The great British countryside.
The setting for one of the most pivotaI battIes of the Second WorId War.
ChurchiII caIIed it the ''frontIine of freedom''.
It was a battIe fought by the farmers of Britain.
When war broke out, two-thirds of aII Britain's food was imported.
Now it feII under threat from a Nazi bIockade.
The government turned to farmers to doubIe home-grown food production.
The plough had become a weapon ot war.
lt was the farmers' principal weapon ot war.
If they faiIed, Britain couId be starved into submission.
Now archaeoIogists AIex LangIands and Peter Ginn
and historian Ruth Goodman
are turning the cIock back to the 1 940s.
Over the next year, they're running Manor Farm in Hampshire
as it wouId have been during the Second WorId War.
Yes!
This time, the team approach 1 940,
when Britain's cities were bombed by the Nazis...
..in the BIitz.
(Bombs exploding)
They'II experience how the countryside defended and protected the cities...
One at 8,000.
Spittire.
..revived oId crafts to prepare for the biggest evacuation in history.
Peter, what are you doing?
(Yells)
Chop and cut! Come on, keep up with the clay!
And ceIebrate the first Christmas on rations.
Put it all to the back ot your mind and have what tun while you can.
- The King. ALL: The King.
This is the untoId story of the countryside at war.
(Air-raid siren)
By November 1 940,
Britain had been at war for 1 4 months.
Under the watchfuI eye of war agricuIturaI executive committees,
farmers had grown over two miIIion extra acres of crops
in a drive to doubIe home-grown food production.
But Britain faced an unprecedented onsIaught.
In the summer of 1 940,
the BattIe of Britain saw the German Air Force attempt to destroy the RAF
in preparation for a fuII invasion.
(Boom ot guntire)
They faiIed.
And Prime Minister Winston ChurchiII saIuted the courage of its piIots
as a turning point in the war.
WlRELESS: The gratitude ot every home in our island
goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds,
unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger,
are turning the tide ot the world war by their prowess and by their devotion.
Never in the tield ot human contlict
was so much owed by so many to so tew.
(Air-raid siren wails)
But the bombing of Britain's cities and ports wouId continue.
The BIitz kiIIed some 40,000 civiIians.
That tirst wave ot bombing.
lt was aimed not just at London but also at the port towns along the South Coast.
Portsmouth and Southampton came in tor a hammering,
night after night after night.
And there was no underground to shelter in it you were in Southampton.
Huge numbers ot the population actually slept in the tields.
AriaI bombardment was a terrifying concept,
endangering civiIians in Britain's cities as never before.
Over three miIIion women and chiIdren were moved to the safety of the countryside -
the Iargest evacuation of peopIe in Britain's history.
Farms, with their many outbuiIdings,
were expected to accommodate as many peopIe as possibIe.
lt's not the best candidate.
And that thing there is just too big to even consider heating.
AIex and Peter are checking Manor Farm's barns
for potentiaI pIaces to accommodate evacuees.
- This is another candidate. - Yeah.
There are a tew holes on that root, though.
That's actually quite signiticant. There's one, two, three... There's tour holes on this side.
To make room for evacuees here,
they must make urgent repairs to the roofs of the barns.
We just haven't got anywhere near enough beds it we've got all these people coming.
So l'm just gonna have to knock something up quick.
They're gonna have to be pretty crude.
With imports restricted and factories switching production to weapons,
in 1 940, everything was in short suppIy,
incIuding furniture.
Word was, all these townspeople were on their way.
They had nowhere else to go, they were being bombed out ot their own homes.
The country suddenly had to absorb huge numbers ot extra people.
So how do you do it?
Where do you tind the tacilities, where do you tind the beds?
Where do you tind the bedding, where do you tind the tood, the pots and pans?
And it all had to be done so tast.
Up and down the countryside,
villages ot all sorts were busily gathering together everything they could,
to accommodate this intlux ot really rather desperate people.
Well...
it'll do as an emergency bed, won't it?
BuiIding materiaIs too were in short suppIy.
Bombing destroyed thousands of factories and houses,
aII of which needed to be repaired.
Brick and tiIe factories couIdn't keep up with demand,
so peopIe in the countryside revived oId crafts to produce them.
- Good afternoon, gentlemen. - Afternoon, lads.
lt'd be nice it you've come ready tor work.
- And a picnic. - Oh, right. Just the weather.
AIex and Peter need roof tiIes to repair the barns for evacuees.
So they're caIIing on experts in traditionaI crafts,
CoIin Richards and Mick Crouper.
What is it?
lt's a tile-making machine.
That is quite something!
lt hasn't seen action tor a long time.
So we're recommissioning it.
You can't buy these any more and this is a bit ot a beast.
