70 Years On; Memories of the Plymouth Blitz

This interesting report appeared in 'The Herald' on Thursday, March 24, 2011.

Jessie Can Vividly Recall the Bombing

RESILIENT is a word which blitz survivor Jessie Durant thinks best describes the people of Plymouth during the punishing German bombing. Despite her years, the 99-year-old remembers the time as clear as day.
And one aspect of the time which stands out for Jessie is the determination and perseverance of Plymothians, whether it was the children who didn't miss a single day at school, or the shopkeepers who stayed open despite their shops suffering bomb damage.

"Life went on," said Jessie with a smile. "It had to. Times were hard and we all lived as we could. I had a coat made out of two old Army blankets. Gypsies on horse and carts would also come by selling bits and pieces. We never asked where they got their stuff but I remember buying three rolls of lino. I remember we all read the newspapers to look at the adverts for recipes."

"Food was short and we lived on rations. One recipe I remember was pastry made with liquid paraffin.
Surprisingly, it was really good. I'm not sure why it didn't really take off."

And Jessie knew just how hard life could be. Her husband, Walter, was a watchmaker and jeweller and ran his shop 'Durant's Watchmaker and Jeweller' on Union Street opposite the Palace Theatre.
During one of the Blitz raids a German bomb hit the next door property – which was also where the couple and their four-year-old daughter Anne lived – and blew off their roof.
Instead of closing up the shop Walter – who was also an air raid warden in the city – kept working at the site.
"He would stand in the shop working while holding an umbrella over his head because the rain would pour down," said Jessie, who lives in Roborough.
"There were often buckets and pots and pans everywhere to try and catch the rain. Others who weren't as fortunate would sell their wares from Nissen huts in the street."

Following one particular raid, when Walter was on warden duty, he feared Jessie and Anne had been killed after seeing flames in the direction of Union Street. Fortunately the two were safe in the air raid shelter at the bottom of the garden but Walter ordered them to evacuate from Plymouth for their own safety. They moved to Salcombe temporarily.

But the sights and sounds of the war were – and are to this day – still with Jessie.
"You didn't hear much when a bomb dropped," she said. "You just heard a 'shhhhhhhh' sound. When they did go off it was so loud you didn't really hear it. It's difficult to describe. Everything just shudders."

Jessie said she felt "sad" at the destruction of Plymouth and said she hopes no-one will ever see such a time again.
"I'm glad it's not on now but it was such a long time ago, I just hope lessons have been learned," she added.
"I was very sad Plymouth was devastated. I don't think the new Plymouth is anything like the old Plymouth."

 

 

With the top of St Andrew's Cross in the foreground, this was the scene at Spooner's Corner the morning after a German air raid. Spooner's is on the left, Old Town Street in the centre and Whimple Street on the right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fires raging at Drake Circus.

 

The scene as firemen try to put out the fires in Old Town Street, just up from Spooner's Corner.

 

Fabricating Elburton's 'Battle of Britain' Feature

The Battle of Britain 

 

For three months, the German Messerschmitt Bf 109 engaged the Hurricanes and Spitfires of the RAF in a momentous struggle for air superiority over the Great Britain. 

The airplane performed as required, but the distances from bases and the need to use the Messerschmitt in a bomber escort role took their toll. Many aircraft were shot down during the daily air battles that took place during the long, hot summer of 1940, and aircraft remains could be seen strewn over the English countryside where they had crashed. Often, aircraft would crash land in farmer's fields, close to residential areas, and even on allotments. Downed German pilots who parachuted safely, nonetheless, were lost for the duration of the war as POWs; British pilots who parachuted out of their aircraft promptly returned to their squadrons to fight another day.

By the end of October 1940, the British had lost 1,149 airplanes, mostly fighters. The German Luftwaffe lost almost 1,800 aircraft, one third of them Bf 109s. 

For the first time, Hitler's airforce had been defeated, and a few months later he turned East, with devastating consequences. 

Duxford's Hangar 4 has a downed Messerschmitt Bf 109 as part of its Battle of Britain display.

