Outbreak and the early days
Rationing
Rationing wasn't something the British public hadn't experienced
before. During the First World War it was introduced in 1918 when
the German U boats sank masses of the ships bringing food and
supplies to Britain. The public began to believe there
wouldn't be enough food and the panic buying that followed did
lead to shortages. To ensure food supplies were available the
government introduced rationing of sugar and meat. The scheme
worked and until the end of the war people had enough to eat
healthily. Food
In 1936 when a Second World War with Germany looked ever more
likely planning for rationing food. A Food Department was set up by
the Board of Trade and it started to stockpile stores of certain
foodstuffs that would keep like sugar and wheat. A year after
the outbreak of war rationing began. The public were made aware
what would be coming, Government leaflets and awareness campaigns
in newspapers informed them of what the national rationing
scheme consisted of. Every person had a food allowance; to get
it they had to register with local shops and paid
using the coupons in their ration books. The storekeepers
then obtained supplies for each person or household registered with
them by applying for warrants through their local food
officer. At first only butter, sugar and bacon were rationed,
as time went on the list increased to milk, eggs, cheese, meat and
other items. The scheme was popular with the
public, particularly the poor who felt that they would be the
first to suffer in times of shortage. In 1940 the Ministry of
Food was established, with the control of food supplies ensuring
everyone got their fair share the ministry also promoted ways the
public could use their rations and still make wholesome food.
Recipes and information on food alternatives were given out to help
the people stay fit and well. Fuel
The rationing of fuel began in September 1939; immediately war
broke out. Brand name petrol was stopped and replaced with a
national petrol pool. The fuel available for commercial
vehicles was coloured with a red dye to try and prevent it being
used in private cars. There were also inspections to try and
catch out those who did try and use it privately. Ways were
invented to try and get rid of the red dye one of them being to
filter the petrol through the charcoal in a gas mask. There
was also a very strong black market in petrol and to buy it
was high. However by 1942 petrol rationing was stopped
altogether, only those emergency services were given an
allowance.
Rationing other fuels proved to be a bit harder, coal allowances
were given but with gas and electricity the public was asked to
regulate themselves to help conserve supplies and energy. Clothes
In 1942 ration books were issued for clothing as
well. Each person received sixty coupons per year; those who
worked in certain jobs and children were issued with extra. Of
all the rationing systems the clothing one was the most complicated
and many found it hard to understand. A quiz book was issued
to try and help the public learn what the regulations and
allowances were. The board of trade in 1943 ordered the mass
production of a certain range of outfit designs and these were
called utility clothing. All this clothing carried the label
'CC41' this stood for Civilian Clothing 1941. The
prices for this type of clothing were fixed and that was a
huge benefit to the shopper. Salvage and save
Every scrap or item that could be reused and recycled
was. There were many salvage campaigns that urged the public
to do their bit for the war effort, saving scrap to make, tanks or
aircraft. Food scraps were collected to feed animals and iron
to melt down for munitions. Every spare piece of land was
farmed to plant food; vegetable plots appeared in civic parks
as well as back gardens and allotments. Britain was
encouraged to 'Dig for Victory' Black market
There were black markets in all areas where rationing occurred or
prices were controlled and there were severe penalties for being
caught providing or buying black market goods, some resulting in
lengthy prison sentences. This rarely stopped most
participating at some point if they could and although it was
described by the government as an unpatriotic thing to do, people
got what they could when they could.
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