You put clay in one end and, in theory, you get tiles out ot the other.
How many do you need?
Probably a tew hundred.
lnto the hundreds, detinitely.
So we need to get busy, then.
The first job is to soften the cIay from which the tiIes wiII be made.
Dance, man!
Yeah, this needs to be pliable, otherwise there's no hope ot this going through the machine.
Let's get it all in.
- All in? - Yeah.
- (Strains) - Good lad.
Squeezing the cIay through the sIot requires a great deaI of power.
CoIin is hoping the petroI engine is up to the task.
- Ready? - l'm ready when you are, boys.
When you're in gear.
OK. Yeah.
Currently it's bringing the ram up to the clay in the box.
Steady pressure, boys.
Peter's been handed the vitaI job of cutting the mouIded cIay into individuaI tiIes.
Peter, what are you doing?
(Yells)
You're on piecework, Peter. Chop and cut. Come on, keep up with the clay.
Peter needs to raise his game at the moment.
Whoa!
- There we go. - Cut.
And cut.
So how many did we get out ot that run, Peter?
One, two... l reckon three, actually.
297 tiles to make.
Head down and let's get on with it.
Enough natter.
Here we go.
Look at that.
Keep cutting, Peter!
After a bomb attack, bricks often remained intact,
so couId be reused.
TiIes, on the other hand, easiIy shattered,
so new ones were in great demand.
The war distorted everything.
With the damage in the big cities, the brick works and tile works were working overtime.
There wasn't any spare capacity.
lt was a case ot make do and mend, going back to basics.
lt you had the knowledge and the skill to make tiles, this is what you'd do.
Few had produced tiIes this way since before the First WorId War.
During the war, imports of cotton and Iinen were severeIy restricted.
So bedding was in short suppIy.
Ruth's foIIowing government advice and recycIing oId fabric
to make patchwork quiIts for the evacuees.
l've been making these little pockets every now and again when l've got a little bit ot time.
l've been making these little pockets.
l just run them up on the machine and then stuff them tull ot teathers.
The bags are made from scraps of materiaI, known as ticking.
Ticking is just a really tightly woven cotton.
lt has to be tightly woven, otherwise the teathers work their way out.
The end ot a teather is really quite pointy,
and on ordinary tabric, it it was just like, say, apron tabric,
you can push it straight through.
So that would be really uncomtortable
and gradually the teathers would work their way out.
So old mattress covers,
old pillows,
they all are covered in ticking.
Great tor making quilts.
So, then... Oh, l've got my thimble and l've got my needle. l'll just sew each bag up.
And this is sort ot part ot this British patchwork tradition,
the idea ot making, you know, stuffed pockets,
great huge, tat, stuffed, crude pockets,
which l'm gonna sew together into something...
Well, l think, perhaps to a modern eye, it would look more like a duvet than anything else.
But this is about warmth.
lt's amazing how quick it grows.
Five-and-a-halt bricks, and then everything's square to start off with.
To harden the tiIes, they must be fired in a kiIn.
But with no access to industriaI kiIns,
during the war, temporary ones were buiIt, using whatever materiaIs were to hand.
Have we got many more to go?
No, this is the last layer.
What sort ot temperature are we looking tor here?
We're gonna need to get up to about 900.
- 900 degrees? - Yeah.
- That's gonna be really difficult, isn't it? - lt is in these conditions.
There's quite a challenge ahead ot us really.
In these freezing November conditions,
maintaining a constant temperature of 900 degrees requires some cIever engineering.
We've got to create tour little chimneys.
We need to get the heat all the way round the perimeter ot the kiln.
As we move trom one corner to another,
we can suck the heat across the stack,
so the heat is drawn to these tour corners.
Tea's up, guys.
Very kind, thank you.
You've got to the stage your kiln's basically complete.
But everything's very damp and we need to dry that out slowly over a couple ot hours.
lt we drive the heat up too quickly, it's just gonna burst them tiles.
The kiIn must burn for two days and two nights.
This wiII require over a ton of firewood, gathered from the forest.
To heIp them cut it up,
AIex and Peter have dusted off the farm's 1 940s power saw.
lt looks extremely dangerous, Peter.
What is it, the Avon power saw?
- Have you ever heard ot Avon power tools? - No.
lt's not that company that went into prosthetic limbs, is it?
l hate starting these things.
Nearly, nearly.
lt wants to go, doesn't it? lt wants to kick into lite.
Yes! Yes!
Can you use it now?
One, two, three...
- Are you ready? - lnto gear.
Nothing's moving too much, is it?
Ruth's make-do-and-mend quiIts for the evacuees are taking shape.
So these tour, and l've done them together there,
will tit into that gap.
To be honest, l'm having to resist making it overly pretty.
