working,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38how he's managing to train them to know where they are
0:09:38 > 0:09:39and to come back to his loft.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42If you're going to be training pigeons,
0:09:42 > 0:09:44you'll need a basket in which you can take them out
0:09:44 > 0:09:46and start releasing them to train them.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50So this is your basket you'll be needing to have, sooner or later.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52- Oh, right.- That could be a bit of a task for you, I think.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55That looks a bit more challenging, doesn't it?
0:09:59 > 0:10:03This summer is turning out to be one of the rainiest on record,
0:10:03 > 0:10:09so Alex is making preparations for what looks like being a damp flax harvest.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13This my old raincoat. It's seen better days, to be honest.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16It's developing a few holes here and there.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20But one of the major problems is that it's just no longer waterproof.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22And what's happening is the rain, once it gets in,
0:10:22 > 0:10:26gets across the shoulders and you get all crampy and rheumatic.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30So it is in desperate need of a waterproofing.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33He's making a traditional waterproofing solution
0:10:33 > 0:10:35with ingredients found on the farm.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40This is our beeswax from June. We extracted the honey from this
0:10:40 > 0:10:44and the wax has been kept in this muslin sheet.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47So that's going to be the first ingredient.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50Still a bit sticky, so we'll get that in there.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56Next, Alex is adding linseed oil, produced from flax seed.
0:10:56 > 0:11:01It's highly flammable, so he's taking great care when warming it.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04It's got perfect waterproofing properties, this stuff.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06So that's going to go in with the wax.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13This is the most dangerous part of the enterprise.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15This is where...
0:11:15 > 0:11:16we add...
0:11:16 > 0:11:18the paraffin.
0:11:18 > 0:11:23The thing with the paraffin is it just really thins the mixture.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28And, ideally, what I'll do is hang this up to dry
0:11:28 > 0:11:30and the paraffin will actually sort of evaporate off.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33Now it will leave a bit of a smell for a while,
0:11:33 > 0:11:36but I'm not too bothered about that.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42Right. We've got the perfect consistency now.
0:11:42 > 0:11:43So we're all ready to go.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46The only problem is it's incredibly hard trying to paint
0:11:46 > 0:11:49onto one of these jackets, just on a table.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51I've got a bit of an idea.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53Peter?
0:11:53 > 0:11:54Ooh, you all right?
0:11:54 > 0:11:57- Yeah. Can you give me a hand a second?- Yeah, sure.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05We'll prepare that later.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09Can you just turn around a second? Just run with me on this.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12I'm just try this on for size, Peter. Just try this on.
0:12:15 > 0:12:16If you don't mind,
0:12:16 > 0:12:22I'm now going to paint on some boiling hot wax and oil.
0:12:22 > 0:12:23How does that sound?
0:12:23 > 0:12:25ALEX LAUGHS
0:12:30 > 0:12:33It feels OK, I can't feel the temperature,
0:12:33 > 0:12:35but I can just feel your gentle brush strokes
0:12:35 > 0:12:37massaging my shoulders.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45Tah-dah!
0:12:45 > 0:12:46Perfect.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49While they wait for a break in the weather,
0:12:49 > 0:12:52Ruth's making a pigeon basket.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56200,000 carrier pigeons were used by the military,
0:12:56 > 0:12:59so the demand for baskets was huge.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02Like many traditional crafts,
0:13:02 > 0:13:06basket making saw a massive resurgence in the war.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10It's amazing the variety of baskets that were being made during the war.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12And so many of them with a military purpose.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14I mean, there were the agricultural baskets -
0:13:14 > 0:13:17the potato-harvesting baskets -
0:13:17 > 0:13:21there were the domestic baskets for carrying shopping, and people still needed that stuff.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25But then there was a huge range of hampers for parachutes
0:13:25 > 0:13:27and baskets for pigeons.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30So there seems to have been an enormous demand,
0:13:30 > 0:13:33and a growing demand, for pigeon baskets during the war.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36With all these carrier pigeons being needed
0:13:36 > 0:13:41to take secret messages here and there, how do you move the pigeons? You've got to move them somehow.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47Ruth's made the base of the basket, now she needs to form the sides.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52Oh, gawd, this is where it gets hard.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54Ugh! Right.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58Somehow these have all got to go upright.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03It's amazing, too, how the strength comes to it.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06These are really flimsy-looking bits of stuff, aren't they?
0:14:06 > 0:14:09yet the whole of that is made of just intertwining,
0:14:09 > 0:14:11and it's as rigid as heck.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18I'm really enjoying this, I really am.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20It's probably the sort of basket
0:14:20 > 0:14:24that would make a professional willow worker wince.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27So many of these crafts...
0:14:27 > 0:14:31Yes, it takes a lifetime to be really good at them,
0:14:31 > 0:14:36but making some sort of rough stab, it's just a matter of having a go.
0:14:39 > 0:14:40The revival in basket making
0:14:40 > 0:14:44meant new apprenticeships were established.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46The craft became a reserved occupation,
0:14:46 > 0:14:50meaning basket makers were exempt from military service.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53Even the Women's Institute got in on the act,
0:14:53 > 0:14:55running classes in the art of basketry.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00It actually looks like a basket, doesn't it?
0:15:00 > 0:15:02I know it's a bit wobbly.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04I know. I know.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08It's not exactly the most geometrical of baskets but...
0:15:09 > 0:15:11SHE SIGHS HAPPILY
0:15:11 > 0:15:12SHE GIGGLES
0:15:15 > 0:15:18Alex and Peter are monitoring the flax,
0:15:18 > 0:15:23but the constant rain is destroying it, by washing nitrogen -
0:15:23 > 0:15:27which is essential for plant growth - out of the soil.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35The War Agricultural Executive Committee,
0:15:35 > 0:15:40known as the War Ag, issued advice on using chemical fertilisers.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47This is ammonium nitrate - it's a chemical fertiliser.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49OK...
0:15:49 > 0:15:52Obviously, these are chemicals that occur naturally
0:15:52 > 0:15:54but, certainly by the Second World War,
0:15:54 > 0:15:59they're being used in their chemical form to fertilise crops.
0:15:59 > 0:16:00So that one's loaded.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04- Are you going to be all right pushing this one, Peter?- I think so.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07Using a tractor in this waterlogged field would ruin the crop,
0:16:07 > 0:16:11so the boys are using a hand-operated seed barrow.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13Rotating brushes scatter the fertiliser
0:16:13 > 0:16:17through adjustable holes in the sides.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19It's a bit like walking on a high wire.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21Is that heavy?
