by Susie Hodge
Woolton Pie
Lord Woolton’s charisma was such that even after advising people to make rissoles without beef, cakes without sugar and tea without tea leaves, he remained a popular figure. Among the many different – and often dull dishes – that the Ministry of Food suggested, a vegetable pie was developed named after him, invented by the chef of the Savoy hotel and utilising the produce grown by so many. It was not liked and jokingly nicknamed by some as “steak and kidney pie without the steak and kidney!” Lord Woolton fully endorsed it for its health content:
Woolton Pie
1 lb diced potatoes
1 lb cauliflower
1 lb diced carrots
1 lb diced swede
3/4 spring onions
1 teaspoon vegetable extract
1 tablespoon oatmeal
A little chopped parsley The ingredients of the pie can be adapted to fit whatever vegetables are available. Potato, swede, cauliflower and carrot make a good mixture. Cook all the ingredients together for ten minutes with just enough water to cover. Stir occasionally to prevent the mixture from sticking. Allow to cool and then put it into a pie dish, sprinkle with chopped parsley and cover with a crust of potato or wheatmeal pastry. Bake in a moderate oven until the pastry is nicely browned and serve hot with a brown gravy. This makes enough for four or five.
Farms and allotments
As well as many areas of wasteland, parks, playing fields, railway embankments and back gardens being cultivated, a large number of farms were extended, with approximately 10 million acres of grassland being ploughed up to be used as arable land. The extension of farms meant that the farmers had to make far greater investments in time and machinery. Since the outbreak of the war, every county had a committee made up of Ministry of Agriculture officials and the National Farmers’ Union to oversee and control the farming. The committees had great powers and their aim was to increase production. They controlled every aspect of farming, including which crops were grown, the number of workers needed, permits for machinery purchase, fuel distribution and so on. Because the farmers on the committees were usually highly respected, the committee system was quite friendly and on the whole instigated the sharing of information and ideas. It was not unknown however, for committees to evict farmers who could not or would not comply with the imposed greater demands on their time and expenditure. Whatever the difficulties by 1944 Britain had increased its area of arable land by 50 per cent, its pastures by 66 per cent, had nearly doubled its production of wheat and barley, and more than doubled its yield of potatoes.
Sowing the seeds of independence
Under the dynamic leadership of the Marchioness of Reading, the Women’s Land Army was re-launched in the summer of 1939, in response to the national drive for agricultural self-sufficiency and the need for land workers. In its aim to attract girls from factories, offices and shops, advertising for the WLA appealed to those who fancied a healthy outdoor lifestyle, but the reality of the work was harsh and strenuous and food was not always as nourishing or as plentiful as it should be. Aged from 18 to 40, land girls across the country worked from early in the morning (milking usually began at 4am) until late in the evenings. In an attempt to correct this over-romanticised view, the publication Land Girl, a Manual for Volunteers suggested that potential recruits should test themselves by “carrying buckets of water for half an hour or more at a time”, after which they should “attempt to pitch earth on to a barrow…for another hour or so.” During their four weeks’ training, land girls only received 10 shillings and their keep. This did not improve much when recruited and they had no say in where they would be sent or in what tasks they would be asked to do. Despite the vast majority having no previous experience, of many farmers resenting them and of many being less robust than the male farmhands they were replacing, the efforts made by them all was acknowledged as being extraordinary, and the gruelling and physically demanding jobs they succeeded in doing helped to increase Britain’s food production massively. Their work was hugely diverse, from looking after animals and ploughing fields, to harvesting crops and killing rats, to digging, hoeing, shearing and milking. On top of this in the main, they had to learn to use old-fashioned methods and equipment.
As one of the consequences of the heavy, outdoor work was hunger, extra rations were allocated to land girls, but the food they were given was often inadequate. As their uniforms also wore out quickly, they were supplied with cheap, second-hand clothes and when their rubber boots wore out, as rubber was in short supply, they were returned for reconditioning and sold back to the girls, off-ration and at a cheaper price. Some of the girls were billeted on the farms where they worked; many lived together in hostels and they were all moved as and when they were needed by the War Agricultural Committee. To join the WLA, girls were interviewed, then given a medical examination and then enrolled. The official minimum age for enrolment was 17, but some lied and joined at 16 or even younger. It was not difficult to be admitted as there was so much work to do. Although pay was quite low and there was no holiday entitlement, there were certain perks. If a girl was working over 20 miles from home, once she had worked six months, she was granted a free journey home, paid for by the government. It was left to the farmers’ discretion to allow their workers any other time off.