There is a sort ot temptation to slow down and start doing beautitul things,
make it look gorgeous.
l mean, even a couple ot stitches made in a little pattern here,
and you'd start to not only hold the teathers in place, but it'd improve the look enormously.
ls it nice and warm under there?
(Chuckles)
(Sizzling)
OK, chaps, looks like grub's up.
It wasn't just women and chiIdren who were reIocated to the countryside during the war.
So was 20-year-oId Don SutherIand.
But Don wasn't an evacuee.
He was conscripted into farm Iabour by the government,
because, Iike 61,000 men and women, he refused to fight.
l decided to register as a conscientious objector when the call-up came.
l objected on religious grounds.
lt was a very difficult decision to make.
l've always believed that you love your enemies.
You don't kill them.
You don't try and hurt them.
That must have been a very difficult time ot your lite.
lt was difficult.
You can only speak the truth and say that you didn't... you couldn't do it yourselt.
l couldn't do it. l couldn't go out and kill people and that's what war's about.
Were there problems trying to convince the authorities
as to why you telt you needed to object?
Well, the usual question was,
''What would you do it a German did such-and-such a thing to your daughter
or your sister or your mother?'' that sort ot thing.
But l don't think those questions are really sensible questions to ask.
One does not know what one would do in an emergency.
l only know there are better ways ot doing it than that.
Some 5,000 conscientious objectors were imprisoned.
But Don was one of the Iucky ones, spending the rest of the war as a farm Iabourer.
So you were threshing out? And that's the middle ot winter.
That must have been cold there.
Yes, it was.
And that's one ot myselt.
- That's the sugar beet? - A cartload ot sugar beet.
Right.
You know, l was an office worker.
l'd worked in an office tor seven years.
So it was completely new to me to work with my hands.
But l think it's good tor any young man to do that, really.
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
The work you did in the tields, bringing in these harvests...
did you teel, even inadvertently, that this was part ot the war effort
and that you were, in some way, doing your bit towards supporting Britain at that time?
lndirectly, l suppose you are, really.
l don't deny the men going out there were making a much bigger sacritice than l was.
Yeah, yeah.
l must admit that.
But it's what they were having to do that l disagreed with, you see.
lt was always accepted that you tight and that's it,
without realising what war's like.
Oh, here you are.
- Let me take that. - Thank you.
This is Daisy, is it? Hello, Daisy.
By December 1 940,
the bombing of Southampton and Portsmouth had reached a new intensity.
Thousands more evacuees fIooded from the cities to the countryside.
l'm a bit nervous. Put my best coat on, make a good impression.
l don't know who we're getting.
ChiIdren under five were accompanied by their mothers.
Hello! Welcome to manor Farm.
Who've we got here, then?
We've got Ernest and maureen.
- Welcome to my home. - Thank you very much.
Someone who remembers evacuees arriving here over 70 years ago is Betty Rudd.
l tound these mothers and these children.
They were weeping and they were in a terrible state.
The children were crying and teeling miserable.
''Why can't we go home, mummy?''
You know.
''Why do we have to stay here, mummy?''
lt was really very tough.
And that was my tirst experience, actually, ot evacuees.
The government assigned biIIeting officers in every viIIage
to find accommodation for the evacuees.
Betty's father was the officer for the area around Manor Farm.
Yes, my tather's here...
in this long overcoat.
Yeah?
There were an extraordinary amount ot people there with big houses.
Old-time gentry, they didn't want to know at all.
The people with the butlers.
We had a tight.
- They thought they were above it? - Yes.
my tather just marched in and that was it.
And the people who were being billeted out in the countryside were not countryside people.
- They were townies with different ways. - That was the problem.
They wouldn't eat their greens.
They wanted tish and chips.
And we encouraged them to actually grow vegetables,
a lot ot these children, and they did.
They were quite interested in that.
lt is one ot the things about the war.
All sorts ot different groups ot people had to learn about each other.
They did.
Town people had to learn about the countryside,
country people had to learn about town people.
Their lite would never be the same again, would it?
lt certainly wouldn't.
There you go.
Getting mud on your boots.
Many evacuated chiIdren were put to work,
heIping farmers to meet the government's demands of doubIing food production.
You don't get men like this in Portsmouth, do you?
For chiIdren from the cities, the countryside was fuII of new encounters.
Many had never seen a chicken, cow or pig before.
- She's a big pig, isn't she? - Yeah, she's tat.
Not as cute as the others, though.
She's not, is she? She's big and scary.
To make room for more evacuees,
the boys are making roof tiIes to repair outbuiIdings.
They've been firing for 24 hours.
But the windy conditions are causing unexpected probIems.
We had sort ot gale torce winds.
We've tried to slow it down, but what's happened is, we've almost got a blast turnace.