0:16:21 > 0:16:23It's not light.
0:16:23 > 0:16:24Well, it's all right.
0:16:32 > 0:16:38The thing is, chemical fertilisers weren't new in the Second World War.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40They'd already been around long enough
0:16:40 > 0:16:42to generate a reactionary group -
0:16:42 > 0:16:46people who believed firmly in organic fertilisers.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50And that using organic products was good for the health of the land.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53But, of course, in a wartime situation,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56you couldn't afford to take those views.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59And, in fact, in taking those views, you were actually seen as being unpatriotic.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05Although chemical fertilisers had been around since Victorian times,
0:17:05 > 0:17:09during the war, pressure from the War Ag saw their use triple.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14Someone like me, who doesn't really want to use this kind of stuff,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17would be a situation with the War Ag saying to them,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20"You've got to get out there and use this kind of stuff, use chemicals.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25"It's the only way we're going to win this war to produce food."
0:17:27 > 0:17:31They still need a spell of dry, warm weather to encourage growth
0:17:31 > 0:17:33and to dry out the field.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37But, instead, their bad luck continues.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40And now the rains are coming.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42Wonderful(!)
0:17:42 > 0:17:44This could prove catastrophic for the flax.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55Ruth has spent the last week learning the art of basketry.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57The carrier pigeon basket is finished,
0:17:57 > 0:18:00ready for Peter and Alex to begin training.
0:18:01 > 0:18:02Here we go, Ruth.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06Look, look, look! It does actually look like a basket, doesn't it?
0:18:06 > 0:18:10- So what is this? - It's willow. So what d'you reckon?
0:18:10 > 0:18:12I think that's perfect.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14Well, it's not actually perfect, I'll be honest.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16Well, for a first attempt.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19- I am so pleased with it, though. - So you should be.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21So you're going to take it away and fill it full of pigeons?
0:18:21 > 0:18:23Yeah, we're going to take it away
0:18:23 > 0:18:27- and fill it full of good pigeons, carrier pigeons. - Rather than bad pigeons.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29Then we're hopefully going to release them
0:18:29 > 0:18:31and you should get messages coming back.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33You break my basket and you DIE! SHE LAUGHS
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Alex and Peter don't have birds of their own,
0:18:41 > 0:18:45so they're calling on pigeon fancier Leonard Painter.
0:18:45 > 0:18:46Hats off.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49Leonard's raced carrier pigeons all his life.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53Birds like his would have been drafted into military service during the war.
0:18:55 > 0:19:00- Mind your head. - Mind your head.- Mind your head.
0:19:00 > 0:19:05Started off small in 1946, gradually grown bigger as...
0:19:05 > 0:19:07Rather than get rid of pigeons, you add a bit on.
0:19:07 > 0:19:12Most of these older ones have flown from Pau in the south of France,
0:19:12 > 0:19:14which is 540 miles.
0:19:14 > 0:19:19You see, that old fella there, he's 19.
0:19:19 > 0:19:20- He's 19 years old?!- Yeah.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24He flew from the south of France six times - that's over 500 miles.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Really? Could you pick us out a good-looking bird,
0:19:28 > 0:19:30the type of bird we'd need today?
0:19:30 > 0:19:32Have you got something in here you could show us?
0:19:32 > 0:19:34- They're all good-looking. - Of course they're all...
0:19:34 > 0:19:38That's what my mum used to tell me!
0:19:39 > 0:19:42The boys are going to train Leonard's young pigeons to "home",
0:19:42 > 0:19:45by taking them away from their loft and releasing them.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47At first a short distance, then increasing it over time.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53To transport the birds, they're using Ruth's new basket.
0:19:53 > 0:19:54That's a disgrace!
0:19:54 > 0:19:56THEY LAUGH
0:19:56 > 0:19:59- Look, it was her first attempt. - Ruth's first attempt.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02- Well, yeah, very good, actually. - Bold and admirable.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05That's a female.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09- Right.- Right.- She does not like being handled.- Right.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12You have to put the lid down quick or they'll be out.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15One up there, is there? Yeah. Come on.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22Any of these, you take them 30 miles, he's back in 30 minutes.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28Leonard was just a boy when troops were gathering here for D-Day,
0:20:28 > 0:20:31but he remembers local homing pigeons
0:20:31 > 0:20:34being recruited to carry secret messages back from France.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40Were all pigeon keepers during the war
0:20:40 > 0:20:43responsible for producing birds for the war effort?
0:20:43 > 0:20:47Not all of them. If you didn't join, you didn't get food, that's all.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49- So everybody in the club joined. - Right.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53Otherwise you didn't get an allocation of feed.
0:20:53 > 0:20:54This is feed for the birds.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56Oh, yeah. Not humans, of course!
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Particularly around the period of D-Day,
0:20:59 > 0:21:01I mean, this was such a crucial operation
0:21:01 > 0:21:04that everyone had to observe this sort of radio silence.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07That's essentially where these pigeons came into their own.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11That's right. Oh, yeah. We used to wait and see if we could see them come back.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14Only once I see a pigeon come back, in 1944, with two messages.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18- It came from somewhere in France. - The pigeons would fly back here.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20It would then be your job to get that message...
0:21:20 > 0:21:23And take it to the local police station...
0:21:23 > 0:21:26- As soon as possible. - They had a briefing once a week.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29- Mind your head.- Ooh! Sorry.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33Carrier pigeons were crucial to the war effort
0:21:33 > 0:21:35and the government issued strict instruction
0:21:35 > 0:21:38s for farmers not to shoot them.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43Woodpigeons, however, destroyed crops
0:21:43 > 0:21:48so the Royal Observer Corps tracked flocks down to be shot.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52With meat rationed, it was a welcome addition to the menu.
0:21:55 > 0:21:56As pests, of course,
0:21:56 > 0:22:00anyone could take pigeon, just like they could rabbit, and therefore,
0:22:00 > 0:22:03if you're in the countryside, it was an extra source of meat.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08Wartime, you suddenly find...
0:22:08 > 0:22:11that many people who'd been rather sniffy about them before
0:22:11 > 0:22:14were suddenly only too keen to eat rabbit and pigeon.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16And many people from the towns,
0:22:16 > 0:22:20who'd never ever had them before in any way, shape or form,
0:22:20 > 0:22:22discovered the delights.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26You can see what a small bird they are.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28I mean, many people hardly bother with the rest of the bird,
0:22:28 > 0:22:32they just use the breasts, the two pieces here,
0:22:32 > 0:22:34and barely bother with the rest,
0:22:34 > 0:22:38but it makes such a good, rich, brothy stock.