This photograph shows a 109 that has crash landed in a field during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940.

At Elburton's 'Dig for Victory' garden,we are planning to bring a little of the 'Battle of Britain' spirit to life by incorporating our very own downed German fighter into the garden display. 

As part of an annual community project, the apprentices at Babcock Marine, Plymouth have very kindly offered their assistance with this. They are currently fabricating parts to represent a crashed German Bf 109 fighter which will take pride of place later in the summer. 

The pieces of the fighter being constructed consist of a 2-metre section of wing, a similarly-sized tail section and a twisted propeller and nose cone, all of which will be placed into the ground to simulate an aircraft that has been shot down.

We're very excited about this project, and can't wait to see it on display in the garden. 

We'll post more photos as the project progresses.

Evacuees in World War Two - The True Story

As bombing raids attacking Britain's cities increased during World War Two, thousands of children were uprooted from their families and sent to the safety of the countryside. Many found, however, that life away from home was no picnic.

Operation Pied Piper

The evacuation of Britain's cities at the start of World War Two was the biggest and most concentrated mass movement of people in Britain's history. In the first four days of September 1939, nearly 3,000,000 people were transported from towns and cities in danger from enemy bombers to places of safety in the countryside.

Most were schoolchildren, who had been labelled like pieces of luggage, separated from their parents and accompanied instead by a small army of guardians - 100,000 teachers. By any measure it was an astonishing event, a logistical nightmare of co-ordination and control beginning with the terse order to 'Evacuate forthwith,' issued at 11.07am on Thursday, 31 August 1939. Few realised that within a week, a quarter of the population of Britain would have a new address.

Talking to evacuees now about the events of those days in 1939 recalls painful memories that have been deeply hidden for 60 years, exposing the trauma of separation and isolation and the tensions of fear and anger. Most were unaware of where they were going, what they would be doing and all were wholly ignorant of when they would be coming back.

The fear of air attack from German bombers at the start of hostilities encouraged parents to send their children to safety. There were predictions of 4,000,000 civilian casualties in London alone, and, as early as 1922 - after the air threat from Zeppelins - Lord Balfour had spoken of 'unremitting bombardment of a kind that no other city has ever had to endure'.

The Government had stockpiled coffins, erected masses of barrage balloons and planned, at least in outline, for the mass evacuation of British cities before 1939. But it is now revealed that these plans were hopelessly flawed.

In the first place, the estimates of casualties were grossly over-exaggerated and the subsequent Government propaganda caused near panic rather than controlled movement. In addition, the man in charge of evacuation, Sir John Anderson, was a cold, inhuman character with little understanding of the emotional upheaval that might be created by evacuation.

 

 

The Day of Evacuation

For some children used to city life, the countryside proved to be a revelation. Most evacuees have a vivid recall of events on the day of their evacuation. The images are of busy train stations, shouting officials and sobbing mothers.
In London, the schoolchildren sang 'The Lambeth Walk'. Elsewhere there were choruses of 'Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye'. For most it was 'like going on an adventure': a phrase that is still uppermost in the minds of evacuees 60 years on.

'We marched to Waterloo Station behind our head teacher carrying a banner with our school's name on it,' says James Roffey, founder of the Evacuees Reunion Association. 'We all thought it was a holiday, but the only thing we couldn't work out was why the women and girls were crying.'
For the newspapers the evacuation represented an irresistible human story. An upper-class Englishwoman, Mollie Panter-Downes, described the scene in her fortnightly piece for the New Yorker and remarked on the 'cheerful little cockneys who could hardly believe the luck that was sending them to the countryside'.

The stereotypical images were already forming in people's minds.
Parents gave instructions to their children: 'Don't complain,' 'Grin and bear it,' 'Look after your sister,' 'Write home as soon as you can.'
Broadly speaking the four-day official exodus worked surprisingly well. The real problems came in the reception areas where the Government had left arrangements for the children's arrival and care to local authorities, with little more than an injunction to do their best.

