0:00:02 > 0:00:03September 3rd, 1939,
0:00:03 > 0:00:06and families all over the country flock to their radios.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09'I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received,
0:00:09 > 0:00:15'and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.'
0:00:17 > 0:00:21In that brief moment, life in our country changed for ever.
0:00:21 > 0:00:22World War II had begun,
0:00:22 > 0:00:25but victory wouldn't be assured by military might alone.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31The Blitz, evacuation, rationing, the loss of loved ones.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34The war on the home front meant everyone had to do their bit.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39From the country's women who took on everything farming,
0:00:39 > 0:00:44factory work, even flying Spitfires - to the nation's auxiliary firemen
0:00:44 > 0:00:47who worked through the terror of countless air raids.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51This is the story of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53This is How We Won The War.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05'For the next two weeks I'll be roaming across the country,
0:01:05 > 0:01:08'exploring how individuals, communities
0:01:08 > 0:01:11'and in some cases whole cities made unique contributions
0:01:11 > 0:01:13'to the war effort here at home.'
0:01:14 > 0:01:17'I'll be looking at the lives of ordinary citizens
0:01:17 > 0:01:21'and the incredible efforts they went to throughout the war years.'
0:01:21 > 0:01:24'Today I've travelled across the Irish Sea.'
0:01:24 > 0:01:26'My journey will see me cross Scotland
0:01:26 > 0:01:29'before finally finishing up in Edinburgh.'
0:01:32 > 0:01:36'On today's programme, I'll be getting stuck into the homemade grub
0:01:36 > 0:01:39'that kept Britain going throughout the war....'
0:01:39 > 0:01:40That's gone down well.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42OK, that's carrot fudge.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46'..discovering the incredible dangers faced by women working
0:01:46 > 0:01:49'in Scotland's secretive shadow factories...'
0:01:49 > 0:01:52If you had to leave your house every day to come up here and work
0:01:52 > 0:01:57with dynamite, to do that day in and day out, deserves some recognition.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02'..and exploring how boys as young as 14 gave their lives
0:02:02 > 0:02:05'to help our merchant navy win the supply battle.'
0:02:05 > 0:02:10I mean, to go and do that at 14, demanded, needed a lot of courage.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23In many ways, the war came to Scotland first.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27Throughout the end of 1939 and the first half of 1940,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30Britain was engaged in what became known as the Phoney War.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33A kind of uneasy waiting game.
0:02:33 > 0:02:34But not in Scotland.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37Here, they were on the front line from the beginning.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40AIR RAID SIREN BLARES
0:02:43 > 0:02:49On the 26th September, 1939, a Luftwaffe aircraft over Scapa Flow
0:02:49 > 0:02:53became the first to be shot down in operations against the British.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55Three weeks later,
0:02:55 > 0:02:59the first bomb to be dropped on UK soil landed in a field in Orkney.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01And that was just the start of it.
0:03:01 > 0:03:07Scotland was a centre of invaluable industry and ship-building
0:03:07 > 0:03:10and as the war went on, its people paid a price for that role.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14During the Clydebank Blitz of March 13th and 14th 1941,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17more than 500 civilians were killed.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21By the second night of the Blitz, 35,000 were homeless.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Throughout the war, the skies over Scotland
0:03:29 > 0:03:33were full of German planes carrying their deadly payloads,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36but none of them carried a cargo quite as significant as that which
0:03:36 > 0:03:42crashed outside the tiny village of Eaglesham back in May 1941.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47Just 15 miles from Glasgow, the village was unknown before the war.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Right here, we go, in here. Floors Farm.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02Now, I'm looking for a man called Bill...
0:04:04 > 0:04:06..in a field.
0:04:06 > 0:04:07Can't be that hard.
0:04:12 > 0:04:13Bill!
0:04:13 > 0:04:15Hello, Jules. Welcome to Eaglesham!
0:04:15 > 0:04:17Nice to see you sir, good to see you!
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Well, it's not a bad day is it, really?