0:22:38 > 0:22:39I'm going to make the most of that.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42I'm going to use every last little bit of him.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47So these are being boiled in broth, stock,
0:22:47 > 0:22:50whatever you want to call it, with no additional fat.
0:22:53 > 0:22:54In they go.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07Alex and Peter are heading out into the English Channel
0:23:07 > 0:23:10with skipper Nick Gates to train the carrier pigeons.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15Releasing them from a boat got them used to flying over water -
0:23:15 > 0:23:19essential for birds bringing back messages from the French Resistance before D-Day.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21Good stuff.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23Like carrier pigeons and farmland,
0:23:23 > 0:23:27the wartime government also took control of fishing boats,
0:23:27 > 0:23:30including this one, the Ocean Pearl.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34We're actually on a wartime boat, are we not?
0:23:34 > 0:23:36Well, that's right. She was built before the war,
0:23:36 > 0:23:38built right back in 1933 as a fishing boat,
0:23:38 > 0:23:40but she was requisitioned by the Navy.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44This vehicle would be running things like food supplies
0:23:44 > 0:23:46to and from the bases.
0:23:46 > 0:23:52Yeah, I suppose...maintenance stuff, fuel oil, that sort of stuff.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54- Rum.- Rum, yes!
0:23:54 > 0:23:55Probably.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59Being farmers, our land would have been encroached upon by the military.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02I suppose fishermen, you don't think the fact that their boats
0:24:02 > 0:24:05would also have been taken. That's their livelihoods going as well.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07That's right. This...
0:24:07 > 0:24:09I think it was used by the Navy for about four years.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12It's just amazing, isn't it, about how the Ministry
0:24:12 > 0:24:16was getting its tentacles into every aspect of British society and industry.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19Not only were farmers being put under pressure,
0:24:19 > 0:24:21but fishermen, too, having their boats requisitioned,
0:24:21 > 0:24:25and even pigeon fanciers having their pigeons taken for the war effort.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28You know, all with one thing in mind - to defeat the enemy.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41These are our carrier pigeons,
0:24:41 > 0:24:45currently in the basket that Ruth's made, and they're all set to go.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48We've got the messages - we just need to tie them onto their legs
0:24:48 > 0:24:50and then we'll release them.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52We're not going to release them all together.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55If we do, the other birds will follow the first bird released,
0:24:55 > 0:24:58so they wouldn't do any work. The idea here is to train them,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01keep them exercised, so they can find their way home.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05Gradually the distance is increased
0:25:05 > 0:25:09until they are capable of returning home from hundreds of miles away.
0:25:10 > 0:25:15Right, message in greaseproof paper to keep it waterproof.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Our first pigeon, Peter.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22Even today, no-one quite knows how they find their way back home.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25But scientists believe they may have an in-built compass
0:25:25 > 0:25:29and use the earth's magnetic field to navigate.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32- Just let him go?- Yeah, I think so. - We ready? Here we go.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40- Look at that.- He's fast, isn't he?
0:25:43 > 0:25:44Here we go.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46Ooh!
0:25:47 > 0:25:50I hate to say it, Peter, but Southampton's that way.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52PETER LAUGHS
0:25:52 > 0:25:54He's going to Chichester!
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Ruth's cooked the wood pigeons for an hour and a half.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08Now they've cooled, she's preparing a wartime salad.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14I'm just going to take the breasts off first, whole,
0:26:14 > 0:26:19just the four of those, as they'll look nice in the salad.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23One of the great things about pigeon or rabbit is that they're full of flavour.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28You get way more taste for a small amount of meat, really,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31and that really helped in wartime cooking!
0:26:31 > 0:26:35You think how much of wartime food is about potatoes and bread.
0:26:35 > 0:26:40You know, it's bland, bland, bland, bland, stodge, stodge, stodge.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44And anything that brings a bit of flavour in is a huge relief.
0:26:44 > 0:26:49And then I'm supposed to arrange the meat in a bowl.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53According to the recipe, I'm supposed to make it look attractive.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55Not quite sure how I do that.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58During the war, the government encouraged the nation
0:26:58 > 0:27:01to eat "a salad a day". Raw vegetables were recognised
0:27:01 > 0:27:06as being good for health, especially when living on a rationed diet.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10Ruth's rather unusual salad is set in gelatine.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13Seems a bit odd calling it a salad. It's more of a terrine, isn't it?
0:27:13 > 0:27:15But that was the wartime way,
0:27:15 > 0:27:19almost anything that got served cold was called a salad.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22And then that can then just sit...
0:27:22 > 0:27:23and set.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32Despite Alex's misgivings,
0:27:32 > 0:27:36within half an hour, all the carrier pigeons have returned to Leonard's loft,
0:27:36 > 0:27:40completing the 30-mile journey with their messages.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43- Oh, Leonard! Hello! - Pigeon with a message.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47- Oh, my goodness! That's not ours already, is it?- Yeah.- Wow!
0:27:48 > 0:27:50So, in wartime, I wouldn't have been allowed to open that.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53I would have had to take it to the local police station?
0:27:53 > 0:27:54To the local... Yes.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58- And they would have forwarded it to whoever...- Oh, yeah.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01You're not aware what's in it, other than the fact it's a carrier.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04Right, it says,
0:28:04 > 0:28:07"Ruth, Weather's good. Wind - southeast, light.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09"Basket still on boat.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12"What time's dinner?"
0:28:12 > 0:28:16Yes. Well, hmm... What time's dinner? I haven't finished it yet.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18I'm amazed, it's so fast!
0:28:18 > 0:28:23During the war, 98% of pigeons returned with their messages,
0:28:23 > 0:28:25but often with mortal injuries.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28- I'll see you again - hopefully. - That was dead exciting.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30- Take care.- OK. Thank you.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35A good hour after the pigeons returned,
0:28:35 > 0:28:40the boys are back in time for Ruth's revitalising woodpigeon salad.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45This looks absolutely fantastic, Ruth.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49Salad-tastic today. Wartime salads.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51So this is a salad in jelly.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53Yeah!
0:28:53 > 0:28:55I know, it's really interesting, isn't it?