The result can only be described as a typically British wartime shamble. Hundreds of children arrived in the wrong area with insufficient rations. And, more worryingly, there were not enough homes in which to put them.
Twelve months earlier, the Government had surveyed available housing, but what they had not taken into account was the extent to which middle-class and well-to-do families would be making their own private arrangements. Consequently, those households who had previously offered to take in evacuees were now full.
Keeping control of the whole thing became a joyless task. 'The trains were coming in thick and fast,' says Geoffrey Barfoot who had been seconded from the town hall to act as a billeting officer in Weston Super Mare. 'It was soon obvious that we just didn't have the bed space.'

I'll Take That One

As a result of the mismatches, selection was made according to rudimentary principles. Billeting officers simply lined the children up against a wall or on a stage in the village hall, and invited potential hosts to take their pick. Thus the phrase 'I'll take that one' became etched on the memory of our evacuees.
Steve Davis, a clinical psychologist specialising in the study of war trauma, says this was the first of many moments that caused upset and humiliation for the evacuees and put their welfare under serious threat. For him the current anniversary marks a watershed. 'Surveys show that childhood memories lie dormant for a period of around 60 years and now they are returning to haunt people in a big way.'

Understandably perhaps, those with only good evacuations cherish their memories, and are irritated by those who seem only to recall the gloomier side. The unhappiness of others somehow besmirches their own idyllic picture.
However, contrasting experiences have stayed with the evacuees and what is left can only be described as the best of times and the worst of times.
Rita Glenister, from North London, stayed with a working-class family in Somerset and was treated like a member of the family, given love and affection and secured friendships to last a lifetime. Norma Reeve, from a lowly background in the East End, was taken in by a titled lady with servants and a butler who served Norma her meals.
Little things, like going to the pictures, learning to bake bread, walks in the woods and the generosity of those who took evacuated children into their homes, have remained constant in the minds of evacuees. For many it was a life-enhancing, mind-broadening experience, leaving them with memories they treasure to this day.
Others, however, were beaten and mistreated by families who didn't want them and didn't care about them. Of course, it would be wrong to suppose that evacuation under the government scheme was one long misery for most of those involved. Clearly it was only a minority that were ill-treated, but it did happen.

Extracts taken from an article originally written by David Prest.

The Daily Mirror's Coverage of The Evacuation of Britain's Cities

Saturday, 2 September 1939

No Hitch on Great Adventure

Evacuation of schoolchildren from London went without a hitch. The children, smiling and cheerful, left their parents and entrained for unknown destinations in the spirit of going on a great adventure.
'I wish all our passengers were as easy to manage,' a railway official said. 'The children were very well behaved.'
At Waterloo, 80 per cent of the normal travellers saw nothing of the schoolchildren. After Earl de la Warr, President of the Board of Education, had toured a number of schools in West London, he said, 'If the arrangements at the other end for receiving the children are as good as at this end, it bodes well for the scheme.'
Waiting rooms, turned into first-aid posts at various stations for the children, were rarely if ever used.

First School to Start

Earliest school to start evacuation was Myrdle Street School, Commercial Road, E. Two hundred children, aged from three to 13, assembled before dawn. Each child carried a gas mask, food and change of clothing and bore three labels. 'Don't suck or eat your labels,' the head teacher, Miss DL Herbert, told them.
Freda Skrzypee, nine, who arrived with her parents and brother from Danzig on Sunday was among them. She speaks no English, but has a companion in Ruth Rosenzweig, Jewish refugee from Berlin. 'The Germans have taken away our nationality,' she said, 'But I am happy here.'
While waiting to be taken away - they did not know where they were going, except 'to the country for a holiday' - the children had community singing. As dawn was breaking the children marched to Aldgate Metropolitan Station, where they entrained.
At the Ben Johnson School, Mile End, E, mothers were allowed into the playground where 300 boys and girls said a bright 'cheerio' to their mothers. Then Mr HC Cawsey told the parents: 'Your children will be safe. Remember Mr Morrison's message and smile!'