0:04:20 > 0:04:22'I've met local historian Bill Niven
0:04:22 > 0:04:25'to hear how one of the most mysterious moments of World War II
0:04:25 > 0:04:27'unfolded in this ordinary-looking field.'
0:04:29 > 0:04:32Let me show you a little marker here.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35Here we are, this is it!
0:04:35 > 0:04:36This little marker here?
0:04:36 > 0:04:41This is where the German airman who called himself Captain Alfred Horn
0:04:41 > 0:04:47landed around 11 o'clock on the 10th May, 1941.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50And the significance of that, of course, is that he wasn't just any
0:04:50 > 0:04:57German captain, he was in fact the deputy Reichsfuehrer, Rudolf Hess.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04'In the Nazi bible, Mein Kampf, Hitler has nothing but good
0:05:04 > 0:05:06'to say of his friend, Rudolf Hess.'
0:05:07 > 0:05:11'Unknown to the Fuhrer and even Hess's own wife,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14'the leading Nazi had launched a mission to land in Scotland
0:05:14 > 0:05:16'while London was being bombed.'
0:05:16 > 0:05:19There's all sorts of theories surrounding why he did it,
0:05:19 > 0:05:21but what do you think?
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Well, I think he had been Hitler's second hand,
0:05:24 > 0:05:29second-in-command for many years, and had found in the last two
0:05:29 > 0:05:31or three years his influence was slipping,
0:05:31 > 0:05:35and he wanted to gain that influence again in Hitler's good books.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40He wanted to make contact with the Duke of Hamilton,
0:05:40 > 0:05:42who he thought had the ear of the King,
0:05:42 > 0:05:44so that some kind of armistice could be drawn up.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46A crazy plan, but that was the plan.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49What were the events that occurred on this spot?
0:05:49 > 0:05:52He was at 6,500ft up there,
0:05:52 > 0:05:56he decided to parachute out, but he had never parachuted before,
0:05:56 > 0:06:00and of course the wind was keeping him locked in to the plane,
0:06:00 > 0:06:03and then he remembered that Billy Messerschmitt,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06whose company had built these planes had told him just to turn it
0:06:06 > 0:06:10upside down, and you would fall out which is exactly what he did.
0:06:12 > 0:06:17What happened then was that in this little cottage here,
0:06:17 > 0:06:19Davy McLean, the ploughman, lived with his mother.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23He ran out with a pitchfork.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Yes, I'm the man that captured Rudolf Hess.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30Little did I realise at the time the important man he turned out to be.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35He was a gentleman, for he didn't sit down when I took him in.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38Till I told him. And after all, he was somebody's son.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42When it became public news that it was Hess,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45by the middle of the next week,
0:06:45 > 0:06:50then Davy McLean was getting shoals of newspaper reporters
0:06:50 > 0:06:52and the BBC and everybody,
0:06:52 > 0:06:54and all the world and his wife coming here.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56But he was also getting telegrams
0:06:56 > 0:06:59from ladies in the States offering him marriage.
0:06:59 > 0:07:00So he was seen as a hero?
0:07:00 > 0:07:03He was a hero, yes, because he was the man who captured Hess.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06Hess's mission failed miserably.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09Both the King and Churchill refused to meet him.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13Churchill wasn't particularly interested in Hess when he was told.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16The Duke of Hamilton was flown down to Ditchley Park
0:07:16 > 0:07:18the next day and met Churchill.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21It was late in the evening, and Churchill,
0:07:21 > 0:07:23he said he'd important news for Churchill,
0:07:23 > 0:07:25and Churchill said, "No, just wait a minute,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27"I've got something better to do."
0:07:27 > 0:07:32"I've got to watch this film 'The Marx Brothers Go West'."
0:07:32 > 0:07:35So the cinema took over!
0:07:35 > 0:07:38Little did he know he was going to hear about Rudolf Hess going West,
0:07:38 > 0:07:39but that's another story!