0:28:55 > 0:28:57That salad really just takes off in the wartime.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00Everybody's eating all sorts of different types of salad,
0:29:00 > 0:29:03things they never had before like grated carrot and grated beetroot,
0:29:03 > 0:29:05I mean, you just don't find them pre-war.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09I have to say, that pigeon does look fantastic.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11So we're calling this a bad pigeon,
0:29:11 > 0:29:14because obviously it's feasting off of the land,
0:29:14 > 0:29:17it's the enemy of the farmer.
0:29:17 > 0:29:19Whereas good pigeons... It's amazing to think how many pigeons
0:29:19 > 0:29:21were pressed into service during the war.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25And, you know, everybody's so excited about all these new communications...
0:29:25 > 0:29:27The radio had been around, but all this radar...
0:29:27 > 0:29:29It's hi-tech stuff and we're back to pigeons.
0:29:29 > 0:29:30Mm.
0:29:33 > 0:29:39As well as pigeons, farmers also had land requisitioned by the military.
0:29:39 > 0:29:43By 1944, there were 623 airfields in Britain.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46Many were like small towns
0:29:46 > 0:29:49and built almost entirely on good agricultural land.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54Farmers were living cheek-by-jowl with the military,
0:29:54 > 0:29:57and many witnessed fighting first hand -
0:29:57 > 0:29:59not on the land, but in the air.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03The Ministry of Information recognised that this war
0:30:03 > 0:30:07touched so many people, that it should be interpreted by painters
0:30:07 > 0:30:09as well as photographers.
0:30:10 > 0:30:15Artist Leo Stevenson is following in footsteps of the war artists.
0:30:15 > 0:30:20- Good morning.- Hello.- Hello.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22As you might guess, I'm an artist.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24Yes, we can see. We can see.
0:30:24 > 0:30:26I wonder if you can help me.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30Because I'm going to try and imagine I'm back in that period,
0:30:30 > 0:30:32doing an officially commissioned work of art
0:30:32 > 0:30:34as if I'm an official war artist.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37So these aren't paintings that artists are doing just for the love of it -
0:30:37 > 0:30:40these are things that are actually commissioned.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42Can you imagine that, amidst all the confusion
0:30:42 > 0:30:44and the anxiety of warfare, the British government
0:30:44 > 0:30:49found it its heart and also found the money for official war artists?
0:30:49 > 0:30:51Now they did this for three key reasons.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55Firstly to protect the best artists, to preserve their lives,
0:30:55 > 0:30:57and to also to protect their livelihoods,
0:30:57 > 0:31:00because nobody is going to buy art in a time of war.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02But most importantly, to say something
0:31:02 > 0:31:06about the real experience of warfare that the press couldn't.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09Basically, the idea is this - you're working in the fields,
0:31:09 > 0:31:12minding your own business, as people did.
0:31:12 > 0:31:14Meanwhile, 10, 20,000 feet up there,
0:31:14 > 0:31:16people are trying to kill each other
0:31:16 > 0:31:19and the sky is full of contrails from the aircraft.
0:31:19 > 0:31:21But life carries on - you have to produce the food,
0:31:21 > 0:31:23you have to keep the country going.
0:31:25 > 0:31:30Leo's taking photographs from which he'll base his painting.
0:31:30 > 0:31:34Peter, if your hand is like that, that sort of thing.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36That's it. Go for it. OK.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39Just hold that for about two hours and I'll be done. Ooh!
0:31:39 > 0:31:43Hundreds of German aircraft were shot down over Britain
0:31:43 > 0:31:48and, if the crew survived, they'd be captured as prisoners of war.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51Perfect.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54By 1944, women were being drafted to work in factories
0:31:54 > 0:32:00rather than on the land, so POWs were put to work in agriculture
0:32:00 > 0:32:02to help double crop production.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07Farmers found themselves face-to-face with Germans,
0:32:07 > 0:32:11who told them rationing back home was far more severe than in Britain.
0:32:11 > 0:32:13Hold on to there. Push it in...
0:32:13 > 0:32:16Even the humble loaf was hard to come by,
0:32:16 > 0:32:21as bakers Emmanuel Hadjiandreou and David Carter have discovered.
0:32:21 > 0:32:27I've been looking at a recipe for a black type of bread.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31It really has very meagre ingredients. We have here...
0:32:31 > 0:32:33I'm looking at some of these.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36It looks more like the kind of stuff I'd feed an animal.
0:32:36 > 0:32:40Yeah, well, indeed this is something you would feed an animal
0:32:40 > 0:32:42because this black pile here is silage.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44Really?
0:32:44 > 0:32:48And...we're using silage here
0:32:48 > 0:32:51because commercial yeast wasn't available.
0:32:51 > 0:32:56It's fermented grass and anything that ferments has a by-product,
0:32:56 > 0:33:00one of which is the gases that enable bread to rise.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03We have chopped-up grass.
0:33:03 > 0:33:04That's desperate.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08That is desperate, but don't forget that wheat is a grass.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12And this is what was known as tree flower, and tree flower was,
0:33:12 > 0:33:15- in fact, wood shavings.- Sawdust. - Sawdust.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18So those are...these ingredients.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23To the silage and sawdust, David is adding chopped, fermented rye
0:33:23 > 0:33:26to help the bread rise.
0:33:26 > 0:33:27But this wasn't without its dangers.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31Rye is highly susceptible to ergot fungus
0:33:31 > 0:33:34which, when eaten, can cause convulsions and gangrene,
0:33:34 > 0:33:36even death.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40It might also be good to put something a little sweet in it.
0:33:40 > 0:33:41Now, sugar...
0:33:41 > 0:33:43Very hard to come by.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45One thing I have got. We've got bees
0:33:45 > 0:33:47and we're producing honey.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50Marvellous. That will assist the flavour.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55As Germany's position weakened as the conflict wore on,
0:33:55 > 0:33:59this is just the kind of loaf ordinary Germans were forced to eat.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02Pat that down.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05Yet, in wartime Britain, bread was never rationed.
0:34:05 > 0:34:10I think that would have been regarded as a very retrograde step
0:34:10 > 0:34:12on the part of the Ministry of Health.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14The minute you start rationing bread,
0:34:14 > 0:34:16you're telling people that, "We are desperate."
0:34:16 > 0:34:18"We're losing", yeah.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26And you think this is going to rise, then?
0:34:26 > 0:34:28- Yes, I'm confident it will. - Excellent.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31How long are we looking at baking this for, then?
