Rationing in WWII (British Homefront)

rationing British homefront world war two though much of the second world war was fought in Europe and across the globe precautions were taken in Britain on the homefront to ensure readiness against all the domestic dangers that the nation might face during war between 1938 and 1939 the government started to take precautions and began planning for wartime it was believed that civilians would be needed on the home front to help with the war effort by planting vegetables to supplant rationing and to help as air-raid wardens the government also established a home guard the homefront came to occupy a unique position in the British collective memory of the Second World War regarded as a period in history during which time the British people came together in a spirit of collective fortitude and rationing would play a key element in homefront preparation by the time the Second World War broke out the British government had already begun planning food distribution for wartime the government was conscious not to repeat the mistakes and failures that occurred during the First World War it wasn't until 1918 in the final year of the First World War that food rationing was introduced and the Ministry of food was established before 1918 the distribution relied on supply and demand and those on low incomes went hungry riots often broke out in 1936 the British government established the food department which was responsible for stockpiling sugar and wheat while making preparations for a national rationing scheme by 1939 the government already began to advise the population on how to establish their own food stores in 1939 the President of the Board of Trade told Parliament that I see no objection to the accumulation by households in peacetime of small reserves of suitable foodstuffs equivalent to about one week's normal requirements household reserves of this kind would constitute a useful addition to the total stocks of the country leaflets were distributed advising on how best to store food at home emphasizing tinned food and to preserve essentials including flour tea and sugar one booklet issued by the canned foods Advisory Bureau suggested that in the event of war the nation would be immediately rationed with a limited supply of meat butter cheese milk flour tea sugar potatoes and cereals so Britain was well prepared for when war would break out the British government formally introduced rationing On January 8th 1940 as a means to cope with wartime shortages Britain was an island and imported most of its food and supplies by air or sea when war broke out in 1939 the majority of food supplies came to Britain by sea only one-third of Britain's food supplies were produced domestically the Axis powers seeing a weak spot attempted to disrupt Britain by intercepting supply ships headed for the country Germany attempted to cut off supplies to Britain by targeting Allied merchant vessels at the start of the war German u-boats began to destroy merchant ships in the Atlantic and the British government needed to take action to ensure the nation could survive in such times of shortages so that its Armed Forces and civilian population could continue to be fed it therefore introduced rationing rationing was controlled by the ministry of food which had been established in 1918 during the First World War it meant the limitation of food and other supplies for everyone in the country and also ensured that every member of the public would be able to obtain a fair share of the national food supply and a reasonable price this ensured equality and distribution and was also designed to prevent people from hoarding food and inflation rationing was organized around the idea of a flat rate individual ration to ensure that each individual obtained his or her full share and no more this required the consumer registering with a retailer that could control distribution this system failed to accommodate for the diverse needs of individuals from heavy workers to children differential rationing systems were in prior to the war but were never introduced to ensure rationing worked ration books with coupons inside were distributed to everyone and with these books each person had to register at a shop ration books were introduced shortly after national registration was introduced in 1939 the National Registration Act established a national register which required individuals to produce their new identification cards on demand or for them to be presented to a police station within 48 hours 44 million ration books were in circulation by 1939 the white brown colored rb1 ration book was distributed to everyone above the age of 6 with younger children receiving the green rb2 ration book coupons were marked off by the shopkeeper to show that a purchase had been made among the ration items were bacon butter and sugar by 1942 this was expanded to other foods including milk meat cheese eggs and cooking fat a typical weekly allowance for one adult would be one fresh egg four ounces of margarine four ounces of bacon which was approximately four rashers two ounces of butter 2 ounces of tea one ounce of cheese and eight ounces of sugar exceptions were made for members of the Armed Forces the women's Land Army miners pregnant mothers and children who required additional nutrients from August 1940 it was a criminal offense to waste food which could see you find or sent to prison inspectors check bins shops and restaurants it was also illegal to surf fish and meat at the same time to one customer in a cinema in London an assistant enforcement officer was served such a combination and find the manager and waitresses who served him once he had enjoyed and finished the meal one of the most common foods during this time were powdered eggs and spam which came from the United States spam was a tinned meat that lasted for a long time without refrigeration and didn't cost many points to purchase the Ministry of food encouraged everyone to grow their own food with the dig for victory campaign cartoon characters like potato Pete and dr. carrot were created to encourage such an enterprise land was used to create allotments which was a form of self-sufficiency that contributed to the war effort pigs chickens and rabbits were reared and vegetables were grown everywhere that they could including gardens public parks and sports fields by 1943 the number of allotments numbered 1.4 million alongside these allotments national restaurants were established in urban areas to provide affordable nutritious meals for working people from 1941 there was also an expansion of school meals and war canteens as well as food other items would be rationing petrol was the first item to be rationed in September 1939 prioritized for the Armed Forces clothes rationing started on June 1st 1941 and women painted their legs using gravy and drew a line on the back as a substitute for nylon stockings there were also instructions in magazines on how to make clothes from old curtains a reaction to rationing was the illegal black market Spivs were able to get rationed items either stolen or obtained by other dubious methods offering them for sale without coupons usually at a greatly inflated price shopkeepers also kept special items back behind the counter just for their favorite customers fines could go up to 500 pounds and a possible two years in prison if caught forgers operated under little scrutiny owing to the lack of police presence issuing forged ration books and coupons in 1944 14,000 ration books were stolen during an air raid and sold for a profit of around 70,000 pounds equivalent to three million pounds today rationing continued way past the war and didn't end until 1954 this was because of Britain's damaged economy from the war and the high debts it owed to the United States the Second World War fundamentally changed the state's relationship with society everything was brought under the scrutiny of the government food rationing was a prime example of this rationing meant a reconfiguration of the nation's debt in accordance with the nutritional science of the day alongside the availability of certain types of foods advice was produced on how to best cook at what was available food from foreign sources especially occupied areas and the Commonwealth colonies were in short supply French cheese for example became unavailable and it has been said that people had a fun taste for bananas because they were so difficulty at a hold of Britain was also diverting its food to parts of Europe which was rebuilding and suffering from starvation as a result of German occupation rationing would continue for as long as the British forces were heavily involved in post-war conflicts across the world

Channel: Simple History

Views: 1,064,346

Rating: 4.9381628 out of 5

Keywords: simple history, animated history, educational, education, Ministry of Food, Rationing, food, hoard, Food Department, Canned Foods, Britain, uk, govt, ration book, R.B 1, meat, milk, cheese, eggs, Spam, Potato Pete, Doctor carrot, gardens, dig for victory, allotments, 1941, black market, homefront, ww2, british, rations, nurtrition, diet, fat, eating, shops, stores, shopkeeper, london, blitz, spivs

Id: 7e5oygzUrs4

Length: 10min 36sec (636 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 27 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/radgie_gadgie_1954]

Mum was training as a nurse in the Blitz (1940). She’s still with us now aged almost 100