0:07:40 > 0:07:43After a short spell in the Tower of London,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46he spent the rest of his life in Berlin's Spandau prison.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53Hess landing in a field is just one of the many unusual events
0:07:53 > 0:07:56to happen all over the country during the war,
0:07:56 > 0:07:59but it was far from Scotland's most important contribution.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02As a centre of industry and ship-building,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05Scotland had a much more significant role to play.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10'Let us refresh ourselves with the realisation of our own strength.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15'And let us express that strength now.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19'Tonight, tomorrow, every moment,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22'until victory is won!
0:08:22 > 0:08:24'Work is the call.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26'Work, at war speed!
0:08:27 > 0:08:29'Goodnight, and go to it.'
0:08:32 > 0:08:35I've travelled to an area just outside Dalbeattie
0:08:35 > 0:08:37to uncover how one group of Scots
0:08:37 > 0:08:39rose to the Minister of Supply's challenge,
0:08:39 > 0:08:43producing dangerous and deadly goods.
0:08:43 > 0:08:48In 1938, the Government commissioned six secret factories,
0:08:48 > 0:08:52to be built in a region known as the 'Back Area' in South West Scotland.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57Hidden away in the countryside, out of sight of the enemy,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01they produced war-winning explosives on an industrial scale.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07The munitions works here in Dalbeattie wasn't of course
0:09:07 > 0:09:11the only one in the country, but it is one of the best surviving.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15The volatile explosive produced here during the war
0:09:15 > 0:09:17made this a hazardous place to work.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22Tom Henderson was a ten-year-old local lad at the time,
0:09:22 > 0:09:24but party to the site's secret.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28No matter where you look here, Tom,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31there is another part of this huge plant.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34What was it doing here? Why Dalbeattie?
0:09:34 > 0:09:38Well, what better place could you pick
0:09:38 > 0:09:40than somewhere where nobody knows where it is?
0:09:40 > 0:09:43I mean, I don't think half of Scotland know where Dalbeattie is.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46But the landscape has been doctored
0:09:46 > 0:09:49to accommodate this extraordinary complex.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52I mean, looking at this building below us here, in this quarry,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55the whole thing just purpose built 70 years ago
0:09:55 > 0:09:58for one reason only, and that was munitions.
0:09:58 > 0:09:59Munitions.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05As war raged across the world, British forces were reliant
0:10:05 > 0:10:08on a massive effort here at home to produce the millions of tonnes
0:10:08 > 0:10:11of bullets and armaments demanded by the conflict.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16Factory hours were long and arduous, and for the mainly female workforce,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20handling deadly explosives meant some unusual safety precautions.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24They had to strip right down to their bare flesh, virtually,
0:10:24 > 0:10:29and then put on clothing without any pins or any metal parts
0:10:29 > 0:10:32on their body at all in case of sparks.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36And one wee lady was found to have the top of a match
0:10:36 > 0:10:40in the bottom of her handbag, and she was suspended,
0:10:40 > 0:10:43I think it was for two weeks, for just having that match.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47The reason she gave for having that match was she used it
0:10:47 > 0:10:50to take the lipstick from within her lipstick holder -
0:10:50 > 0:10:53it was so scarce they didn't waste a bit -
0:10:53 > 0:10:57and this match was used to lift this lipstick and put it on,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00and she must have popped it in her bag, never thinking, and of course
0:11:00 > 0:11:05it was sine die to bring a match of any description into the works here.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07And we were very fortunate
0:11:07 > 0:11:12that there were never any serious blow-ups in this part.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16They were so well trained with the safety rules etc.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20But if this place had gone up, Tom... Unthinkable, really.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24Dalbeattie wouldn't exist. This would be a big pond.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26The effects of not just these conditions,
0:11:26 > 0:11:30but the materials these women were handling must have had some
0:11:30 > 0:11:32profound side effects, if you like.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34Oh, they definitely did.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37Because the ladies had to pack up sometimes halfway through the day
0:11:37 > 0:11:40with dizzy spells, and the smell from the acetone
0:11:40 > 0:11:44was going for their lungs and their minds etc.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47They were only allowed to work so long and then take a break
0:11:47 > 0:11:49and then go back in again.