And They Did Smile

A teacher cheerily told a father: 'We'll be back in a week. The weather's glorious for a nice holiday.'
Organisation was so good that a quarter of an hour after the assembly the children were ready to move.
Not one of the 250 children was late at Mandeville Street School, Lower Clapton. Once inside their buses they talked happily with their parents through the windows. 'Got your comics, Bert?' shouted a fond father. Bert had them all right, with his gas mask.
The evacuation went off with remarkable smoothness.
Within eleven minutes after the arrival by District Railway at Wimbledon, 500 children from Merton Road School (Southfields) and Wandsworth School were in a main line train station on their way to an undisclosed destination.
It was a brave little regiment, marching in step, which left Ashburnham School, Lots Road, Chelsea, for Walham Green Station where they entrained for Wimbledon. One thousand children are being evacuated from the Chelsea area.
The dexterity with which the children were shepherded through crowds of morning workers at Waterloo Station was a perfect piece of organisation. Police wearing armlets and LCC school officials saw that an avenue to their platform was kept entirely free for the children.
Little tots smiled gleefully and boys whistled and exchanged jokes. One boy, carrying a kitbag over his shoulder in true military style, kept humming to himself as he marched along.
'Cheer up. Your children are going to have a happy holiday and don't worry.' With these words of cheer Miss Violet Horseburgh, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, comforted mothers outside the Vauxhall Central School, Lawn Lane, South Lambeth Road.
One little boy at Ealing Broadway Station, where 50,000 children entrained, had a bucket and spade with him. To cheer him up his mother had told him that he was going to the seaside. Actually, she did not know his destination.
Ten thousand children left New Cross Gate Southern Station.
Mr E Kingston of Vansittart Road, New Cross, who saw two of his children leave on the train said, 'It is the only sensible thing to do. I am not worrying.'
Hospital evacuation too, went off smoothly. Along the blue-windowed corridors of Saint Thomas's Hospital, past the carriage which Florence Nightingale used in the Crimea, teams of medical students wheeled patients (who still require medical treatment but are not seriously ill) in their beds to two centres, where they were transferred to stretchers.
Two fathers arrived and carried their newly born babies from the wards to the ambulance. Bernard Cooke (of Cornwall Street, Victoria), proud father of Patrick Joseph, who weighed 9lb, 14oz at his birth a week ago, said:
'I am sorry to lose my wife and boy. It's my first baby, you know, but I think it's wiser that they should go away.'
The bed patients - 70 in number - were evacuated from Charing Cross Hospital in an hour. 'Goodbye, nurse. I'll see you soon,' called one of the younger women. 'Of course you will. You will be back next week,' was the nurse's rejoinder. Many babies were among the first batch of patients removed from Guy's hospital.

Evacuation Plans Going Smoothly

Great progress has been made with the first part of the Government's evacuation arrangements in England, says a statement issued by the Minister of Health. The statement goes on: 'The railways, road transport organisations, local authorities and teachers and the voluntary workers in the reception areas are all playing their part splendidly.'
'Evacuation will continue. The time that it will take to complete will vary in different areas.'
'Evacuation of school children will continue in areas where it is not already completed.'
'This will be followed by evacuation of young children accompanied by their mothers or by some other responsible person, expectant mothers, blind and any cripples who have received instructions that they will be moved.'
'By this time all these persons in these special classes in the different areas ought to have been informed by their local authorities where to assemble and the day and time at which to be there.'
'If any of you in these classes are in doubt you should at once make inquiries at your local council office.'
'Arrangements for the first day were limited to those areas for which transport plans have been previously worked out. It has already been possible to extend the arrangements to a few other areas.'
'Evacuation form Grimsby and Cleethorpes will continue on Saturday and Sunday. Evacuation form Derby will take place on Saturday and Sunday; from Coventry on Sunday and Monday.'
'All persons included in the Government evacuation scheme who are in receipt of State pensions or allowances should take their pension and allowance books with them, even if the book has just expired.'
'They will be able to draw their pensions and allowances from the nearest Post Office if they present the book.'
'Pensioners who at present get their books from a pension officer and not a Post Office, should get from the Post Office in the new area the address of the local Pensions Officer.'
As a further precautionary measure the Minister of Health has sent instructions to hospitals in the casualty organisation to send home all patients who are fit to be sent home. Similar arrangements have been made in Scotland.
Orders for the transfer of stretcher cases from inner to outer hospitals were issued yesterday.