All that heat has expanded the kiln,
and so we've needed to restrain it, otherwise it would have collapsed,
and we'd have lost all that effort, broken our tiles.
lt would've been disaster.
l suppose the tlames aren't coming up any more, so we need to get more wood on the tire.
lt's died down a bit and you need to keep that heat going through.
You can't let the temperature drop when we get to the critical stages.
Get some ot these right to the back ot the turnace.
lt's almost like a sleeping dragon.
As soon as you stoke it up, then the tire leaps out ot the kiln.
Tending kiIns in aII conditions, night and day, is tough work.
But CoIin's heard stories of how tiIe makers made the job a IittIe bit more bearabIe.
l thought we might try and rig ourselves up a still - we've got apples -
and distil some local hooch.
- What do you think? - (Chuckling)
l think that sounds like a good idea.
You're talking about using this to distil alcohol?
Yeah.
The reason l know about this is, my uncle did this during the war.
He worked at a brick and tile works.
You know, the heat was used tor cooking any game they caught,
and tor making liquor, really.
The question is, though, Colin, is it legal?
lt we sort ot treat it as medicinal,
then l think we might be able to get away with it as long as we don't sell it.
A little drop ot medicine to soothe the aches and pains.
AIcohoI has a Iower boiIing point than water.
So when this fermented appIe juice is heated,
the aIcohoI in it evaporates first and can be coIIected.
Put it on the heat now.
CoIin's improvised a distiIIation pIant from a bike inner tube...
..a water bottIe and a saucepan.
So we tix that to that.
That's worked well.
Because we're joining metal to metal, the inner tube acts like a gasket.
What we're gonna do now is use the heat trom the kiln
to slowly sort ot boil the mash that's in there.
With the water bottle, that's gonna act as our tirst condensing chamber.
The alcohol should come down the pipe, and because it's so cold, this should condense out.
So what we get in here, the drips, is going to be our distilled alcohol.
l know Peter's got his tongue hanging out at the moment.
There's already condensation in that bottle.
(Grunting)
l don't blame her, sat all indoors.
- She looks lovely. - Come on, my lovely!
Come on, Snowflake.
The government's drive to doubIe food production
meant farmers had to reduce their Iivestock in favour of growing crops.
Crops produce considerabIy more caIories per acre than Iivestock.
With meat becoming scarce,
the government encouraged peopIe to set up pig cIubs.
Raised communaIIy on kitchen scraps, haIf the meat went to the government,
with the rest divided up between the members.
- Good girl. - Come on, Snowflake.
Their pigIet, Shorty, is coming on weII.
But Ruth and feIIow pig cIub member, Debbie Underwood,
want to breed a repIacement for when the time comes to sIaughter him.
l've got another treat waiting tor you.
So she's taking his mother, SnowfIake, to spend some time with IocaI boar DougIas.
- There's a good girl. - Come on, Snowflake.
Does she go straight in with Douglas,
or does she have a tew days separate trom the piglet betore she's introduced?
She's coming to season three days after she's been weaned trom her piglets.
So we'll put her in now.
All his hormones will encourage her that in three days' time, she will come into season.
- Come on, Snowflake. - Off we go, come on.
Good girl.
But things are not going to pIan.
Somehow, Shorty has escaped to foIIow his mother.
How on earth did you get out, Shorty?
We'll have to tind where they're escaping trom. Otherwise they'll just tollow her out to the boar.
RUTH: The gate's still closed.
There's a hole in the wire, look at that.
Betore we take her to the boar, we have to tix that.
Otherwise, Shorty will be straight out ot there.
Always the way.
Actually, we might be lucky.
Yes! Well done, that woman!
Right.
- There we go. - Speedy, speedy, speedy.
Right, that's Douglas.
Him with the hairy chops.
Here he is. Hello, gorgeous boy.
Yeah, this is Douglas. He loves a back scratch.
He's only served about three sows so tar.
Hopetully, many happy years ahead ot him.
There we go.
They look like they're having tun together, don't they?
It's the finaI night tending the tiIe kiIn,
and the home-made stiII has produced a tonic to heIp the team cope with the coId.
We're on our sixth bottle at the moment.
Wow.
lt's really sort ot taken off.
l think, you know, to toast the kiln, we ought to have a little snifter.
Right, OK.
That looks clear enough.
- lt certainly does. - Lovely.
- Thank you very much. - That's very pleasant.
- l tind this medicinal, actually. - Yeah, absolutely.
It's not Iong before CoIin's tonic is making the hard graft aItogether more appeaIing.
Thanks, you guys, tor a tantastic experience.
Fantastic kiln.
They must endure just one more freezing night tending the tiIes at the kiIn.