0:34:31 > 0:34:35We'll try it for about 35 minutes and see what it looks like.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39So I'm going to put it in the oven, and we'll wait and see what happens.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41Good. I'm looking forward to that.
0:34:47 > 0:34:50Artist Leo is beginning to sketch out
0:34:50 > 0:34:52his painting of war in the countryside.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54You're from round here, aren't you?
0:34:54 > 0:34:56Have been for 81 years.
0:34:56 > 0:34:57Right.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02In 1944, pigeon fancier Leonard Painter
0:35:02 > 0:35:05remembers clearly the countdown to D-Day,
0:35:05 > 0:35:08when tens of thousands of troops, ships and vehicles
0:35:08 > 0:35:11amassed in the fields around Manor Farm.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15Tell me about D-Day - what was it like around here?
0:35:15 > 0:35:18It was like a closed-down army camp -
0:35:18 > 0:35:20you couldn't go anywhere without a permit.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22There was barbed wire across the roads
0:35:22 > 0:35:24and had a permit to go down there if you wanted to.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27- Total lockdown.- It was, yeah.
0:35:27 > 0:35:33And every space, field, grass verge was army equipment
0:35:33 > 0:35:36and tents and soldiers camped out.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39Hundreds of them. We had a field day when we were boys.
0:35:40 > 0:35:42What did you get up to?
0:35:42 > 0:35:49Well, down the pub, the American soldiers used to line four, five of us nippers up
0:35:49 > 0:35:52and the one that could drink a pint of beer the quickest
0:35:52 > 0:35:56would get a pack of Chesterfields, or Camels, or a wad of chewing gum.
0:35:56 > 0:35:58Brilliant.
0:35:58 > 0:36:00Yeah. Haven't touched it since, mind.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03But the big nippers used to lap it up.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06They'd get tipsy drinking bloody beer!
0:36:10 > 0:36:14The German silage bread has been cooking for half an hour,
0:36:14 > 0:36:16and now it's the moment of truth.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20Are you feeling nervous, David?
0:36:20 > 0:36:22Absolutely. Nervous but excited, Alex.
0:36:22 > 0:36:23ALEX LAUGHS
0:36:23 > 0:36:26It's like giving birth to a new baby.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29- Hey! Wow! Look at that.- Wow.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32It's black. It looks like a German black bread, doesn't it?
0:36:32 > 0:36:36I'm amazed. It really does look like a loaf.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40- So it looks like a bread.- Yeah.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43- The question is... - Feels like a bread.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46Is it going to TASTE like a bread?
0:36:46 > 0:36:48Alex, are you going to be the guinea pig?
0:36:48 > 0:36:51- I am indeed.- Good man. There you go.
0:36:51 > 0:36:55The first person since Germany, 1944, to eat silage bread.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05- It's not inedible at all. - It's not inedible at all.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08In terms of... I'm chewing away on something that's not going anywhere.
0:37:08 > 0:37:10But the flavour's surprisingly nice.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14- I think the flavour is....- Sweet. - Very sweet.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17And that's not just the honey, that's the silage.
0:37:17 > 0:37:22But, again, if you only had this to eat and didn't have anything else,
0:37:22 > 0:37:26would you choose eating grass or would you eat silage bread?
0:37:26 > 0:37:28I mean... You would, wouldn't you?
0:37:28 > 0:37:31You can see how they've arrived at that
0:37:31 > 0:37:34as a replacement for black bread.
0:37:34 > 0:37:35I'm having to swallow the wood.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37A cup of tea helps it down no end.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42Or rather a steiner of German beer, I think.
0:37:42 > 0:37:43Indeed. Absolutely.
0:37:48 > 0:37:50From rough sketches and photos,
0:37:50 > 0:37:54war artist Leo is beginning his painting.
0:37:59 > 0:38:05The idea, at this stage, is to rough out the approximate forms
0:38:05 > 0:38:10of where things are and gradually develop a sense of tone.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16Now here we want some trees.
0:38:16 > 0:38:20The idea for this little dramatic scenario
0:38:20 > 0:38:23is that these aircraft have suddenly appeared
0:38:23 > 0:38:26and you can almost not hear them until the last minute.
0:38:28 > 0:38:30The war does seem a very strange time
0:38:30 > 0:38:32to start officially commissioning artists
0:38:32 > 0:38:37and paying with public money for works of art,
0:38:37 > 0:38:40but it was actually a very important thing to do.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44But they weren't just making it for their generation,
0:38:44 > 0:38:45and to entertain themselves,
0:38:45 > 0:38:49they were going to say something for future generations, post-victory, for us.
0:38:53 > 0:38:55And the point is that an artist could say something
0:38:55 > 0:38:57about the real experience of warfare,
0:38:57 > 0:39:00the horror of it - especially here in the countryside.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16The one thing this art isn't is propaganda.
0:39:16 > 0:39:18This was about real experience,
0:39:18 > 0:39:21it's not about what the government wanted to portray as such.
0:39:21 > 0:39:25In fact, some of the images produced by some of the best artists
0:39:25 > 0:39:29were contrary to the government message, if you like.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32But they didn't mind that... within reason.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39After a week in the studio, Leo's painting is finished -
0:39:39 > 0:39:43capturing the moment a German Messerschmitt 110
0:39:43 > 0:39:45was shot down by an RAF Hurricane.
0:39:50 > 0:39:52- Goodness.- That's amazing.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54- LEO:- Thank you.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56Wow! You've worked hard on that, haven't you?
0:39:56 > 0:39:59One of the things that's so hard to get to grips with,
0:39:59 > 0:40:03down here, is the concept of the war encroaching on people's lives.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06You get an impression but you'll never get that sense.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09- But it's brought into sharp relief here, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12This is a reality for farmers in wartime Britain.
0:40:12 > 0:40:16- LEO:- This was, yes. That's the thing...about history.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19It's connecting with real experience.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21ALEX: Well, I think that's brilliant.
0:40:21 > 0:40:22RUTH: Thank you, Leo.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25It's just a shame we can't hang it in the farm.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28This would go off to the Ministry of Information, is that right?
0:40:28 > 0:40:32If I'm a wartime artist, this has been paid for by the government,
0:40:32 > 0:40:34so this will be taken to some government source.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36It'll shown round an exhibition,
0:40:36 > 0:40:40going round the country, possibly, and then after the war,
0:40:40 > 0:40:43these paintings were shared out among government buildings
0:40:43 > 0:40:46and little local museums. If it was relevant to a particular place,
0:40:46 > 0:40:50as this is here, you'd probably find a local museum for it or something.