Anderson Shelter Restoration: Day 2

On Saturday 19th March, we spent the day continuing restoration work on the Anderson shelter. We continued to remove the rust from the front sections, and clean them up with a wire-brush fitted to an electric drill.

With 70 years worth of rust removed, we were lucky to find only a small amount of damage on the lover front section, where it had originally been in the ground. This damage can easily be repaired before rust proofing and painting.

We found that the angle grinder, used carefully, is the most effective tool to remove the rust with, with any final finishing being completed with the wire brush to remove any remaining rust. The picture below shows the upper section of the doorway, which has come up really well, and now requires very little work prior to painting.

 
With these two front-centre pieces cleaned up, we continued to work on the curved side sections; these will require a lot more work, as when rust is removed from each side, we're finding that the metal has often rusted right through, particularly on the curved roof surface which is more difficult to repair. 

One interesting discovery was the original manufacturer's markings on the underside of one of the side panels. The letters 'H O' (Home Office) with a crown in the centre can clearly be seen, as can the 'GLOBE' logo underneath.

 This photo shows the cleaned up lower front panel; this has some slight rust damage which now needs repairing before rust proofing and painting.

Next week we will continue clean-up work on the 6 side pieces, which have now been cut down to remove the badly rusted lower edges as described in my previous Blog entry.

Until next time; TTFN!

Anderson Shelter Restoration: Day 1

On Sunday 13th March, we began the restoration work on our Anderson Shelter. Firstly, we took all the panels from their storage shed, laid them out on the floor and photographed them to record what we had before any work commenced. 

Once photographed, we stood the 6 side pannels together and placed a few bolts in to temporarily hold them together. We wanted to see how tall the shelter was once built, and see how much metal had rusted away from some of the pannels. These shelters were burried up to 3 feet in the ground, so often the lower parts of the pannels are quite badly corroded. 

We decided that, considering the rusted condition of the lower edges of the side panels, it would be necessary to remove 8 inches from the bottom of the panels. Obviously, this would reduce the overall height of the shelter, and would mean that a modified base would have to be constructed to make the height up again, but seeing as the original base framework did not survive in the ground, a new one would have to be manufactured anyway.

With the decision made, we began to wire brush the rust from the first panels. This was a big job, as quite a lot of rust had accumulated after 70 years in the ground! This panel (right) forms the top section of the doorway. It took about an hour of wire-brushing to get it looking this good! Next, this panel will be rust-treated/proofed and painted. Luckily, there were no rust holes in this panel; however, the majority have holes to deal with, and some are much worse than others. 

The picture below gives an idea of just how badly rusted some of the pannels are. 

These holes will obviously require mending. Unfortunately, due to the age of the shelter, the corrugated steel pannels they are made from do not exist to the same specifications today, so either another shelter has to be found and its panels used to replace these damaged ones, or we will have to mend the ones we have. 

This will be done in a similar way to the methods used by garages when repairing car bodywork. 

Idealy, some other doner panels will be aquired. . .

Here (right) the 8 inches of metal/rust is being removed from the lower edge of the side panels.

 

Another interesting find from the shelter's original location was, what looks to be, the original Anderson Shelter toilet from WWII!!

At first, we thought this was an air raid shelter heater, but when we lifted the lid, we had quite a surprise!!

 

Here, the right-hand front panel can be seen. It's in relativley good condition, with only a couple of small rust holes that will need repairing. Unfortunately, the lower half of the left-hand panel was completely missing, having rusted away many years ago. We will either need to manufacture a new one from a similarly corrugated modern material, or alternatively source a replacement panel. The 3 rear sections were also completely missing, and will need replacing. 