- To the kiln! - To the kiln!
Whoa!
AIthough the government encouraged farmers to cuII Iivestock in favour of growing crops,
they made one exception.
Come on, girls.
Dairy cattIe.
Time we got you indoors, you know.
MiIk was seen as essentiaI to the heaIth of the nation, particuIarIy for chiIdren.
With coId weather on the way,
the farm's precious dairy cattIe must be taken indoors.
The government set strict targets for miIk production that dairy farmers had to meet.
So keeping the cattIe in top condition was paramount.
lt's not just about keeping the cows tit and healthy, though obviously that's important.
lt's also about the quality ot the milk.
And we have got to keep the quality and the quota, the quantity, up right through the winter.
That's really important.
Come on, you know the way.
Over winter, the cattle will be ted silage -
termented vegetation made by Alex and Peter.
Go on, then, on you go. Good girls. Sarah, move.
l'm always amazed how much you can taste what a cow's been eating in the milk.
Yes, there's a detinite difference, isn't there?
Another reason we need to look after them is they're all in calt.
They're all due next spring so we want to take good care ot them.
- She looks like she's got twins. - She's huge, isn't she?
After two days of firing, the kiIn is Ieft to cooI.
And the tiIes to repair the barns for evacuees shouId be ready.
An awful lot ot work has gone into making this kiln and tiring these tiles and making the tiles.
We've no idea what the results are.
One talse move with a brick, Colin slips and it lands on the tiles,
we could smash a whole load ot them.
CoIin's concerned the harsh winter conditions may have affected the firing of the tiIes.
What we're looking tor is a ring like a bell.
(Scraping)
(Dull ring)
- Sounds like magic. - That sounds good.
- That is superb. - Will this match your... on your tarm?
lt's going to now.
- l'm not tussy. - l don't think people would have been.
That's a good bunch ot tiles, is that, and all home-made.
AIex and Peter head back to the farm to repair the buiIdings to be ready for more evacuees.
You're a braver man than me, Alex.
These new tiles certainly look the part.
l think we'll probably use the best part ot 20-30 on this side ot the building.
That leaves us with a couple ot hundred tor some ot the major tarm buildings.
There we are.
With the roof repaired, AIex and Peter furnish the buiIding with Ruth's beds and quiIts.
lt's not the most salubrious ot accommodation on the tarm
but it's warm and it's dry.
Better than being in the city centre ot Southampton. Come this way.
mummy's coming in as well.
Most had no idea when they wouId ever return home.
How's that, then?
ls that nice and comty?
AIthough ruraI areas Iike this were seen as safe havens,
they weren't necessariIy quite as safe as they first appeared.
(Aircraft rumbles overhead)
There was a top-secret operation to Iure enemy bombers away from the cities to the countryside,
codenamed Operation Starfish.
l think this is the remnants ot the command post ot Starfish,
or, at least, the Starfish in this area.
OnIy the first wave of German bombers were fitted with navigation systems.
They dropped firebombs on the target, Iighting the way for the heavy bombers.
But by Iighting decoy fires in the countryside,
the bombers couId be Ied off target.
Very, very, thick concrete, reintorced.
From this armoured bunker on Manor Farm,
the decoy operation was put into action.
So that's the ltchen, with all the industrial zones ot Southampton,
the place that the German bombers really want to target.
Now, it you go a little bit turther east,
you've got a similar bend in the river.
So in landscape, it looks almost identical. The other bombers are gonna be drawn to that site.
lnstead ot raining their bombs down on a city centre, on people and an industrial heartland,
they're actually raining their bombs down on tields.
OK, and what have we got there? manor Farm.
Here, decoy fires wouId have been ignited,
once the incendiary fires in Southampton were under controI.
But this wasn't the onIy way the countryside heIped protect cities from German bombers.
RUTH: This is the Royal Observer Corps? - That's right, yes.
We're part ot the Royal Air Force.
We provide the overland observation service tor them,
because their radar only looks out to sea.
NeviIIe CuIIingford served in the RoyaI Observers.
The table you see here, the map,
this is a small segment ot the main map on the control table at Winchester.
So that's our little piece ot the group, what's within visual range ot us.
You see the young women with their long sticks and boards, pushing things around on a board.
We're providing the intormation tor those girls?
That's right, she will be putting your plots on the table that we've observed trom here.
A huge network of civiIian voIunteers operated Iike a human radar, 24 hours a day,
tracking enemy aircraft.
In the countryside, thisjob often feII to farmers.
You actually had to have somebody out here on duty out in the open.
- This is basically standing in a tield all night. - Standing in a tield.
We did have quite a sad number ot the older men
who actually died ot pneumonia.
Really, it just got so cold?
You really telt you were doing your bit stood out here.