0:40:55 > 0:40:59For the past month, the team have been battling to save the flax,
0:40:59 > 0:41:02but one of the wettest summers on record
0:41:02 > 0:41:04has finally got the better of it.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08Alex and Peter have no choice but to write off the entire crop.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12As in wartime, this is partly the consequence
0:41:12 > 0:41:14of having to sow crops on unsuitable land.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21I don't blame you, Alex. You know?
0:41:21 > 0:41:23I don't blame you. It's the weather.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26It's the heavy clay soils and the weather.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28I mean, this must have happened during the war.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32The ministry must have asked people to put crops into ground
0:41:32 > 0:41:35that it just wasn't suitable for. In fact, we do know that.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38With flax, we have learnt a really hard lesson here, haven't we?
0:41:38 > 0:41:39We have.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42The one thing I do know about flax is it hates heavy clay soils.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44But that's the only good thing, Peter.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48This was famously one of the hardest things to harvest and...
0:41:48 > 0:41:50in getting this all wrong,
0:41:50 > 0:41:53means we don't have the back-breaking job of harvesting it.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56You really shouldn't count your chickens before they hatch, Alex.
0:41:56 > 0:41:57Why's that?
0:41:57 > 0:41:59Because a neighbouring farmer DOES have a crop
0:41:59 > 0:42:02and he does need to harvest it. And I said, "Ours has failed.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06"We did schedule in a harvest. We can come and help you."
0:42:06 > 0:42:07Who's "we"?
0:42:07 > 0:42:09You and me, and a few prisoners of war.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12Anyway, as much as your coat's waterproof.
0:42:12 > 0:42:13The rain's coming down hard.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16Let's just get in before it really drenches us.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21Alex and Peter are heading to Simon Cooper's farm
0:42:21 > 0:42:24to help harvest his flax.
0:42:24 > 0:42:29Unlike the boy's crop, Simon's was grown on well-drained, light soils,
0:42:29 > 0:42:31so it's faired the wet weather much better.
0:42:31 > 0:42:35It's now turned from green to brown, indicating it's ready for harvest.
0:42:38 > 0:42:40- Hi, Simon.- Hello.- Hi.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43Just admiring your flax crop there.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46Thank you. We've got a crop - not as good as we'd have hoped.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49We'd have hoped it would be a bit taller, a bit thicker.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53But a year like this, we've got to be grateful for what we've got.
0:42:55 > 0:43:00By 1944, there were 60,000 acres of flax in Britain.
0:43:04 > 0:43:06All the plants had to be pulled up by hand
0:43:06 > 0:43:08to maintain the long fibres in the stem.
0:43:10 > 0:43:14During the war, extra labour had been provided by land girls,
0:43:14 > 0:43:16children and conscientious objectors.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21But with the Allies in the ascendancy, prisoners of war
0:43:21 > 0:43:24became an ever-growing source of labour.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30Johann Custodis' grandfather was a German POW.
0:43:30 > 0:43:35Johann studied the impact they had on wartime agriculture.
0:43:35 > 0:43:37So how many POWs were there working on the land?
0:43:37 > 0:43:40There were about 150,000 Italians
0:43:40 > 0:43:44and, at peak, about 300,000 Germans.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48Almost every fifth worker in agriculture would be a German POW.
0:43:48 > 0:43:49That's amazing to think.
0:43:49 > 0:43:53Johann, I've noticed we've got some prisoners of war over here
0:43:53 > 0:43:56that have got these red diamonds on their back. What does that signify?
0:43:56 > 0:44:00These coloured patches were so that you can actually see these POWs
0:44:00 > 0:44:04and spot them so that it would be more difficult for them to escape.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06But, primarily, so you could identify them
0:44:06 > 0:44:08when you see them working in the field.
0:44:08 > 0:44:10I guess it makes sense, Peter.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13They've been designed for camouflage, haven't they,
0:44:13 > 0:44:18so you've got to reverse that by putting a whacking great big red mark on their back.
0:44:19 > 0:44:23So D-Day, Operation Overlord,
0:44:23 > 0:44:27what sort of effect did that have on the attitude of German prisoners?
0:44:27 > 0:44:30D-Day had a massive effect on several fronts.
0:44:30 > 0:44:33The effect on the Germans was, in camps in Britain,
0:44:33 > 0:44:37then realised that the war was pretty much over.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40D-Day was the point when most Germans actually came to Britain
0:44:40 > 0:44:43because there were masses of German POWs captured in France,
0:44:43 > 0:44:46so many of them were shipped to Britain.
0:44:46 > 0:44:48On the one hand, a logistical nightmare.
0:44:48 > 0:44:50On the other hand, increasing, overall,
0:44:50 > 0:44:52the amount of labour that you can use.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00Another important source of wartime labour were gypsy travellers.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05Their nomadic lifestyle lent itself
0:45:05 > 0:45:07to the intense but short-lived harvest work.
0:45:07 > 0:45:13Dr Becky Taylor is an expert on how war affected their lives.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17Like everybody else, they were massively
0:45:17 > 0:45:21affected by the changes of the Second World War.
0:45:21 > 0:45:25So the men went off to fight and this left women and children
0:45:25 > 0:45:29and older people in the community in quite a difficult position
0:45:29 > 0:45:31because life on the road is hard.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34So a lot of families, where they could, they would roll up on farms
0:45:34 > 0:45:37and then be there for much a longer period of time than they perhaps would.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40And farmers were desperate for the extra labour,
0:45:40 > 0:45:43so they might be there throughout the harvesting season
0:45:43 > 0:45:45and pick up from the pea harvest,
0:45:45 > 0:45:48right through to the different sorts of fruit harvests,
0:45:48 > 0:45:52through to potatoes and sugar beet and things like that.
0:45:52 > 0:45:56And then, if they'd worked, they could stay over the winter
0:45:56 > 0:46:00and develop close relations with farmers who they were working with.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04And there's others who are saying, "They're camping on land
0:46:04 > 0:46:07"that I need for my crops," and you get a lot of tension locally.
0:46:07 > 0:46:09But some of the farmers are happy to have them there
0:46:09 > 0:46:11and saying they're essential,
0:46:11 > 0:46:13because they need them working on the land.
0:46:24 > 0:46:29After a day of back-breaking work, the flax crop is almost harvested.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37As we're pulling it, this is quite green, some of this, isn't it?
0:46:37 > 0:46:38Yeah.
