RATIONING AND FOOD PRODUCTION

Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 6 Rationing and Food Production

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RATIONING AND FOOD PRODUCTION

Preparations for rationing certain foodstuffs and other essential supplies were well underway by

October 1939. With over 90,000 ration books required for the Peterborough area the administrative

task was huge, and involved elementary school teachers, members of the WVS and other volunteers

in writing up registration details before books could be despatched to residents.

The papers, and Government advertisements, gave advice and instructions and urged those ‘careless

housewives’ who had not yet registered with retailers to do so without further delay.

The rationing of bacon, ham and butter began on 8th

January 1940. Coal supplies had been restricted

since October 1939. The early part of 1940 suffered from extremes of cold weather. There were

reports of difficulties for some customers who could not get into town to shop because of the

weather, and although some retailers used their commonsense and were flexible in accepting

coupons valid for a previous week, not all did so. Peterborough’s Grocers’ Association were quick to

point out the “injustices of rigid rules for village customers”.

This was not a good time, and red tape threatened to make it worse:


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[PA 9/2/40]


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Rationing of meat began on 11th

March 1940. Despite all the advice and fine detail of the regulations

being published locally, a ‘busy, tiresome weekend for butchers’ was anticipated as they explained

the scheme and its limitations to individual customers. Long queues developed – a situation which

lasted for years and caused the City Education committee to discuss, in June 1941, the problem of

children missing half days at school whilst they held their parent’s place in a shopping queue!

New ration books were issued in the summer of 1940, and the Peterborough Elementary schools

were closed for the week beginning 3rd

June so teachers could undertake clerical work on them – It

took 150 teachers 5 days to write up the books, much of it in their own time.

There was a great deal on advice on how and what to cook in wartime: Stork produced a wartime

cookery book, local demonstrations were held and every week brought suggested recipes in each of

the papers.

Avoiding waste was seen as a “matter of urgent National importance” as waste food would make

“pig food and eggs”. The Grantham Farmers’ Union declared that ‘only 5% of dogs were any use at

all’, and called for a resolution asking for the dog licence fee to be increased in an effort to reduce

the dog population, which was consuming valuable food (“some are being fed rabbits and liver!!”).

Locally, two Caldecott ladies were committed for trial accused of wasting bread by feeding it to their

horses – bread was not rationed, but it was an offence to waste it.

The City council encouraged people to take on allotments, with a disappointing response (but this

was in February 1940 – the coldest winter for some time!); in July 1940 Skegness council announced

its decision to grow vegetables in the municipal beds rather than ornamental flowers– the argument

that they would only be stolen was countered by the fact that even if this happened – somebody

would be getting fed!

There were calls not only to produce but also to preserve more foods; the Autumn of 1940 brought

an appeal to teachers, youth groups and other responsible adults to organise country excursions to

pick blackberries (only 10% of crop used in peacetime). The WI’s role as jam makers came to the

fore. In September 1940, the Thornhaugh-cum-Wansford Jam making Centre was declared open to

the villagers – the ladies had already made 112 pounds of jam! Jam making requires sugar additional

to that allowed by rationing, so requests for extra supplies came thick and fast. Food control at

Spalding reported difficulties with dishonest requests, and there were protests that householders

growing fruit were treated differently to commercial fruit growers and that WI members were

getting preferential treatment.

Lincolnshire’s farmers were issued with restrictions on certain crops to ensure maximum crop for

the nation’s food supply (eg no more asparagus). Apples could only be planted with special

permission and only when the ground in between trees was to be planted with a food or fodder

crop. As far too much corn was being wasted every year due to badly built corn stacks, the War

Agricultural Committee for Hunts and Soke of Peterborough organised a demonstration at Mr J

Bradshaw’s Castle Farm in Stibbington. (The stacking done by Mr Bradshaw himself).