Seeing the planes go over, doing something about it.
That's right, and the ones that the RAF weren't able to shoot down,
were hopetully decoyed by the local Starfish site
so they actually dropped their bombs on a poor tarmer's tield or on his tarm,
as opposed to on a city.
Decoy fires were often just simpIe wooden baskets fiIIed with fIammabIe materiaI.
Just knocking up some baskets...
..a la mode one, Operation Starfish.
Overseeing the operation is miIitary expert Gerry SutcIiffe.
- Good to see you again. - Good to see you.
Have you worked out how to set them off yet?
Well, l was going to try and do it remotely,
via remotely sending Peter over here with a match.
But l've a teeling that would take the best part ot a night to try and get them all lit.
We can arrange something with some batteries
and pieces ot wire.
Current should go down it which will heat up the tuse.
lt'll go bang and hopetully the rest ot it will go with it.
- We could be actually sat quite a way away? - That's the idea.
Patterns of fire baskets were arranged to Iook Iike burning buiIdings.
And fIammabIe Iiquids Iike turpentine, creosote and paraffin
gave the impression from the air of factories and fueI dumps going up in fIames.
That's nice, that should catch quick.
Stick some ot the intlammable liquids and that on there.
l can get it wired up.
AII the fires were triggered remoteIy,
using eIectricaIIy-operated detonators from the safety of a bunker.
Trail that wire out to somewhere sate.
Gerry, we're in a situation now where we've got our tires ready to light.
We'd in effect been waiting tor a call trom somewhere like Southampton, industrial area.
They will have dampened out all ot the incendiary bombs there.
They're then putting in a call to us, at which point we act.
- When we get the signal. - So we're waiting tor that call?
NeviIIe's teaching Ruth how the RoyaI Observers tracked and identified aircraft.
We have a height bar here, on which the number one observer sets the height.
When you report it, it it's 6,000 or 5,000, you report it as ''tive'' or ''six''.
Right, l don't bother to mention the thousands, cos everybody knows it's thousands ot teet.
All number one does is to sight the aircraft and tollow it round.
When he says, ''On,''
that means that wherever the square is, that's the report you give.
ln this case it's 81 68.
NEVlLLE: Direction - it's which direction he's going.
Ah, OK.
So he's heading north.
Whatever l tell you.
She acknowledges it by saying, ''Thank you''.
It's time to put it aII into practice.
On.
- A4. - A4
8365, heading north...
one at 8,000, Spittire.
Thank you.
At the bunker, Operation Starfish is about to spring into action.
- Are we going together, here? - Yep.
Go.
If aII went to pIan, bombs wouId have soon been raining down here on the fieIds of Manor Farm,
rather than on Southampton.
lt's difficult really to measure the success ot Operation Starfish.
ln many ways, you look at Southampton today
and it is an absolute shadow ot the city it was betore the Luftwaffe razed it to the ground.
They tlattened the entire city, so it can't have been that effective.
But at the same time, it Operation Starfish saved just one lite,
then it was worthwhile.
By December 1 940,
despite the vaIiant efforts of the RoyaI Observer Corps and Operation Starfish,
across Britain, 24,000 civiIians had been kiIIed in the BIitz.
Hundreds of thousands had been made homeIess.
And miIIions were dispIaced.
Yet the nation was determined to ceIebrate Christmas.
lt really was the only sort ot unitying celebration that you got during the war.
Bontire night obviously had to be cancelled -
blackout, makes sense.
Easter, well, with no chocolate, that was a bit ot a damp squib.
Christmas was the one big community wide celebration ot the year.
That means that shortages or no shortages,
l've somehow got to pull it all together and create something that people recognise
ot the sort ot Christmases they were used to.
So Ruth's pIanning a Christmas meaI and dance.
She's keeping the evacuees occupied by making decorations for the cottage.
Good, you are nice and caretul. l thought you'd be the lad tor the job.
So many town children who were trying to get used to country living
tor the tirst time in their lives.
You also get the tact that many ot the hosts out in the countryside
were trying to get used to children -
not just town children but any children.
There was no sort ot rhyme nor reason to the billeting.
People who were litelong bachelors suddenly tound themselt with a house tull ot kids.
Good job l know some things how to keep you lot occupied, isn't it? (Laughs)
That's looking nice, l like this.
AIex is aIso preparing for Christmas.
With factories working overtime on the war effort, toys were in very short suppIy.
The government came to the rescue with advice on how to make your own.
l've got a pamphlet here.
This is called: lmprovised Toys For Nurseries And Retugee Camps.
These are the sort ot toys that would put a smile on my tace today.
Here we've got a little horse you can ride on, a rocking horse.
lt gives you all the patterns.
Here, these are trom cotton reels.