0:46:38 > 0:46:42- So it just needs to dry out a little bit more, doesn't it?- Yeah.
0:46:42 > 0:46:48And then this is going to be turned into...pretty much everything.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51Just about anything from canvas to ropes.
0:46:51 > 0:46:53Parachute harnesses, hosepipes.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56That has been the remarkable thing,
0:46:56 > 0:46:59finding out just how many things this stuff is used for.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01- Yeah.- Good stuff.
0:47:07 > 0:47:08By early June, 1944,
0:47:08 > 0:47:12everything was in place ready for the D-Day landings.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18160,000 troops were ready to go on the first day.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20Millions more would follow.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24Carrier pigeons brought back messages from France
0:47:24 > 0:47:27with information on the enemy's movements.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30Now everything depended on the weather.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36Local historian Bob Nimmo is showing Alex and Peter
0:47:36 > 0:47:40the remains of a Royal Navy camp, called HMS Cricket,
0:47:40 > 0:47:43just a stone's throw from their farm.
0:47:43 > 0:47:46It once covered 125 acres of woods and farmland.
0:47:48 > 0:47:52Essentially, people stationed here were here to practise for D-Day?
0:47:52 > 0:47:58Yes. And prior to D-Day, there would be 4,000-odd people
0:47:58 > 0:48:01living in the camp and then, when D-Day came,
0:48:01 > 0:48:04it was pretty nearly empty apart from the base staff.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06Everybody had gone.
0:48:06 > 0:48:08So what part of the camp are we going to?
0:48:08 > 0:48:14We're going to the extremity of the camp, which you can see...
0:48:14 > 0:48:18possibly one of the central ablution blocks,
0:48:18 > 0:48:22and clustered around that would be 20 or so Nissen huts.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26This was HMS Cricket during the war.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28Nissen huts, built in the woods,
0:48:28 > 0:48:32were standard accommodation for troops and here there were 110.
0:48:32 > 0:48:34There's a set of steps here.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38At the end of a Nissen hut there would be a step, I think.
0:48:38 > 0:48:39This is a base for a Nissen hut.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41This would be a base for a Nissen hut.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44How many people would you have had in a Nissen hut of this size?
0:48:44 > 0:48:45I understand there are 20 or 24.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48So these would be your sorts of pals
0:48:48 > 0:48:50that you were ultimately going to find yourself...
0:48:50 > 0:48:55They would ultimately be together as a flotilla going across to D-Day,
0:48:55 > 0:48:57or being taken across on board a ship to D-Day.
0:48:58 > 0:49:02This is a map of the camp and we are up here.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05- OK.- There was a cinema and a NAAFI building there...
0:49:05 > 0:49:06A cinema?!
0:49:06 > 0:49:09Oh, yes, a cinema, and people came down and entertained them.
0:49:09 > 0:49:11George Formby, I think, came down.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14George Formby! He's one of my heroes!
0:49:14 > 0:49:17Is he? Well you are probably treading on the same spot.
0:49:17 > 0:49:19Do you think George Formby might have...
0:49:19 > 0:49:21He might have stood on that very spot,
0:49:21 > 0:49:24playing his ukulele or whatever he did
0:49:24 > 0:49:27But also the Americans played baseball in the square at Botley.
0:49:27 > 0:49:32So all of this happening right on the doorstep of our farm, Manor Farm.
0:49:32 > 0:49:33Indeed, yes.
0:49:34 > 0:49:36The flax is harvested.
0:49:36 > 0:49:40Next, it was processed to extract the fibres from the stem,
0:49:40 > 0:49:42used to make linen and canvas.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45Ann Cooper is showing Ruth how it was done.
0:49:45 > 0:49:49The first stage was to soak the crop in water - known as retting.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54- So this is our retted flax, it's been in the water.- That's right.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56First we need to get these seed heads off
0:49:56 > 0:49:58because we don't need those for the fibre.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05And we are just de-seeding here which is also known as rippling.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10SHE COUGHS
0:50:10 > 0:50:13And that was another thing. It's very dusty.
0:50:13 > 0:50:14Very dusty.
0:50:14 > 0:50:19Even in the factories, you'd have a tremendous amount of dust around.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23- Right, we've rippled.- Job done.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26- Now it's time to break, am I right? - Indeed.
0:50:26 > 0:50:33- So the purpose of breaking is to crack away the outer...- ..core.
0:50:38 > 0:50:40So it's quite a quick, hard action
0:50:40 > 0:50:42but you can see it breaking away really well.
0:50:42 > 0:50:46All those little bits of straw-like stuff flopping up and down.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48And it's softening up already.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54Processing flax by hand was labour intensive
0:50:54 > 0:50:58but, as demand grew during the war, the process became mechanised.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02So although this is a little mini hand one,
0:51:02 > 0:51:03this is more the sort of thing
0:51:03 > 0:51:05that was found in the wartime flax factory?
0:51:05 > 0:51:08Yes, but on a lot larger scale, obviously.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10- Now we...- Feed in from this side?
0:51:10 > 0:51:11Through this end.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18And it does feel like you're breaking something.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20- It does, doesn't it?- Yeah.
0:51:20 > 0:51:25Next, the flax is scutched to remove the broken bit of outer stem
0:51:25 > 0:51:27from the valuable fibres within.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29Now, we've already got waste.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32That's no longer part of the main bundle.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35That's what you would call "tow".
0:51:35 > 0:51:37Tow would be used for cordage, for twine.
0:51:37 > 0:51:40Very, very important, although it seems like a cast off...
0:51:40 > 0:51:44It's going to be saved and turned into... Righty-ho.
0:51:44 > 0:51:49Heckling then separates the fibres into individual strands.
0:51:50 > 0:51:51This is just combing.
0:51:51 > 0:51:54It's like combing your hair,
0:51:54 > 0:51:57- only not worrying about pulling the knots out.- Exactly.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01- So this beautiful. - Hasn't that changed? Isn't it?
0:52:01 > 0:52:05That really is starting to look like hair, flaxen hair.
0:52:05 > 0:52:06So turning it into thread
0:52:06 > 0:52:10is just a matter of twisting the fibres together, isn't it?
0:52:10 > 0:52:13This fibre could now be woven into canvas or linen,
0:52:13 > 0:52:15ready for military use.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21I'm trying to break it. I can't break it!
0:52:21 > 0:52:23Look at it. It's cutting my fingers. Look at that.
0:52:23 > 0:52:24I really can't.