The Squander Bug
Faced with so many shortages, any form of unnecessary wastage was strongly discouraged. In one of his many broadcasts to the nation, Lord Woolton said: “If you are only eating what you need and not what you like and as much as you like, then you are helping to win the war.” People were encouraged to save kitchen waste for their own or their neighbours’ pigs or hens, or to give it to the local authorities who collected it for their livestock. Promoted by the government, advertisers invented the “Squander Bug” as the opposite of the friendly Doctor Carrot and Potato Pete. The Squander Bug looked like a giant flea or large beetle, with German swastika symbols all over his body and Hitler’s hairstyle. He was always trying to tempt people into wasting food, money and other essentials. Posters, newsreels and pamphlets warned of the dangers of extravagance and wasting things that could ill-afford to be frittered away. The Squander Bug tempted housewives to spend more than they should and headlines proclaimed: “Kill him – with War Savings” or “Don’t take the Squander Bug shopping with you”. Newspaper ads of 1944 implored: “Don’t let the Squander Bug nibble at your will to save. Whenever he raises his ugly head, squash him. The need to save is as urgent as ever. Save to finish the war and speed the peace. Save in your own interest so that you will have money to spend with a good conscience when there are more things in the shops.” Posters and slogans appeared everywhere to remind people of the need to save as much of everything as they could. Extravagance was deplored. The campaign worked and by April 1943 31,000 tonnes of kitchen waste were being saved every week, which was enough to feed 210,000 pigs. Manufacturers were not exempt from the need for economy and to save paper, metal and labour, most wartime packaging was reduced. Food packaging in particular became plainer and smaller and often carried the words: “wartime economy pack” or “wartime emergency pack”.
Various innovations were made by people in their attempts to avoid wastage. Apple peel was boiled to make a lemon substitute for use in jams or drinks; bacon rinds were melted to be used as fat for cooking or were added to soups for flavouring; stale bread went into puddings or to make stuffing or was used as breadcrumbs and added to dishes such as scrambled egg to make them go further. Other scraps were used to feed the animals. But while it was important to save and be cautious, stockpiling food became an offence that was punishable by imprisonment. Leaflets like What’s in the Larder? gave information on using up leftovers to ensure that nothing was wasted. Tips included:
“Food which has already been cooked only needs to be reheated and is spoiled if cooked too much a second time. This is especially important to remember when using up leftover meat, fish and vegetables”, and:
“Usi
ng up Stale Bread: Fairy Toast – cut wafer-thin slices of stale bread and bake in a moderate oven until crisp and golden brown. Store in an airtight tin. This is a good standby to have in place of bread or biscuits and it will keep for months.”
In the effort to educate people on growing and cooking, not wasting food and in keeping healthy, the Ministry of Food joined with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Education. Along with their unrelenting advertising campaigns and leaflets, they also set up food advice centres in larger towns, run by home economics cookery advisors to recommend ways of doing all these things.
Exceeding all expectations
Of all the Home Front directives, the Dig for Victory campaign was the most successful, exceeding all expectations. In a complete turnaround from the start of the war, by 1945 approximately 75 per cent of the food needed in Britain was produced within its shores.Yet even when the war was coming to an end, the government realised that complacency was not an option and people would need to remain self-sufficient for some time. In a speech in late 1944, Lord Woolton announced: “We can justly congratulate ourselves in what we have achieved. But we must on no account relax out efforts. The war is not yet won. Moreover, even if it were to end in Europe sooner than we expect, the food situation, far from becoming easier, may well become more difficult owing to the urgent necessity of feeding the starving people of Europe. Indeed in many ways it would be true to say that our real tasks will only then begin. Carry on therefore with your good work. Do not rest on your spades, except for those brief periods which are every gardener’s privilege.” People continued to grow their own food for years after the war. In 1950 there were still approximately 1,200,000 allotments being used but by 1968 there were approximately 600,000. Rationing did not finally come to an end until 1954, with meat being the last food to come off the ration list.
When the war began, most people thought it would be over in a matter of weeks. Audrey O’Connell was as positive as everyone else.
The War Emergency Information and Instructions leaflet was issued early on to help civilians feel safer and that they were not alone in the fight.
Propaganda boosted morale and instructed the public on how they could help the war effort. By 1941 when this leaflet was issued, anyone who didn’t save and salvage was frowned upon or even fined.
This photo of children wearing gas masks shows them looking quite happy, but most found the rubber smell overpowering, with the whole experience of wearing them claustrophobic and frightening.
A doll in a baby’s gas mask; gas masks for babies were issued along with all the other masks. Conscientious mothers learned to put them on their infants in a matter of seconds.