0:11:49 > 0:11:54Margaret Mouat was one of the 2,000 women who worked here.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58She remembers the warning she received when she first arrived.
0:11:58 > 0:12:04The foreman said to me, "When you go to this bit you'll have a headache,"
0:12:04 > 0:12:09and he says, "It'll be a headache like you never had before."
0:12:10 > 0:12:12You thought your head was bursting.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16To minimise the risk of explosions,
0:12:16 > 0:12:21some workers were made to stand in water throughout their working day.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25Like, if we put our foot in the factory, in the stile,
0:12:25 > 0:12:28it was danger, you were in danger.
0:12:28 > 0:12:33Despite the gruelling conditions, the influx of workers and soldiers
0:12:33 > 0:12:36needed to staff the factory had a positive effect
0:12:36 > 0:12:39on one aspect of life in the small town.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42The social life in Dalbeattie didnae half lift!
0:12:44 > 0:12:47So it brought a bit of spark, literally!
0:12:47 > 0:12:51Oh, it was an absolute godsend to Dalbeattie to the girls there,
0:12:51 > 0:12:53I think it put a smile on every girl's face.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56We had dances and one thing and another,
0:12:56 > 0:12:58and these dances served a purpose.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01To go to a dance and enjoy yourself.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05People forgot for that small length of time what they were doing.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10I couldnae say that I worked at the ammunition factory
0:13:10 > 0:13:12and I wasn't happy.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15The workers at Dalbeattie risked their lives to keep our troops
0:13:15 > 0:13:20supplied with vital munitions and some, like Tom,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23believe they deserve more recognition for what they did.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25They really deserve a medal.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27I mean, if you had to leave your house every day
0:13:27 > 0:13:31to come up here and work with dynamite.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34To do that day-in, day-out, deserves some recognition
0:13:34 > 0:13:36for these people who done that.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40As the thousands of women who found themselves in remote factories
0:13:40 > 0:13:43like Dalbeattie can testify,
0:13:43 > 0:13:47the war on the Home Front was all about change.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50I suppose, in some ways, what's more significant
0:13:50 > 0:13:53are those moments, those factors that conspired
0:13:53 > 0:13:57to change many of the fundamental things about life in this country.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01And let's face it, you don't get much more fundamental than food.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04At the start of the war, less than a third of all food
0:14:04 > 0:14:07consumed in Britain was grown on these shores.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11And with Nazi U-boats targeting the cargo ships
0:14:11 > 0:14:13carrying goods across the Atlantic,
0:14:13 > 0:14:16something had to be done to stop the country starving.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21Two solutions came out of Scotland.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30'Dig for victory!'
0:14:30 > 0:14:33Set up by Aberdeen professor John Raeburn,
0:14:33 > 0:14:36Dig for Victory asked everyone to help the war effort
0:14:36 > 0:14:39by planting as many crops as they could, wherever they could.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42'There may be room for vegetables on top of your Anderson shelter
0:14:42 > 0:14:47'or in the back yard, or even on that flat bit of roof.'
0:14:47 > 0:14:51By 1943, over a million tonnes of vegetables were grown.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54'And for goodness sake, keep your spade clean.'
0:14:54 > 0:14:58Another Scotsman, John Boyd-Orr, helped develop one of the most
0:14:58 > 0:15:02important social systems of the war - rationing.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06Together, these two solutions made food an all-consuming subject
0:15:06 > 0:15:08for the people of Great Britain -
0:15:08 > 0:15:12something reflected in the Mass Observation diaries.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16Set up two years before the war, the project asked hundreds
0:15:16 > 0:15:20of members of the public to keep records of their everyday lives,
0:15:20 > 0:15:24creating an archive of almost 300,000 pages of personal writings.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Diaries like Pam Ashford's,
0:15:29 > 0:15:32a secretary at a Glasgow shipping merchant, offer an insight
0:15:32 > 0:15:36into how the war impacted on everyone's life here at home.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39'Friday, 20th Feb, 1942.'