0:52:24 > 0:52:28From such a delicate little blue flower in a field.
0:52:28 > 0:52:30To the strongest of fibre.
0:52:30 > 0:52:32Fantastic.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35Strange though it seems,
0:52:35 > 0:52:38I can't imagine how we would've won the war without flax.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41If we hadn't had the fibre for the parachutes, and the webbing,
0:52:41 > 0:52:45and the camouflage nets, and the hosepipes and the tyre covers
0:52:45 > 0:52:48and EVERYTHING, how would we have managed it?
0:52:48 > 0:52:50How would we have done those D-Day landings?
0:52:50 > 0:52:52We couldn't. We couldn't.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57As D-Day grew ever closer, three and a half million troops
0:52:57 > 0:53:00packed into southern England -
0:53:00 > 0:53:02and its villages had never been so vibrant.
0:53:03 > 0:53:07Foreign troops formed close bonds with the locals,
0:53:07 > 0:53:10drinking together and playing games.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14Oh!
0:53:14 > 0:53:18Today, baseball is thought of as an all-American sport
0:53:18 > 0:53:21but it was very popular in Britain before the war,
0:53:21 > 0:53:26and, in 1938, Britain had won the first Baseball World Cup.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30So the team are recreating a game
0:53:30 > 0:53:33that took place here in 1944 with the American troops.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38This must have come as sweet relief, if you're thinking about round here.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40Gearing up, Operation Overlord,
0:53:40 > 0:53:42you don't know whether you're going to live or die.
0:53:42 > 0:53:45It's good. You need something to let the tension...
0:53:45 > 0:53:49Just to be able to control yourself, let alone anything else.
0:53:49 > 0:53:51Oh! Ooh!
0:53:51 > 0:53:53Ooh!
0:53:54 > 0:53:56It must have been such a melting pot of cultures.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59Right here, we've got Americans,
0:53:59 > 0:54:03we've got British from other counties, German POWs, Italian POWS.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06Even just within Britain, you've got people of all sorts of classes
0:54:06 > 0:54:08and all different areas of Britain,
0:54:08 > 0:54:12- all mixed up and dumped into the countryside.- Mm.
0:54:13 > 0:54:15Oh!
0:54:15 > 0:54:17Yes!
0:54:20 > 0:54:21It's a stupid game anyway!
0:54:21 > 0:54:24Don't know why we can't play cricket. It's a perfectly decent game.
0:54:24 > 0:54:263-2 to camp, nobody on!
0:54:26 > 0:54:28It must have been such a hive of activity
0:54:28 > 0:54:32just prior to Operation Overlord, prior to D-Day
0:54:32 > 0:54:35and then the weather's right, the time comes, everyone leaves...
0:54:35 > 0:54:38All overnight. One night. That's the thing -
0:54:38 > 0:54:40it's not moving out by degrees. It is one night - the whole lot.
0:54:40 > 0:54:42- Everyone goes.- Womph!
0:54:42 > 0:54:44It must have been really eerie afterwards.
0:54:44 > 0:54:46You must have got so used to this life, this vibrancy
0:54:46 > 0:54:48and then, all of a sudden, nothing.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51Stillness, and just reports coming back on the news.
0:54:51 > 0:54:53"My Lord, I knew these guys and they're there,
0:54:53 > 0:54:56"and they are dying in their thousands."
0:54:57 > 0:55:00Who's for beer? Over you come then.
0:55:02 > 0:55:04Is that elderflower cordial?
0:55:04 > 0:55:08- There you go, young man.- Cheers!
0:55:08 > 0:55:11- Chin-chin.- Mud in your eye.- Oh!
0:55:11 > 0:55:13ALL: CHEERS!
0:55:17 > 0:55:20Productions were often put on for the troops,
0:55:20 > 0:55:27through organisations such as Entertainments National Service Association, ENSA,
0:55:27 > 0:55:31which the popularist vote thought stood for "Every Night Something Awful."
0:55:31 > 0:55:35So, on that thought, I give you Alex Langlands.
0:55:35 > 0:55:37Thank you!
0:55:37 > 0:55:41OK. This is a song - it's called "When The Boys Come Back From War".
0:55:45 > 0:55:49# When the boys come back from war It's the bravest thing I ever saw
0:55:49 > 0:55:52# With Hitler and his mob We'll wipe the floor... #
0:55:52 > 0:55:55Soldiers were unable to travel to the theatre,
0:55:55 > 0:55:57so ENSA brought the entertainment to them.
0:55:57 > 0:56:02As well as George Formby, Tommy Cooper, Spike Milligan
0:56:02 > 0:56:04and Laurence Olivier all worked for ENSA.
0:56:04 > 0:56:08# Gather round you pretty girls And shed a silent tear
0:56:08 > 0:56:12# Cos George Formby's got a melody That will fill your heart with cheer
0:56:12 > 0:56:18# When Paris falls we'll be on top Berlin city our next stop
0:56:18 > 0:56:22# We'll sing the songs we did before When the boys come back from war
0:56:25 > 0:56:32# BOTH: Dear Mother, Father, Sister
0:56:33 > 0:56:37# Lay a place for me
0:56:39 > 0:56:43# When it's all over
0:56:43 > 0:56:48# I'll be back for tea. #
0:56:48 > 0:56:51WHISTLES AND APPLAUSE
0:56:58 > 0:57:02On the 6th June, 1944, in the early hours of the morning,
0:57:02 > 0:57:067,000 vessels, the largest armada ever assembled,
0:57:06 > 0:57:10sailed to the Normandy coast and began the liberation of France.
0:57:11 > 0:57:15D-Day was the turning point of the war in Europe.
0:57:15 > 0:57:17But, for the farmers of Britain,
0:57:17 > 0:57:22victory was still another harvest and another year away.
0:57:27 > 0:57:31Next time, the team face the conditions of 1945.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36They harvest their wheat using the latest machinery...
0:57:36 > 0:57:38Incredibly tense for Peter and myself.
0:57:38 > 0:57:42This is a whole year building up to this harvest.
0:57:42 > 0:57:47..attempt to restore fertility to their fields...
0:57:47 > 0:57:48We've got to put some heart back in the land,
0:57:48 > 0:57:51and this is the machine that is going to enable us to do it.
0:57:51 > 0:57:55..and experience how the nation celebrated victory.
0:57:55 > 0:58:02# ALL: For he's a jolly good fellow and so say all of us. #
0:58:02 > 0:58:04ALL CHEER