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Inevitably, people tried to bend the rules and rationing offences came before the Courts. It must

have been difficult for suppliers to see long standing, loyal customers going short, but there was no

allowance for any such compassion: one woman from Newborough Fen was fined £4 7s 6d (£4.37½)

for selling 6 ounces of butter when it should have been 2 ounces and the rest margarine. Other cases

were on a larger scale:

[PA 5/7/40]


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Petrol rationing was also open to dishonest practice. In October 1942, three partners of Murkets

Garage in Huntingdon were sentenced to between 9 and 18 months charged with acquiring petrol

without surrendering coupons. Some unlikely participants became embroiled in this scam, whereby

coupons were misused - £610 in fines was paid by twenty defendants, including a teacher from

Alconbury and a number of policemen. Ivan George Woodruffe, Police Constable at Stibbington, was

one of them (4 gallons, fined £20).

One consequence of changes to manufacturing priorities during the war effort was highlighted by

Peterborough Jewellers. They protested against the restriction of the manufacture of good quality

gold rings, and related one bride’s ‘Hopeless Search’ through the East Midlands.

‘now only 9 carat rings are made, but not in sufficient numbers due to a greatly increased

number of war time marriages. “Ladies like to be married with a ring they are going to keep

for life, but now they have to make do with anything, even to borrowing one from a friend”.

The children’s role:

For some time, Peterborough farmers had been urging the release from school of the older boys to

assist with farming duties, given the shortage of labour. Threats were made from Whitehall that if

pupils were allowed to work on the harvest, cuts in grant would follow. But the need to feed the

nation was great, and some other school holidays were adjusted.

In October 1940, the Stamford Mercury reported on a Rutland scheme in which school holidays were

restricted to two weeks, followed by three weeks when ‘special work of value and emergency’ could

be done eg gathering wood for winter/knitting for troops. 300 children were excused school for

approved work on farms/gardens or domestic work.

The following entries are from the Stibbington School log book:

27th

Oct1941 School closed a.m. for children to assist with potato harvest

Nov 1941 The school will be open unofficially for the children not at work in the

harvest field

10th

Nov 1941 School re-opened

In January 1945, a much larger scale operation was reported, when school children in the Soke of

Peterborough area were mobilised to pick 10,000 tons of potatoes in 10 days. Due to a worry that

the crop was in danger of rotting in the wet weather, the Education Authority and local schools

cooperated in a scheme in which 900 children were employed by 93 farmers, being moved by coach

from farm to farm as required. On average each child lifted 10 tons 2 cwt of potatoes and was paid

9d (just under 4p) per hour. The ‘shepherding’ of the children and provision of packed lunches was

the responsibility of the Agricultural Committee’s Pest Officer!


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Children were also very much involved in salvage collections, collecting waste materials for recycling.

Peterborough City Council’s rejection of the suggestion that old bones should be sent to school was

undoubtedly welcomed:

‘We do not think that teachers or parents would relish the idea of children taking fly-blown

bones to school.’

A “Stibbington News” paragraph in November 1940 reports that the school children had collected a

ton and a half of waste paper, and in July 1944, some 2,700 books, more than 50 per pupil. A book

drive earlier in 1943 saw the Soke villages’ target of 10,000 exceeded when 13,600 books in total

were collected. Castor and Aisworth contributed 1,465 and Thornhaugh/Wansford 1,182 (of these,

12 year old Ann Price from Thornhaugh gathered 465 from this small village). Of the Soke total,

approximately 5,000 were forwarded to the Forces, 750 to hospitals and the rest for salvage.

1944 saw a competition amongst some local schools to see who could gather the most fresh

vegetables from villagers for “the little ships”, the mine sweepers on duty in the North Sea. The

winning school was offered the chance to send a few pupils to an East Coast port to see the produce

being unpacked and distributed.

‘It is hoped that if a housewife is visited by a small caller she will give something from her

vegetable garden – a few sprouts a stick of celery, a couple of leeks, it will all help to fill the

“veg for mine sweepers bag”’

Figures were published at the end of each month during the scheme: for January 1944:

Castor 2 st 6 lbs, averaging 12 oz per pupil.

Thornhaugh 1 st 6 lbs averaging 12 oz per pupil.

Barnack 17 st 5 lbs.

(The eventual winner of the competition was Longthorpe School)


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RATIONING AND FOOD PRODUCTION

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