0:15:40 > 0:15:45'Often I wonder which subject comes first in conversation
0:15:45 > 0:15:48'the conscription of women or the food situation.'
0:15:48 > 0:15:51'I suppose it depends on how near you are to being conscripted and
0:15:51 > 0:15:54'whether you allow that subject to get ahead of food.'
0:15:54 > 0:15:59'Today at any rate, food is sweeping forward in a great crescendo
0:15:59 > 0:16:03'under the impulse of the release of tinned fruits next Monday.'
0:16:03 > 0:16:08'Wednesday, 22nd April, 1942.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10'Dried peaches.'
0:16:10 > 0:16:14'A tin of Heinz Oxtail Soup lured me into Peacock's this morning,
0:16:14 > 0:16:17'and there was a box of dried peaches, not visible from the door.'
0:16:17 > 0:16:22'I doubted my eyes so much that I had to ask the assistant what is
0:16:22 > 0:16:27'in the box, and you bet he did not take long to produce the pink book.'
0:16:27 > 0:16:31'Spotting future moves in bridge or whist is nothing
0:16:31 > 0:16:34'to spotting future moves in the game of points.'
0:16:34 > 0:16:37'The points system has transformed shopping.'
0:16:37 > 0:16:40'It is so nice to see things exposed for sale
0:16:40 > 0:16:43'that used to be kept beneath the counter.'
0:16:43 > 0:16:46'It is such a fair method of distribution,
0:16:46 > 0:16:47'and it is such a thrill.'
0:16:49 > 0:16:53Now, of course, these days, we take an abundance of food for granted,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56but during the war, and thanks to rationing, people up and down
0:16:56 > 0:17:00the country faced a daily battle just trying to keep themselves fed.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02Preparing even the most basic of family meals
0:17:02 > 0:17:05with the barest of ingredients required great imagination
0:17:05 > 0:17:08and often ingenuity, but, of course,
0:17:08 > 0:17:10the burning question is, what did it taste like?
0:17:12 > 0:17:15'Sadie Dixon-Spain runs the Flying Kitchen, a theatre group
0:17:15 > 0:17:19'based on mobile soup kitchens sent to bombed areas during the war.'
0:17:19 > 0:17:22'Along with her colleague Alison, they're cooking up some
0:17:22 > 0:17:25'wartime favourites for me and some guests.'
0:17:25 > 0:17:27- Hello, ladies. How are you? - Hi, Jules.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29- Nice to see you, Sadie. - And you.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33Now, there's an awful lot of myths spoken about wartime cooking
0:17:33 > 0:17:35and rationing, some people see it as a golden age
0:17:35 > 0:17:37that we should hark back to.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40Others, like my mother, never want to go back there again.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Talk us through the wartime diet.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45Well, surprisingly, the wartime diet
0:17:45 > 0:17:47was actually very, very healthy.
0:17:47 > 0:17:48In fact, we know now that Britons
0:17:48 > 0:17:50were the healthiest
0:17:50 > 0:17:52they have ever been during the war,
0:17:52 > 0:17:57because rationing came about as a very scientifically placed programme.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Lord Woolton of the Ministry of Food
0:18:00 > 0:18:02basically formulated with his advisors
0:18:02 > 0:18:06this very specific diet that gave us exactly what we needed
0:18:06 > 0:18:08to keep us fit,
0:18:08 > 0:18:11because the whole thing about war when it came was being fit for war.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Talk us through, then, the sort of ingredients, because we often
0:18:14 > 0:18:17talk about the minutiae of just how little you could have per week.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20Well, when you actually get to the realities of it... Do you like eggs?
0:18:20 > 0:18:21I like an egg, yeah.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23How many eggs would you have a week?
0:18:23 > 0:18:24Oh, that's a very good question,
0:18:24 > 0:18:27I would probably plough through at least eight, nine.