We now plan to continue with the rust removal, and begin to repair the damaged panels. 

Watch this space!

The Role Of The A.R.P. Wardens

As part of our 'Dig For Victory' garden display this year, we are planning to highlight the role played by everyday civilians on the Home Front during WWII, to enable the children to better understand how the whole communies were effected by the country being in a state of war, and the various roles these people carried out.

One of the most important jobs within any community, whether it be within a city or rural community, was that of the A.R.P. Warden. They had many varying roles, and different branches within the A.R.P. carried out these duties, mostly after a long day at work. During air raids, the A.R.P. Wardens worked throughout the night to ensure the safety of the communities they were in charge of.


How It All Began

When Adolf Hitler began making speeches in August 1938 suggesting that he was going to invade neighbouring countries, the British Government feared that there would be a war with Germany. Neville Chamberlain ordered Air Raid Precautions Wardens (A.R.P.) to be mobilized.

These men and women were volunteers and, at first, they wore their own clothes, their only protection being a steel helmet. Once the war started they were issued with uniforms - a one piece dark blue boiler suit, a steel helmet and rubber wellington boots. They carried their gas masks and a whistle at all times.

What Did An A.R.P. Warden Do?

It was the job of the A.R.P. wardens to try and ensure the safety of the public before, during and after an air raid. They were responsible for enforcing the blackout and for arranging the sounding of the air raid sirens. It was also their job to make sure people took shelter once the siren sounded.

In rural communities, A.R.P Wardens often warned people about air raids by riding their bicycles through the village streets, blowing short blasts on a whistle. If poisonous gas was suspected, then a wooden rattle was used. Fortunately, many rural communities were never deliberately bombed. However, during the early years of the war, enemy raiders would often fly over these villages on their way to places such as Bath or Coventry, and this kept the wardens at a high state of alert.

When the blackout regulations came into force it became an offence to show a light after dark and the cry of 'put that light out' became the wardens' catch phrase.

Dealing With Bombs

When bombs did fall, the A.R.P. also had to deal with any unexploded bombs. As many as one in ten bombs dropped on Britain either failed to explode, or had timers fitted which delayed their detonation, sometimes for days after they were dropped. If an unexploded bomb was discovered, the A.R.P. would seal the site and evacuate the area. They would then send for the Bomb Disposal Unit, who would diffuse the bomb.

‘Dig for Victory!’; What’s It All About?

The Dig for Victory! campaign was instigated in Britain as soon as World War II started. The government realised that the population would go hungry if the war was to last longer than a few months. The result was that formal gardens, lawns and even sports pitches were transformed into allotments, large and small, and everybody on the home front was encouraged to become a vegetable gardener.

The Need for Dig for Victory!

Before World War II, Britain imported over 55 million tons of food a year - much of it from Canada and the USA. After the outbreak of war, merchant vessels carrying provisions into Britain, especially those coming across the Atlantic, became targets of the German navy and food imports were under threat. At the same time the British government recognised that the merchant ships were required for the transport of troops, munitions and even aeroplanes to the theatres of war. Our reliance on imported food needed to be reduced. This was dealt with in three main ways:

Farming was modernised and the Women's Land Army was set up to provide labour for the growing agricultural sector.

Rationing was introduced, which involved every householder registering with their local shops and the shopkeepers were provided with enough food for their registered customers, through a system of ration cards with points.

The government recognised that rations needed to be supplemented and in 1939 the Ministry of Agriculture launched one of the most memorable campaigns of the 20th Century: Dig for Victory!

The Campaign

Lord Woolton was appointed Minister of Food. He was a charismatic man with great business acumen, which ensured that the Dig for Victory campaign succeeded and the British public did not starve during or after the war.

