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''.
And it was fought by the farmers of Britain.
Timber!
When war broke out, the Nazis attacked British shipping,
attempting to cut off food imports.
The Government turned to farmers to doubIe home-grown food production.
If they faiIed, Britain couId have been starved into surrender.
Now, historian Ruth Goodman
and archaeoIogists AIex LangIands and Peter Ginn
are working Manor Farm in Hampshire as it wouId have been in the Second WorId War.
Ohh!
It's summer, and the team must bring in the wheat harvest - the cIimax of their farming year.
But they face the conditions of 1 945,
when despite AIIied victories, the Nazis were hitting back,
creating growing uncertainty about when the war wouId end.
Food production came under greater pressure than ever before.
We've got to put some heart back in the land and this machine will do it.
After six years of confIict, Britain's fieIds were exhausted and output was faIIing.
So the team must restore fertiIity to their Iand
and ensure that every Iast scrap of wheat is brought home.
lt is the battle tor tood.
And this is the tinal push to get this in.
A new food crisis Iooms...
..on the Wartime Farm.
(Air-raid siren)
The team are hoping that in a few weeks, aII their work on the farm wiII pay off
when they bring in the wheat harvest.
ALEX: The joys ot summer, Peter.
Good to see the sun on the wheat.
Yeah, it's the tirst time this year, basically.
It's been the wettest summer for a century.
Their fIax crop has aIready faiIed.
Everything now depends on the success of the wheat.
Still pretty green, is it?
Still pretty green.
See, that's really wet.
Yeah, isn't it? That's a long way off.
We've got, what, another tew weeks on this?
l would have said so.
What are we gonna harvest this with?
Well, l think we should go tor one ot the new-tangled machines ot the day,
the combined harvester.
Something that not only cuts it, it threshes it in the tield.
lt will combine cutting and threshing.
Using a combined harvester wiII be cruciaI to getting every Iast scrap of wheat from the fieId,
a job that in 1 945 was more important than ever.
AII through the war, wheat yieIds had been rising.
But now they started to faII.
After five years of record crops, the fertiIity of Britain's fieIds was in decIine.
To compensate, imports wouId have to increase.
But there was a new threat to shipping.
EarIy in the war, U-boats Iike this destroyed shipping.
But in 1 945, the Nazis Iaunched a high-speed version,
posing a major new threat to imports.
Braced for a crisis, the government ordered farmers to restore fertiIity to their fieIds.
RUTH: There she is.
Well, well!
Hi, Ruth.
The team are using a muck spreader.
We've got to put some heart back in the land and this machine will enable us to do it.
We'll load you up and send you off.
marvellous.
Muck, or animaI dung, is a cruciaI source of nutrition for the soiI.
It improves soiI structure
and adds organic substances to heIp pIants grow.
lt's the wind! You're downwind!
What can l do?
mitigate against it.
Vicious, isn't it?
lt's giving a good even dressing, isn't it?
Really chopping it up.
AIthough it was desperateIy needed,
the amount of manure avaiIabIe to farmers decIined sharpIy during the war.
EarIy on in the confIict,
the government had brought in a poIicy of sIaughtering Iivestock that couId not be fed.
MiIIions were cuIIed,
and the knock-on effects were now being feIt.
Towards the end ot the war, many tarmers were beginning to ask
whether it had been wise to lose so many animals trom British tarming.
We'd seen so many sheep and so many beet cattle lost in agriculture.
As a consequence, we'd lost their manure, we'd lost their dung,
and that tor years, centuries, had been used to put heart back in the land.
With the Iand exhausted and crop yieIds in danger,
the government knew that record food production couIdn't be sustained
through another year of war.
Then, in the spring of 1 945, the Russians broke through into BerIin.
It seemed IikeIy the Nazi regime wouId soon faII.
(Cheering)
On 7th May came the news Britain had been fighting for for so Iong.
Germany surrendered.
(Big Ben chimes)
(Wireless) This is the BBC Home Service.
We're interrupting programmes to make the tollowing announcement.
lt is understood that in accordance with arrangement between the three Great Powers,
tomorrow, Tuesday, will be treated as Victory in Europe Day,
and will be regarded as a holiday.