0:18:28 > 0:18:29Right. Well, there is your...
0:18:29 > 0:18:31That's it? That's my weekly allowance?
0:18:31 > 0:18:34That's it. Weekly allowance, yes.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36The restrictions of rationing meant that come dinnertime,
0:18:36 > 0:18:38the key ingredient was creativity.
0:18:40 > 0:18:46When meat was a bit scarce, and just having maybe potatoes with margarine
0:18:46 > 0:18:50mashed into them or potatoes with some milk mashed into them.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53It tasted all right, to be quite honest with you.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57My mother was a good cook.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01If you got a fish head, cod head, she would boil it
0:19:01 > 0:19:04and make the fish into fish cakes,
0:19:04 > 0:19:06and you'd have them fried for a tea.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10Maybe the more hungry you were, the more inventive you were.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13This sense of inventiveness
0:19:13 > 0:19:16when it comes to the recipe book is paramount, isn't it?
0:19:16 > 0:19:19It is, absolutely. I mean, there was a lot of fake food going on.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24We had to grow our own veg, that was the thing. We stopped importing veg.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27Now, these, of course, adorned posters up and down the country,
0:19:27 > 0:19:29- because they said...- That it would help you see in the dark.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31- Exactly.- Now, have you heard of John Cunningham?
0:19:31 > 0:19:32No.
0:19:32 > 0:19:37He was a great fighter pilot, and the Ministry of Food basically put it
0:19:37 > 0:19:41about that the reason he had such good eyesight was because he ate
0:19:41 > 0:19:43loads of carrots, you see.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45So there was John up there eating all those carrots,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48but it wasn't anything to do with the carrots at all, obviously.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51What had happened was our government was developing radar.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54Presumably also we had a glut of carrots
0:19:54 > 0:19:56and we were trying to push these on the population?
0:19:56 > 0:19:58Oh, we did. We had a carrot mountain,
0:19:58 > 0:20:01and what we had to do was encourage people to re-engage with the carrot.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03Right. Now...
0:20:03 > 0:20:04Ooh, what's this?
0:20:04 > 0:20:09On the carrot front, I think you should try a little piece of this.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11Right. Here we go.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17I mean, I happen to love carrots, so that's gone down well.
0:20:17 > 0:20:18OK, that's carrot fudge.
0:20:18 > 0:20:19Carrot fudge!
0:20:19 > 0:20:21That is carrot fudge.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Very sweet, though. Well, we've talked about inventive cooking,
0:20:24 > 0:20:26Alison's hard at work here on the other end of the table.
0:20:26 > 0:20:27What are you making there?
0:20:27 > 0:20:30Well, you were just talking about how much vegetable
0:20:30 > 0:20:33there was in the diet, people were eating lots of vegetables,
0:20:33 > 0:20:35so we're making a Christmas pudding
0:20:35 > 0:20:38which has got carrot, parsnip and beetroot.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41The root vegetables really come into their own with this sweetness,
0:20:41 > 0:20:43don't they?
0:20:43 > 0:20:45And this is really, in actual fact, a really low-fat pudding,
0:20:45 > 0:20:47it's got some of this delicious dried egg.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49That's dried egg. Now, this was ubiquitous, wasn't it?
0:20:49 > 0:20:51There were many a song and a poem
0:20:51 > 0:20:54written about how awful dried egg was. Can I try a bit?
0:20:54 > 0:20:57It looked like felt and tasted like rubber, apparently.
0:20:57 > 0:20:58Oh!
0:20:58 > 0:20:59Yeah.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02That is like eating wallfiller!
0:21:02 > 0:21:06Presumably, then, there was a whole kind of growth of recipes
0:21:06 > 0:21:09that were broadcast on the radio, put in newspapers
0:21:09 > 0:21:12to try and encourage people to use their imaginations
0:21:12 > 0:21:14and to give them some solutions?
0:21:14 > 0:21:17Well, basically, the morning started for the busy housewife
0:21:17 > 0:21:20with Ambrose Heath at 08:30 in the morning with the Kitchen Front.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23Kitchen Front recipes. I love this.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26There's even a prologue set in 1940.