The whole of Britain's home front was encouraged to transform private gardens into mini-allotments. Not only this, but parks, formal public gardens and various areas of unused land were dug up for planting fruit and vegetables. Kensington Gardens dug up its flowers and planted rows of cabbages. The government also encouraged people to keep a few chickens or ducks for eggs. Some communities set up pig clubs, feeding the pigs on kitchen scraps and sharing the pork when the pigs were slaughtered. Hyde Park had its own piggery. Goats were kept for milk and rabbits for stews.

Education and Publications

Woolton believed that the public should be educated and helped to grow vegetables - being shown how to grow compost heaps, for example - not just instructed to get on with it. During the course of the war the Ministry did many things to promote the importance of growing your own. In addition to posters and leaflets, radio broadcasts were heard in the form of food flashes and new advertisements introduced Dr Carrot and Potato Pete. Anthems were even sung to encourage people to enjoy growing their own food.

Dig for Victory! posters are still well-known today. The picture of a booted foot pushing a spade down into the soil, with the slogan above, is probably the best-known, but many others were also printed and displayed in prominent places such as billboards, tube stations, shops and offices.

The Ministry published and distributed a series of leaflets showing the public how to grow fruit and vegetables of all sorts, including:

• Cropping Plan for a Ten-Rod Plot (250m²)
• Onions and Related Crops
• Peas and Beans
• How to Make a Compost Heap
• Seed Potatoes
• How to Sow Seeds
• Pests and Diseases in the Vegetable Garden
• Preserves from the Garden

They also distributed a monthly Allotment and Garden Guide in the latter part of the war, full of handy tips such as:

If the weather be fine in February, we shall be anxious to get onto the vegetable plot. Never work the soil when it is too wet and sticky...seeds sown in cold, wet soil will rot instead of germinating. Remember when ordering your seeds that half a pint of runner beans will sow a row 50ft long.

Dig for Victory anthems were played on radio broadcasts, to encourage people to grow their own:

Dig! Dig! Dig! And your muscles will grow big
Keep on pushing the spade
Don't mind the worms
Just ignore their squirms
And when your back aches laugh with glee
And keep on diggin'
Till we give our foes a Wiggin'
Dig! Dig! Dig! to Victory

Dr Carrot and Potato Pete

Carrots were one vegetable in plentiful supply and as a result were widely-utilised as a substitute for more scarce foodstuffs. To improve its blandness people were encouraged to enjoy the healthy carrot in different ways by the introduction of Dr Carrot in a series of magazine articles and posters. The slogan Carrots keep you healthy and help you see in the blackout was used. Culinary delights such as curried carrot, carrot jam and a homemade drink called Carrolade (a combination of carrot and swede juice) were suggested by the Ministry.

Potatoes were promoted heavily as a good source of protein and energy. Potato Pete had his own song sung by Betty Driver. The recording was a great success in amplifying the message that potatoes are good for you. Potato Pete recipe books were written to give home cooks suggestions and advice on how best to serve potatoes. For example, scrubbing instead of peeling potatoes was recommended, to cut down on waste. Traditional nursery rhymes were adapted to give a Potato Pete theme. For example:

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children she didn't know what to do.
She gave them potatoes instead of some bread,
And the children were happy and very well fed.

To promote the use of foods that people were less used to harvesting and preparing, recipes for the free food found in the countryside were published, such as crow pie, braised sorrel and squirrel-tail soup. Housewives were advised to make jams, chutneys and pickles to ensure that there were good-tasting foods in the home through the winter. Preserves were made from everything, from onions to rosehips.

The End of the War

The British government realised, even before the war ended, that people would still need to grow their own well beyond the cessation of hostilities. In a well-publicised speech in late 1944, Lord Woolton said:

We can justly congratulate ourselves in what we have achieved. But we must on no account relax our efforts. The war is not yet won. Moreover, even 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.

He was right. The campaign continued and people relied upon their home grown food for years after the war. Rationing did not finally come to an end until 1954, when meat was the last foodstuff to come off the ration list.

Dig for Victory was a hugely successful campaign exceeding all expectations. Between 1939 and 1945 imports of food were halved and the acreage of British land used for food production increased by 80%. It was estimated that over 1.4 million people had allotments by 1945.