Well, beginning ot the end.
Hard to think, really, ot the reliet people must have telt.
To be told officially that, you know, victory was about to happen.
The V word.
That sort ot cessation ot danger.
Yeah, the killing has stopped.
- The killing has stopped. - ln Europe.
Only in Europe, yeah.
lt must have been strange tor them.
Living in this world where you go out at night and there's not a single pinprick trom any house.
There's never been any tireworks,
there's been relatively tew parties.
All ot a sudden, the next couple ot days, it must have just erupted.
Yeah.
And as you say, the sheer reliet.
maybe we should have some sort ot celebration.
But perhaps try and bring in people who do have some memory ot Victory in Europe,
and really see how they remember it, see what they think.
Yeah, that's a very nice idea.
You might need a scrub up, though.
- l know. - And l need a new collar.
Here's to Victory in Europe.
To Victory in Europe.
Though Britain was stiII at war with Japan,
the end of the confIict with Germany meant the end of the threat of bombing at home.
BIackout precautions couId come down.
l imagine one ot the tirst things you must have done was take this tape off,
let the sunlight back into your house.
But in other areas of Iife, restrictions were stiII in pIace.
In May 1 945, there was no immediate change to rationing.
So anyone preparing to throw a party had to be ingenious.
l got a copy ot the Home And Country magazine, which was the Wl magazine.
There's some really interesting recipes in here.
Particularly a series ot pastries that use next to no tat.
l've got a wonderful one here tor baked potato pudding,
which sounds really economical.
Fat was heaviIy rationed.
So this pastry usesjust one third of the amount normaIIy required.
Just that much tat tor all that tlour.
Wow.
lnstead ot water, l've to put in golden syrup.
l've never made pastry like this betore.
The wheat crop is stiII a few weeks away from being ready to harvest.
So AIex is working on restoring fertiIity to another of his fieIds,
this time using the cows themseIves.
There was a product that wartime farmers couId caII on to make this simpIe.
This is the tield, Philip.
lt looks nice pasture land in there.
PhiIip Thornton-Evison is an expert in historic technoIogy.
He has come to heIp AIex set up his very first eIectric fence.
EIectric fences were first officiaIIy recommended by the Ministry of AgricuIture in 1 939.
In the battIe to restore fertiIity, they were an important weapon,
aIIowing farmers to divide their fieIds into strips.
l do like nice straight lines on a tarm.
This meant cows couId be pIaced in one section at a time,
ensuring an even spread of manure across the whoIe fieId.
l mean, you know, it l wanted to do this prior to this technology,
would l lay a hedge?
lt takes six years to grow.
Dry stone walling, in a county which doesn't have any stone available.
Build a tence - l'd need a lot ot timber.
And manpower.
And, ot course, manpower was something that actually after the war was lacking.
So this really is opening my eyes.
That'll do.
A world without it is probably hard to imagine tor tarmers today.
With the stakes in the ground,
it's time to string up the wire...
Keeping that tension on there all the time.
..before connecting it to the fencer unit which wiII provide the power.
That's all. That'll hang there quite happily.
ALEX: What does it say?
''Warning. Battery operated only.''
PHlLlP: ''Six volts.''
The eIectric fence was invented in the 1 9th century.
But portabIe battery-powered units were reIativeIy new.
EarIier designs had been powered by unwieIdy sources Iike steam engines.
The new technoIogy was accessibIe to aII.
- We've got a ticking sound. - The ticking sound is the unit operating.
Tick, tick - it's sending pulses ot high voltage along the tence.
When you or the animal touches the wire,
you make the circuit between here and ground so you get the shock.
How do l know that's working?
The countryside way ot doing it is with a blade ot grass.
All you need is a nice blade ot grass.
Just rest the grass on the wire so you are now completing the circuit.
- That's nasty. - lt is.
A nasty little nip, that is.
l don't think it would take many shocks tor a cow to think...
lt wouldn't.
That's great, really tantastic.
- We'll be able to muck evenly the tield. - Exactly.
And that's what wartime Britain desperately needed.
lt needed that tertility back in the soil.