This little man here is made entirely out ot cotton reels.
l like that one, though. That's a dragon.
Taking inspiration from the pamphIet,
AIex is making a Spitfire out of oId tin cans.
l've already made the prop. This is the propeller.
l've got an old rooting nail there which l'm going to somehow tix in there,
so that that spins.
But l'm just hoping that these toys bring a bit ot light reliet
during our wartime Christmas celebrations.
There's actually a lovely line in here which says,
''Some children may have passed through such horrors
or be so weakened by illness or malnutrition
that they have temporarily lost the creative art ot play.
A toy which they may carry with them always may do tar more than we might imagine
to restore the health and contidence and peace ot mind to a child.''
So what we're trying to make is take sparkly snow.
This is like glitter, a cheap torm ot glitter.
Like so many other things, actual glitter was in short supply.
l mean, you can hardly justity having a glitter-making tactory during wartime, can you?
l've got a load ot Epsom salts here.
Then l just want as little an amount ot water as l possibly can to make them all dissolve.
There we go.
Look at that.
Scarcely liquid.
Do you tancy a bit ot sparkly on your lanterns?
Yeah, l think it'd be nice.
lt's gonna need some guns it it's gonna shoot the Luftwaffe down.
So we'll put a little nail in there.
(makes engine sounds)
Shame to give this away.
By December 1 940,
nearIy four miIIion tons of merchant shipping, incIuding desperateIy needed food,
had been Iost to German U-boats.
The usuaI Christmas fare of turkey had become scarce,
as farmers turned away from Iivestock in favour of crops.
So the government suggested an aIternative.
l've plumped tor something that the ministry ot Food suggested,
something called a murkey.
Dreadtul sounding name, isn't it? lt sounds awful!
lt's a mock turkey.
And these parsnips will be his legs.
lt's basically sausage meat, sort ot gloritied stuffing.
Look at that.
mind you, that is between 1 5.
Right, just straight all in, l think.
Klunk.
Now comes the crafty bit.
According to the recipe, the mixture must be mouIded into the shape of a reaI turkey.
Shape that into something.
What shape are turkeys? Oh, my plate.
OK, parsnip legs.
That might have to do.
The one benetit, though, ot having so many people in the house,
is access to their ration books.
Basically, as soon as they're billeted with me, they have to hand their ration books to me.
l'm in charge ot doing all the shopping, doing all the tood.
Which means that you get sort ot economies ot scale.
lt's all a bit more efficient when you've got a large number ot you.
This says it all, this does.
That there, one pound tour ounces ot bacon.
That is tive people's ration tor the week.
One person's ration, two little rashers, you couldn't really do much with.
But when you get a block ot tive people's rations,
you can start to do a bit more with it, you've got a tew more options, it makes more sense.
There he goes, one mock turkey.
Ready tor the oven.
As weII as caring for evacuees, the farm work must go on.
Now the cows are inside for winter, they need mucking out daiIy.
It'sjust the sort ofjob that wouId have been undertaken by conscientious objectors.
This way.
And as usual, the government had some advice.
Right, well, as it says in the leatlet here, dung must not be wasted, chaps.
OK, l'll be leaving this by your bedsides later tonight tor you to read through.
Obviously, as a tarmer, we know that this has the ability to tertilise the tields.
But tailing to use it, we are ''also doing our country and ourselves a poor turn''.
- Got your shovels? Great stuff. - Yep.
Tom and Lorin are getting their first taste of Iife on a farm.
There we have it in operation.
Liquid manure. Come on.
ln, in, in!
So, coming trom the city, Lorin, is this something you're used to?
Er...no.
No?
Once you torget what it is you're standing in,
it's actually not so bad.
Yeah, the great thing about tarmyard smells is,
the longer you spend with them, the less you notice them.
Once this had been the mainstay ot all tertilising on tarms.
But it had been superseded, really, by artiticial tertilisers which it was cheaper to buy in.
But many ot the tertilisers, things like potash tor example, had come trom places like Germany.
To make up tor that shorttall,
the government were advising tarmers to turn back to this, natural manure.
There's a nice lot ot urine in there as well.
A nice lot ot ammonia which, again, is another good part ot the whole tertilising process.
lt's all tor the war effort. That's what you have to keep reminding yourselt with every shoveltul.
..hold that book.
''To the ball ot toot.''
Where are you reading?
Tomorrow they wiII ceIebrate Christmas.
And many in the viIIage wiII attend the IocaI dance.
So Ruth and Peter are Iearning to foxtrot.
lt should be easy. This is supposed to be the easy dance everybody knew.
- lt's not quite the pogo, is it? - Not quite the pogo!
Dancer Lisa McLean has come aIong to teach Ruth and Peter the steps.