0:21:26 > 0:21:31And then it gets on to pot roasting, fishy rice,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34potato and apple cake. What else have we got here, watercress soup.
0:21:34 > 0:21:35Making suet go further. There we are!
0:21:35 > 0:21:37Well, that was at the heart of it - how do you stretch
0:21:37 > 0:21:40this very limited resource out through the week?
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Well, the proof of the pudding as always, is in the testing.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45I'm going to see what this lot make of carrot fudge. Right, then.
0:21:45 > 0:21:46Enjoy!
0:21:47 > 0:21:49Who's for some carrot fudge?
0:21:49 > 0:21:51You look like a likely candidate.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53Right, go on, just pick that up with your fingers.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55That's it. Now, tell us what you think.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58Nice?
0:21:58 > 0:22:00- Yeah? What's your name? - Tom.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03Tom gives it a thumbs up. Right, who's next?
0:22:03 > 0:22:04Who's for a whole spoonful?
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Urggghhh!
0:22:09 > 0:22:11Ah! Now what have we got in here?
0:22:11 > 0:22:12Potato and vegetable roll.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15Now, what do you think, guys? Does that look appetising?
0:22:15 > 0:22:16- KIDS: No! - No!
0:22:16 > 0:22:18This is a way of using all the leftovers, isn't it?
0:22:18 > 0:22:19Absolutely, yes.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22It's just made out of leftover vegetables,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25leftover mashed potato, and you just make a big pastry.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27Now, you didn't try the carrot fudge.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29You didn't try it, come and try this, it's absolutely delicious.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31Can you imagine eating this...
0:22:31 > 0:22:32What a brave boy! Did you see that?
0:22:32 > 0:22:35That's only potato! Come on. Have some vegetables, as well!
0:22:35 > 0:22:36Can I have more?
0:22:36 > 0:22:37Yeah!
0:22:39 > 0:22:40It's actually really nice.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42It's actually really nice, there we go!
0:22:45 > 0:22:47I don't know about you lot,
0:22:47 > 0:22:49but I have had a fabulous insight into wartime cooking,
0:22:49 > 0:22:51and I think despite all the expectations,
0:22:51 > 0:22:55it has tasted absolutely fantastic.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58So, guys, let's give a big cheer to Sadie and Alison
0:22:58 > 0:23:00and the wartime menu. Well done you!
0:23:10 > 0:23:14Both rationing and Dig for Victory were resounding successes,
0:23:14 > 0:23:16but they still weren't enough to keep the nation fed.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21Ships crewed by Britain's merchant sailors had to run the gauntlet
0:23:21 > 0:23:24of the North Atlantic to keep our American lifeline open.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28Facing constant attack by German U-boats hellbent
0:23:28 > 0:23:30on blowing them out of the water,
0:23:30 > 0:23:34the brave civilian crews included some of the war's youngest heroes.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39I've come to a church in Edinburgh to meet Billy McGee.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42A former merchant seaman,
0:23:42 > 0:23:45he knows what the boys just out of school had to face every day.
0:23:45 > 0:23:51I was 16 years old, I was crossing the North Atlantic, gale force ten.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54Absolutely horrendous weather, sea sick for five days
0:23:54 > 0:23:58and these boys were doing it, but while being torpedoed,
0:23:58 > 0:24:02fired upon, enemy radars, mines, U-boats
0:24:02 > 0:24:07and that was without the weather, they just went and got on with it.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10Many of the boys that served in the merchant fleet
0:24:10 > 0:24:12during the war would lose their lives.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18Now, half of these were aged 16 and under,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21and 15 of them were only 14 years old when they were killed.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27It was all about adventures and dreams, and I'm sure
0:24:27 > 0:24:31a lot of these boys didn't realise the danger they were getting into.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36And what kinds of jobs were they doing on these ships?