Inside a Morrison shelter. Many city households had Morrison shelters which were used as tables during the day.
Everyone had to carry their gas masks at all times and to know how to use them.
Calling all women! Audrey O’Connell in her ATS uniform.
Women took on many traditionally masculine roles and undertook tasks that formerly had been restricted to the realm of men.
The chain of buckets to extinguish a fire symbolises the chain of resourcefulness and solidarity among women at home for the duration of the war.
The WVS was made up of women from all social backgrounds and they worked tirelessly to maintain some form of normality. For instance, they undertook the bulk of the evacuation programme.
The Women’s Land Army prevented Britain from being starved into submission. It was strenuous work and not as glamorous as it was portrayed in the advertising.
With their stalwart and positive attitudes, women really did ‘keep the home fires burning’ for the men fighting at the Front.
Recipes were issued in leaflets, in magazines and on posters. There were seemingly endless ways of cooking appetising meals without the staple ingredients that everyone had been used to.
Women’s Land Army recruits turned the empty fields of Britain into fertile and productive farmlands, ensuring that the population could eat healthily when most other supplies had been cut off.
The leaflet, ‘Your Children’s Food in Wartime’ advised on health and nutrition for hard-pressed mothers.
‘Dig for Victory Now’ was one of the most successful campaigns of the war.
Picking fruit became a popular summer pastime when queues were long and shops’ produce reduced.
The threat of disease and illness was a great fear at home during the war. By growing your own food, it was hoped that individuals could take responsibility for themselves and keep themselves healthy.
Advertising encouraged women who found themselves working in strange jobs for long hours, imparting the feeling that they were making a positive impact on the war.
‘It all depends on ME’ was another clever piece of propaganda – it also promoted the notion that women could continue to be beautiful while undertaking jobs that had previously only been done by men.
This campaign told women everywhere in Britain that they were personally making a positive difference in the fight against Hitler.
As a symbol of femininity, stockings were a problem. Despite the best efforts of knitting companies and magazines however, woolly knitted versions never really caught on!
Snoods were chic and stylish ways of keeping hair neat when working with machinery.
Mr and Mrs Sutton on their wedding day in 1941; proof that even in wartime, brides could be beautiful.
Audrey O’Connell in her timeless home-made coat.
In order to keep stylish, many women became particularly accomplished at knitting.
Along with socks and balaclavas for soldiers, many people knitted scarves for themselves and their families. As the leaflets said: women had to be their own clothes’ ‘doctors’.
Knitting and sewing patterns were in abundance as everyone aimed to be as enterprising as possible. Keeping up appearances generated a positive feeling.
Even with the clothing restrictions there was room for some individual creativity.
Scarves were often made from wool unpicked from old jumpers; nothing went to waste.
Workers became accustomed to listening to the wireless as they worked, which helped to keep everyone cheerful.
A bombed-out family in London being resolute and courageous. This was a common sight in city streets.
Children being evacuated was another familiar sight. Hundreds of little children, labelled and carrying suitcases, were sent off to distant places, supposedly to be safer than in the cities.
Going into an Anderson shelter in a back garden. During the day, these were snug and many families decorated theirs, but at night they were dank and dark, and most were soon abandoned.
Waiting for a train to evacuate them, these children took their parents’ lead and on the whole, remained cheerful, despite the bewilderment and fear many felt.
Maisie Walker clearly remembers the day she said goodbye to her beloved brother.
There was a real fear of being gassed during the early part of the war, so plenty of information was issued on how to render the home gas-proof.
Not many people had homes big enough for this, but one idea promoted by the government was to prepare a refuge room in case of emergency. Most people with houses used their under stair cupboards.
Air raid wardens patrolled the streets of vulnerable areas. Although they were necessarily strict about the blackout, they were also reassuring, friendly and reliable.
Natural optimism spurred on the British at this time, and this became the greatest national symbol of hope; St Paul’s Cathedral still standing when all around was devastated by bombs.
The numerous, depressing elements of the war were not dwelt on; there was an unspoken code of responsibility to keep smiling and pretend that all was well. In the main, it worked!
Hose laying lorries were a common sight, as were groups of volunteers who had been trained by charities or the local council to do this work or to work as ambulance crew.
&nb
sp; Sir Winston Churchill instilled confidence and offered encouragement. He just had to turn up to wave the troops off to give everyone a positive mental boost.
Audrey O’Connell’s release book from the ATS, received at the end of the war.
At the end of the war women had to give up the jobs they had learned to do so quickly and so well. It was another adjustment they faced with fortitude and determination.