- Hello. - We really, really need your help.
We've been trying to learn the toxtrot, we got the book.
We've not got very tar, though, really.
LlSA: l'm not surprised. You really are not gonna learn trom that.
- You think l just ditch the book? - l should. Throw it.
The foxtrot was deveIoped in 1 920s New York.
During the war, it reached the peak of its popuIarity.
Let's try it. Two slow walks torward.
Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow.
Slow, quick, quick, slow.
Slow, quick, quick.
Easy, eh?
- lsh. - (Laughter)
- Why don't you try it together? - ls that it?
Ready? Here we go.
Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow.
Slow, quick, quick. Very good!
Up untiI the 1 950s,
the foxtrot was the most popuIar dance.
And earIy rock 'n roII records were categorised as foxtrots.
Slow, quick, quick.
Would absolutely everybody be able to do this?
Everybody would have known this dance. lt was a really, really social thing to do.
lt's quite chatty, though. You can actually chat while you're dancing.
You're not leading.
Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow.
- You're turning the wrong way now. - Oh, no!
Disaster has struck!
(moos)
The team are ceIebrating Christmas Day 1 940s styIe,
by inviting evacuees and neighbours to their austerity Christmas meaI.
A certain someone seems to have worked his way over here.
Hello, tella.
RUTH: Henry!
It's a chance to sampIe the deIights of wartime mock deIicacies.
- lt smells really good, doesn't it? - Very nice, yes.
What is it, goose?
You should be so lucky!
- lt's known as murkey. - Why's it called murkey?
mock turkey.
Right.
Quite mungry.
l must say, this actually looks more appetising than a-dry-as-old-boots turkey.
..liberate some carrots, don't we?
Anybody interested in a parsnip leg?
You'll have halt a leg?
What do you all think ot the murkey? ls it edible?
Very good, Ruth. You've done a marvellous job.
Nice and juicy.
Stuffing is the tavourite part ot my Christmas dinner.
So that is my tavourite Christmas dinner.
(Ruth laughs)
Here we go, Henry.
Have some murkey.
Henry loves the murkey.
- He does. - Good.
l think that brings us round to present time, doesn't it?
That's tor gobbling down your mince pie.
Happy Christmas, Finn.
Brian as well.
..Vickers-Armstrongs, yeah.
- An aeroplane. - (Gasps)
- ls it a Spittire? - lt's meant to be.
lt is a Spittire.
(Ruth laughs)
lt's a tractor!
- There's a special present tor you, Ruth. - my goodness!
Magazines often incIuded instructions for home-made gifts.
Oh, a hat!
Oh, gosh, that's tantastic!
A little tilt hat tor you, Ruth.
- On the tront, like that? - On the side. That's it.
made trom a man's trilby hat, make do and mend.
- Really, cut down? - lt is, yeah.
- l'm really impressed, thank you. - made by my own tair hand.
Consumer goods became scarce as factories were turned over to war work,
so presents tended to be practicaI items.
Right, now next up, Ruth...
no prizes tor guessing what this is.
(Laughter)
Unwrap it, see what it is!
Oh, l can't imagine what this is!
''To Alex.'' Thank you all.
maybe l've got an aeroplane as well.
lt's very tragrant.
- Soap? - (Laughter)
Are you trying to tell me something, guys?
In 1 940, soap was, in fact, the most popuIar of aII Christmas presents.
mm, that tamiliar smell.
Happy Christmas to everybody.
Let's hope we're all here tor the next one.
Well said.
Happy Christmas.
After Iunch, everyone heads to the viIIage dance haII.
Tea For Two
It was a chance, just for a few hours, to forget the horrors of war.
(Song ends, applause)
RUTH: lt's wonderful, isn't it? l mean, you know...
all that pressure, bombers overhead, people being blitzed out ot their homes...
you know, the war really coming home.
And then suddenly...you can just torget it all.
PETER: That's the thing.
There's no way l can imagine the stress that everyone was under during the war.
But l can see how this would have been such a release.
Yes, you can, can't you?
People are losing their loved ones by this point.
People are being bombed out ot their homes.
The whole hardness ot war is really starting to bite home.
And here we have the community just letting their hair down.
Forget it all. Just put it all to the back ot your mind.
Have what tun while you can. While you can, make the most ot it.
Ladies and gentlemen, the King.
ALL: The King.
And to absent triends.
ALL: Absent triends.
God save our gracious King
Long live our noble King
God save the King
Send him victorious
Happy and glorious
Long to reign over us
God save the King
Hear! hear!
ALL: Hear! hear!
Despite the brief respite for Christmas,
Britain wouId have to fight on for another five years.
The pressure on the wartime farmer wouId get even greater,
as they battIed to defend, sheIter and feed the nation.