0:24:36 > 0:24:39They'd do the daily chores of cleaning cabins out,
0:24:39 > 0:24:42taking food to the officers,
0:24:42 > 0:24:46taking cups of tea up to the men on the watch, on the bridge.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49Basically just cleaning duties, you know.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51Against his mother's wishes,
0:24:51 > 0:24:5514-year-old Reggie Earnshaw joined the merchant navy in 1941.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58In July of that year, his ship,
0:24:58 > 0:25:02the SS North Devon, was attacked by German bombers.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04His sister, Pauline Harvey,
0:25:04 > 0:25:07still remembers Reggie's enthusiasm to sign up.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10He lied about his age when he went.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12Said he was 15 which he wasn't,
0:25:12 > 0:25:16but he was obviously just fascinated with it - right, let's go,
0:25:16 > 0:25:19be a cabin boy, and decided this is what he wanted to do.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27They were going up to Newcastle, which was their base.
0:25:27 > 0:25:32Now, the bombs didn't hit the ship, but they bounced round it
0:25:32 > 0:25:37and in that, doing that, the steam lines were fractured.
0:25:37 > 0:25:43And Reggie seems to have been in the engineer's corridor, trapped,
0:25:43 > 0:25:45and he was scalded to death.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52I do remember them bringing his coffin,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55and it was put in what was his bedroom in the house,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58and it stayed there until it came here for the funeral
0:25:58 > 0:26:03with the strict instructions it wasn't to be opened.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15I mean, to go and do that at 14 demanded,
0:26:15 > 0:26:20needed a lot of courage, but life was so exciting to these boys
0:26:20 > 0:26:24about doing it and I can understand why he did it,
0:26:24 > 0:26:27but it's very sad that such a young life was lost.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34Even on the day Germany surrendered, another young life was lost
0:26:34 > 0:26:36when the Norwegian boat the Snaeland was attacked.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41She lost seven crew members, which actually included
0:26:41 > 0:26:45one young British boy who was only 16 years old.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47The very last casualty of the U-boat war.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51So, from the first day of war to virtually the last day of the war,
0:26:51 > 0:26:53these young boys paid the ultimate sacrifice.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56And everywhere, every day in between.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59Relatives and friends have gathered
0:26:59 > 0:27:03to dedicate a stained glass window commemorating the 500 boys under 16
0:27:03 > 0:27:06who lost their lives in the war at sea.
0:27:06 > 0:27:11Let us remember before God, and commend to his sure keeping,
0:27:11 > 0:27:15Reginald and all those who died for their country in war.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20Those whom we knew, those whose memory we treasure,
0:27:20 > 0:27:24and all who have lived and died in the service of mankind.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28They shall not grow old as we are who are left grow old.
0:27:29 > 0:27:34Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
0:27:34 > 0:27:39At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41CROWD: We will remember them.
0:27:43 > 0:27:48The country as a whole is extremely indebted to these men and boys
0:27:48 > 0:27:51who served at sea during the war.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54The contribution was immense,
0:27:54 > 0:27:58and it's just a sad fact that even today, people know very little
0:27:58 > 0:28:00about what the merchant navy did during World War II.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05You know, for some people, this is an old tale.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07It's not of great interest.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09But as you can see, for me, and the congregation behind me,
0:28:09 > 0:28:12this is a story which is very much alive.
0:28:12 > 0:28:17A tale of one young man giving his life for his country.
0:28:17 > 0:28:21And it makes you wonder, without boys like Reggie,
0:28:21 > 0:28:23who knows where we'd be.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29'Next time, I'll be exploring Newcastle's air raid shelters...'
0:28:29 > 0:28:32That's a World War II chemical toilet.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34'..uncovering the secrets of Churchill's
0:28:34 > 0:28:37'clandestine civilian army...'
0:28:37 > 0:28:39'..and chopping down trees with the Lumberjills.'
0:28:39 > 0:28:42Some were termed Amazon women that were equally as good as them
0:28:42 > 0:28:44at felling trees.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46Timber!
0:29:06 > 0:29:10Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd