Wartime Farm Part 6 of 8

The Wartime Farm team tackle the conditions faced by British farmers in 1943, when food imports slumped to their lowest level during the war. The government feared a crisis and after four long years at war, Britain's farmers were challenged with somehow increasing food production yet again. There were renewed shortages of animal feed so Alex and Peter resort to producing a hay crop from grass in the church yard and use some clever 1940s technology to get the job done.
With tasks mounting up on the farm, the team turn to a popular source of additional wartime labour - children. Children's harvest camps were set up by the Ministry of Agriculture to release kids from school during periods of urgent need on farms, and over 70,000 pupils took part, paid six pence an hour to avoid accusations of exploitation. Ruth enlists eager child labour to collect herbs that were desperately needed by the pharmaceutical industry to make medicines during the war. But once the job's done, she has to feed them.
A rat catcher helps Alex deal with the farm's rodent problem, a job which usually fell to Land Girls. It is estimated that rats destroyed two million tons of crops during the war, costing the country £60 million a year. Alex also tries his hand at making a much needed sugar substitute - honey.
Ruth discovers the methods women used to look good despite the restrictions of rationing. After making a new dress from old flour sacks, she gets a makeover from a pair of wartime hair and beauty experts. While Peter is getting to grips with a vintage hay baling machine, Ruth and Alex attend a party at the village hall, where they experience a new dance phenomenon brought to Britain by African-American GIs, the jive.
Wartime Farm was produced by the BBC in partnership with The Open University.

[@moonshade2929]

I remember my great grandparents moving out the living room furniture to swing dance. I always loved watching them. Especially Granny she just glowed!

[@stannousflouride8372]

And one should note that rationing didn't end when the war did. The last bit stopped in 1954. 1948 - The end of rationing begins. It is another 5 years before rationing of all products is stopped. 25 July 1948 - end of flour rationing 15 March 1949 - end of clothes rationing 19 May 1950 - rationing ended for canned and dried fruit, chocolate biscuits, treacle, syrup, jellies and mincemeat. September 1950 - rationing ended for soap 3 October 1952 - Tea rationing ended February 1953 - Sweet and sugar rationing ends 4 July 1954 - Food rationing ends

[@Gilari]

I love Ruth, she always looks like she's having the time of her life. Her enthusiasm for everything is infectious!

[@en1909s9iah]

Ruth is so sweet and always seems to be having such a good time!

[@Su_Jo_Lo]

3 people I want to be with during a zombie apocalypse.

[@rkem139]

Rats have no bladders? Well then, it seems I've been owning mutant rats WITH bladders for all those years.

[@1andonlylynda]

the little girl in the brown dress sure makes me think of Peter. The way she drops her shoulders and then goes to get more. Peter does the same gesture when something is taking more of his muscle power like the crank handles. Wonder if she is his daughter. :)

[@TheSimpleRomantic]

Such a great series. This is my favorite of all so far because of ....the African American troops segment, sewing and cosmetics, and the section on making a traditional bee skep (sp?). I save this series to play while working on a challenging sewing project. So entertaining!

[@butterpecanrican_]

Laurel Shimer Lol I save it to watch while I get ready for work. Good to know I'm not the only one that likes to replay these shows... repeatedly lol.

[@Lightsaber360]

For people that wonder about how they couldn't get a couple of barn cats to deal with the rats, Most pets and other animals were put down so that they wouldn't put an additional strain on the food.

[@cindyclark8998]

Lovely to learn that the habit of segregation wasn't tolerated by the villagers.

[@YouMadeItEasy]

Rats had bladders when I studied them at school - lol

[@StikFigureChik74]

Did anyone else notice the modern US flag at the dance? At that point, there were only 48 states, not 50; the arrangement of stars is different. Also, no serviceman would wear - or be permitted to wear - a hat whilst indoors unless part of a colour/honour guard, security, MP, or other special exception. 😊

[@AvaT42]

Thank you for posting these, the last two episodes I missed and was happy I found them on you tube here to watch.

[@Wattablast50]

The government was in such a hurry to get rid of pets as non-essential, so rats and mice would easily take over.

[@GarouLady]

great series but I just have to face-palm when they get to the honey scene. I mean even I know its easier to just use a double boiler to gentle warm the honeycomb. the wax melts and floats to the top and can be scooped up and saved for candles. But thank you very much for posting the videos.

[@Wolfe_Metals_Stacking]

And to think of all the extra food they could have had if they cooked the nettles and queen anns lace and other "weeds"

[@scarygirlBme]

Rats have bladders.

[@Trekkifulshay]

Ruth needed boots.

[@timber8403]

I don't think I have ever seen farmers wearing a shirt and tie doing farm work...

[@MemorialRifleRange]

+James Harrison As a Farmer, beyond dangerous with spinning shafts. I had a close call once as a kid, never forgot that and we never wore loose anything.

[@doggo_s19]

How can they say rats don't have bladders? Of course they do, all mammals have bladders, it's basic anatomy of a mammal. That's just absurd to say.

[@BoingotheClown]

Why does the building of that strw house remind me of my first house in Minecraft?

[@fandangofandango2022]

Wonderful Factual Series

[@cheetah063]

What in the world does Peter have in his pockets???

[@christinab1611]

44:07 the way he says buttons....makes me giggle. hehehehe

[@inkadinkadoodle]

As a matter of observation, not of offense to anyone: I do take a bit of offense when Ruth's discussing how the Americans brought "their segregation" with them when they entered the war. I forget exactly where it is in this series, but there's the story of a black woman in Britain who was willing and able to work in a group of (white) women as part of the war effort. She was refused work on the basis of color (but was eventually taken in by one farmer and welcomed by the workers). The Americans didn't bring THAT situation to Britain any more than they brought segregation or prejudice in general. Those things were already in place, just as they've been in almost every other part of the world in some form, throughout history. I might also point out that the first (non-Native) "Americans" were Europeans. So all this finger-pointing at the "Americans" is a "you spot it, you got it" situation.

[@ursie1986]

There is never, ever a 'surplus' of straw on a working livestock farm.

[@hayjoesam]

+cx1735 depends on how much livestock is on the farm, most of the land arable

[@allieatrini418]

Ruth is adorable

[@yulenapern6191]

Haha, "cottoned on". Puns, FTW.

[@scarletfluerr]

"They often met with a stony response from the British people." Except those British people that wouldn't allow the black women as land girls. What hypocrisy.

[@Eszra]

+scarletfluerr Mind you that took place many years before the African American G.I's came over. Even then they were happy about it and afterwards things changed. Black people weren't treated half as bad as Blacks in America. Many white black couples would flee to England because they could marry.

[@shieh.4743]

BUT, that incidence of racism was front page news followed by the inclusion of that girl immediately onto a farm. The segregation of black and white GIs was straight up institutionalized racism. The point of the story of the land girl was precisely that it was abnormal, rather than normal.

[@christian66ca]

I love Alex

[@chrispascoe8116]

All this government interference makes me happy I wasn't born until the early 50's, yet my mother was still stuck in the war years so most of my clothes were hand made. lol

[@kevinleader8943]

I owned an allansythe

[@allexx123]

That is BS Mice and rats do have bladders. I seen their bladders when cutting them.open.

[@Mackeson3]

The Massey Harris 701 baler did not appear on British farms until at least 1950

[@williamwells7775]

the first bit about the straw is not what they would have done they wood of piled the straw on the shit pile and then burn before spreading on the land!!!!!!!!

[@aurevoiralex]

I wonder why they couldn't just get a couple of ratter cats instead of poisoning the rats/mice.

[@gaylewright5320]

Did they have farm cats?

[@Eszra]

+Gayle Wright During the war even pets were "taken care of" if they weren't necessary. Cat's need meat and certain vitamin's. Also eating rats and rice might bring in illness. Dogs were good for security and watching over cows. Not to mention if a cat got pregnant there could be an surplus of feral cats.

[@kevinbyrne4538]

37:40 -- I don't know whether the situation was quite as desperate and depressing as portrayed here. In 1942, British and Commonwealth forces had won at El Alamein, and the Western Allies had landed in North Africa. By February 1943, the Germans had surrendered at Stalingrad. By May 1943, the Germans had surrendered in North Africa, and by July the Western Allies were landing in Sicily. So by the time of the "dam buster" raid of May 1943, the Germans were on the defensive in the USSR and around the Mediterranean. Even the Battle of the Atlantic had been won -- After heavy Allied losses in March and April, the Germans suffered heavy losses in May 1943 ; after that, the U-boats ceased to be the hunters and became the hunted.

[@Eszra]

You know I love watching this. I did some thinking and figured out what life would have been like if instead of being born in 1987 what if I had been born in the past. I found I would have been born after the first war of course. I figured that my mother's first husband would have died at war and she would have got everything. In real life he was well off thus in the past he would have been too. But instead of them just divorcing, badly mind you, he would have died, mom got everything, then she would have married my father who would have been a factory worker I would be born and then she would have thrown him out. So my guess is that my late mother and I would have lived in the country more or less with a nice property, maybe even a farm, so either we would have used our land for farm during the war or as a farm we would have done it from the start. Though if this year was WW2 and life was different I would be married with a few kids and my Husband would be working the farm with our young children helping some what, they would be young. I'm not married in reality but more then likely I would have been in a different era. So only thinking about this stuff is fascinating.

[@noneofyourbiz5307]

"the Americans brought their social values with them".. if they were from the south

[@cheeke11967]

Ummm...The Northerners were just as racist. Sheesh!

[@ant4812]

Where are the Italian POW's?

[@christinepeace]

they should have caught the rats and eaten them.

[@nielssloterdijk3866]

+Christine Peace they did at least in holland. i can recall my grandparents ant the end of 1944-45 the would could anything, mise, rats, pigeons, even bugs. they would make a stuw and eat it. i wanted to know how conditions where that time, so my grandmother made me a meal like that , it tasted awfull but i understand that you wuld eat it if there was nothing else!

[@jachone5490]

Sorry...really, REALLY sorry but I find Ruth's exuberance too OTT. So genuinely sorry Ruth. As an historian I think you're so inspirational, bur just not on camera. Mind you.........I LOVE the series :)

[@howtubeable]

Skilled hairdressers were exempt from conscription? Ha ha! That's one way to keep gays out of the military. It seems discrimination isn't always a bad thing.