Preparations for the VE Day party are underway.
And Ruth's putting the finishing touches to her baked potato pie.
The odd thing about this recipe is that it calls tor orange juice and orange zest.
l don't know where l'd get an orange living in the countryside during the war.
l had a scout around and have come up with a recipe tor mock orange juice,
which l think will do the trick.
lt's swede, really, that you peel and slice
and then sprinkle a couple ot teaspoons ot sugar over and then leave overnight.
The juice ot the swede comes out.
That is supposed to taste slightly orangey.
lt smells like swede.
But there is a certain orangeyness about it. lt's quite amazing.
l'm just going to put a splash in, l think.
Right, l'm to spread jam and then my mixture on top.
Hopetully, people will like it.
With the fence up, it's time to bring in the cows.
- Come on. - lt's not easy.
There's better grass in the tield.
- There they go. - Straight to the tence.
- Did she get a shock? - Steering clear ot the tence, aren't they?
They are. Remarkable. Thank you very much.
Thanks a lot, Philip.
The VE Day ceIebrations have begun.
That's the one!
25!
What is that?
Baked potato pie.
- Are you sure? - l am.
Do you want a bit?
l can't work out it that's good or not.
(Ruth laughs)
OK, everyone.
Come and gather round.
Up and down the country, peopIe joined together to pay tribute to Britain's war Ieader,
Winston ChurchiII.
(Wireless) And now, oh, what wonderful luck!
At this moment, how wonderful.
mr Churchill has come out onto the ministry ot Health balcony.
He stands now in the tloodlight, and is giving the victory sign with all his might trom the balcony.
Your victory.
Victory ot the cause ot treedom.
(Crowd cheering)
Well, l think Winston Churchill deserves a rabble-rousing chorus
ot For He's A Jolly Good Fellow.
One, two, three...
For he's a jolly good tellow
And so say all ot us
Hooray!
The team have invited aIong guests with first-hand memories of VE Day -
Mary Davey, Anne Stamper and John Curtis.
What was it like in the countryside, VE Day?
l've only ever seen it trom the perspective ot Tratalgar Square, London.
lt was quite good tun in the country.
All the little villages and towns had their celebrations in the streets and things.
Dancing went on tor ages at night.
Everybody was chuffed to bits.
The big party was on the recreation ground
with a tirework party.
There was a set piece with tireworks going off.
Oh, right, OK.
That was really the tirst time l'd ever seen anything like that.
And the thing l really remember about it,
was that one ot these set pieces was an elephant.
When it went off, the trunk moved and l think the tail moved.
l can remember everybody laughing and clapping.
l'd never seen anything like it and l just thought that was wonderful. Very clear memory still.
Many peopIe on VE Day were Iooking forward to Ioved ones coming home.
But for those with reIatives fighting in the Far East, the end was not yet in sight.
Mary Davey's father had been sent to MaIaya.
On VE Day, her mother had no idea where he was.
She actually put an advert in a local paper talking about my dad.
She said, ''lt anyone lately returned trom malaya can give any intormation, l will be most gratetul.''
With a photograph ot my dad.
- A hearttelt plea, isn't it? - Yes.
And trom that came a letter trom a Captain Pearce.
He says, ''l was tor a time at the camp in Thailand.
He died on 21 st September, 1 943.''
This was 1 946 by the time my mum had this intormation.
So she was a long time not knowing.
RUTH: ls this you at the time?
Yes, this is my brother Jimmy and l and herselt.
So, on VE Day, then,
her husband's missing, she hasn't a clue what's going on, she's looking after two small children,
and yet somehow, in the midst ot all that,
she manages to tind reasons to be cheerful.
mARY: She was helping to put on this street party.
But tor her, it wasn't over.
There's a certain strength there, isn't there?
For farmers too, the battIe was far from finished.
l tound this lovely bit ot editorial here trom Farmers Weekly.
lt's 1 945.
may 1 1th, so it's the tirst edition after VE Day.
And, ot course, the headline is ''Victory''.
But the key message in here is about the tact that the struggle still goes on.
lt says here, ''The soldier returns trom battle!
the tarmer's battle goes on.
lt will be a very long time indeed betore his unending tight can see its own kind ot victory
in a healthy, strong, well-ted population throughout the countries ot the world.
Tomorrow we must tace a tuture,
exacting and difficult as anything we have known in the last tive years.
We know that and we do not propose to evade it.''
After VE Day, a new food crisis began.
Across Europe, farmIand and infrastructure had been destroyed.
And many war-torn nations couId no Ionger grow their own food.
Mass starvation Ioomed.
Britain's farmers were caIIed upon to intensify their efforts,
as the nation suddenIy had to send thousands of tons of food abroad,
incIuding, as an occupying force, to Germany.
The wheat crop of 1 945 now became even more criticaI.
Manor Farm's wheat is aImost ready to harvest.
AIex and Peter are making pIans for the arrivaI of the combine.
l carry my measuring stick with me, Peter,
just in case we need to size up any problems that we are contronted with.
So over 1 2 teet long.
Which means we should be able to get it in here.
We might just have to pin back some ot the shrubbery.
Before they get the machine in the fieId, there's another probIem to address.
UntiI the invention of the combine,
harvesting machinery simpIy cut the wheat and Ieft it to dry in the fieId.
OnIy after drying wouId it be threshed.
Now the combine wouId cut and thresh in one go
and the drying stage wouId be missed out.
This meant the grain couId be too wet to store away.
Farmers had to find a soIution.
We should be able to make quite an easy makeshift grain drier.
Something quite simple.
l think it'd be a good idea.
lt we did bring the grain in moist and hadn't made a grain drier,
the ministry ot Agriculture would be breathing down our necks asking us why.
Making a grain drier wiII require some ingenuity.
After VE Day, a huge rebuiIding programme got underway in Britain's bomb-damaged cities.
ConventionaI buiIding materiaIs had been rationed throughout the war
and were now even harder to come by.
- Hi, Pete. - Hi, Colin, how are you?
Conservation officer CoIin Richards has come to heIp the team improvise.
These are the bits and pieces which should hopetully make the grain drier.
l notice they're all irregular in shape and size.
Sorry about that.
We're going to have to scratch our heads as to how we can make this old gate
our plattorm to dry the grain on.
We've got to create a plattorm with a tire underneath,
drive off the moisture, and that's our grain drier.
The first job is to dig a hoIe for the fire to sit in.
But before Iong, the rain arrives.
This is why we need the grain drier.
Almost there.
All year, we've been battling with the weather.
We've had so much rain this year. lt has not been tun.
lt's a nightmare.
lt's been the worst year on record tor weather.
lt really has.
And l can only hope those heroes ot wartime tarming are looking down on us now, Peter.
And laughing.
Last turf.
The base of the grain-drying pIatform wiII be a Iayer of scrap iron.
But it needs to be fIattened.
l'll give you a rhythm. Come on.
Know the lyrics to Camptown Races?
(Laughs)
Oh, doo-dah day
Perfect. Look at that!
- Flat enough tor you? - Brilliant, Peter.
In 1 945, with the threat of German invasion gone,
Iand defences were broken up, Ieaving behind handy debris.
- That's perfect, isn't it? - Yeah.
This is the type ot material that was round in 1 945,
when they started to dismantle the roadblocks and the checkpoints.
lt was a ready source ot material,
it's recycling at its best.
Well, we'll have some more ot this, then, Peter.
The pIatform wiII be supported by piIIars.
Takes me back to my scrum halt days.
(Peter blows on hands)
Number eight.
Hurgh!
What we're doing is separating the tire trom the grain.
And the bricks act as a radiator, radiating that heat through the grain,
drying it and allowing you to sort ot store it without it going mouldy.
The drying surface must be perfectIy IeveI to ensure the crop is dried evenIy.
You know he's cock-eyed, don't you?
We tirst started out with a whole bunch ot scrap metal,
blocks ot concrete,
an old gate...
and we're actually attempting to do a very technical thing
in reducing the moisture level in grain.
l was really sceptical.
But now looking at this,
l teel a bit more contident about getting this grain to the right standard
tor the ministry ot Agriculture.
When the grain drier's finished,
the team wiII be prepared to harvest the wheat.
By 1 945, farming had been controIIed by the government's War AgricuIturaI Executive
for six years.
They dictated aImost every aspect of farming,
from where to grow crops to what to feed chickens.
Then in JuIy, just a few weeks after VE Day,
farmers were given the chance to shape future food production
when a generaI eIection was heId.
- Hello. - Hello, it must be Nick.
Nice to meet you. Come on in, l think we've got the kettle on.
Historian Nick MansfieId has studied the eIection.
- Peter, Nick. - Pleased to meet you.
- Cup ot tea? - Yes, please.
Wartime Britain was governed by a coaIition
Ied by the Conservative Prime Minister Winston ChurchiII.
AgricuIture was centraI for both main parties
and farmers were faced with a stark choice.
So we've got mr Churchill's declaration to the electors, the Tory one.
That's the Tory Party.
The emphasis is on the Empire, which will bring in tood and so torth.
They then went on to say,
''The wartime directions and controls will be progressively reduced
as our tood situation improves.''
So the Tories, then, are proposing to sort ot be very hands-off and leave it to market torces?
That's right.
Whereas Labour are saying,
''ln war time, the County War Executive Committees
have organised production in that way.''
As you know, they brought in mechanisation on a huge scale,
tertilisation and so torth.
Now, ''The Labour Party intends that their work shall continue in peacetime.''
Bearing in mind that we've got the Tory Party suggesting
we should go entirely with market torces in the countryside,
and the Labour Party suggesting that we should hang on to the government procedures
that have been in place during the war...
What do you think? ln 1 945, what would you have gone tor?
lt is a very tough question.
Because l can see the benetits ot getting rid ot the War Ag,
but equally l can see how keeping the status quo was detinitely working.
The government has put up a tramework in which tarming can operate.
So maybe you're thinking, ''Actually, this is working.''
Well, the tirst line ot the Labour Party manitesto:
''Agriculture is not only a job tor the tarmers,
it is also a way ot teeding the people.''
lt's still calling on that whole wartime ''We're all in it together'' sort ot a spirit.
Yes.
The Labour Party emerged victorious with one of the biggest IandsIides in eIection history.
The party won more pureIy ruraI seats than it ever has before or since.
The idea of government controI over farming in peacetime wouId now be enshrined in Iaw.
NlCK: Nothing was ever the same again.
When the Conservatives returned to power in 1 951 again,
they accepted the Agricultural Bill entirely
and the rest is history.
lt's the basis ot post-war prosperity tor British agriculture.
Many aspects of the 1 940s IegisIation are stiII in force today.
The grain drier is buiIt and the wheat is aImost ready to bring in.
But before they begin cutting, the team have one Iast job they want to tackIe -
setting up a party to ceIebrate the harvest.
There's a wartime scheme they're using for inspiration.
HoIidays at Home was a government initiative to counter extreme wartime working conditions.
With many factories operating 24 hours a day,
empIoyees often worked seven days a week.
Ministers knew peopIe wouId become exhausted without reguIar breaks.
But they didn't want to encourage traveI as the roads were needed for troops and freight.
The answer was HoIidays at Home.
Anyone home?
LocaI voIunteers were asked to put on festivities.
You might have seen these around.
RUTH: Oh, yes, Holidays at Home.
Dog show - we can detinitely enter the dog show.
You're in tor that, no problem?
HoIidays at Home wiII be the perfect way to round off the harvest.
And AIex wants the party to go with a bang.
Hello, Steve.
Thanks tor coming along.
He's enIisted the heIp of pyrotechnics expert Steve AIIison,
to put together a wartime fireworks dispIay,
in the shape of an eIephant.
l've heard about elephants being used tor exactly these purposes.
l'm really intrigued to see how the whole thing works.
STEVE: Yeah, it was quite a popular lancework, the elephant.
- You say lancework? - Lancework, yes.
Lancework is pictures in tire.
OK.
Got to bear in mind that tireworks weren't quite as spectacular,
and this was the way ot getting a sort ot moving picture, as it were.
So it's got moving parts, has it?
lt has. Hopetully the trunk's going to be moving at the end.
ALEX: Wonderful.
So you're working trom a template that you've sketched out here?
And then the tireworks will be placed on the outline.
When they're lit, you'll see the pinpoints ot light and the picture outlined.
ALEX: So the ears. We're going tor Atrican elephant or lndian?
That ear size is just perfect.
l think the Atrican elephant.
The Atrican elephant? OK, tine by me.
- Happy? - That's looking good.
Fireworks were banned at the start of the war,
and aII existing suppIies had to be handed over to poIice.
Factories that made them were converted to produce munitions.
The business end ot this structure - the tireworks.
You've got some on display. Are these the ones we'll be attaching?
l don't think so. The ones we're attaching are much plainer.
These are pre-war that would have been in the shops, like a selection box.
So these are the sort ot thing that had been banned by the time we get to 1 939-40?
Absolutely.
''War in the air''.
The shape ot things to come, untortunately.
- Rather prophetic, actually. - Very much so.
This is the Jumping Jack?
You'd light that and it would chase you round the garden.
But we're not going to use these tireworks to attach to our elephant?
- No, we're going to go tor plain white. - Right, OK.
That's your lance, like a cigarette.
But l wouldn't smoke it.
The Iances wiII be fastened to the treIIis with doubIe pointed naiIs,
and Iinked together with quick match -
cotton, covered with gunpowder mixture,
covered in paper.
This is all incredibly technical.
Your worst-case scenario is you light one corner ot this,
it gets halfway up the leg and then just goes out.
Absolutely.
You certainly wouldn't see an elephant. Bit ot a disaster, really.
It'II take severaI hours and 1 80 Iances to compIete the firework eIephant.
For three months after VE Day,
Britain remained at war in the Far East.
Then, on August 6th, a terrifying new weapon was unIeashed over Japan -
the atomic bomb.
Japan soon surrendered,
marking the end of the Second WorId War.
WiId ceIebrations erupted in the USA.
But in Britain, a new set of chaIIenges emerged.
Since 1 94 1, the government had been dependent on financiaI support from America
and this was soon cut off.
Britain was essentiaIIy bankrupt and unabIe to afford imported food.
So the nation's farms, exhausted from the confIict,
were caIIed on to step up production to even greater heights.
At the farm, the crop is ready to cut.
The Wartime combined harvester has arrived.
lt's gonna be tight.
Look at that! Ooh-ho-ho!
We are talking about halt an inch, there.
Halt an inch, but we're in.
You are through.
The AIIis-ChaImers AII-Crop 60 was manufactured throughout the 1 940s.
Its owner is IocaI farmer Lou HazeI.
So this is the combined harvester?
This is the thing that's combining not only the cutting but the threshing ot the crop?
Correct.
You're gonna show me how this works?
Quite simple.
The knite there goes backwards and torwards, cuts the grain.
- The reel goes round and round... - Sort ot knocking it into the blade?
As soon as it's cut, it talls back onto the canvas,
which conveys it up to the top.
And it goes into the threshing cylinder.
The threshing cyIinder removes the grain from the ears of wheat.
- So that cylinder goes round... - Oh, l'm with you.
It contains iron bars coated with rubber.
The rubber covering there gives the seed a gentle thrash.
So it's not making aggressive action to it to crack the kernel.
lt doesn't bruise or break the seed?
Correct.
Once the grain has been knocked out,
it's separated from the straw
by sIatted conveyors moving towards the other side of the combine.
FinaIIy, the grain encounters a series of sieves, which get rid of any remaining straw.
All ot those processes that had once all been done back in the threshing barn,
are all being done here on the back ot the harvester.
''Does it work?'' is the question.
- Oh, yes. - OK.
They claim it will thresh over 1 00 different crops.
OK.
lt's got about 1 00 different plants out there to thresh through, what with all the weeds.
Let's hope we just get some grain in the bags.
All right, well, let's see it started.
Modern combined harvesters are seIf-propeIIed.
But this one is puIIed by a tractor,
which means there are two engines to start.
(Engine starts then cuts out)
Close.
lt l never see another crank handle as long as l live, Lou, l'll die a happy man.
(Engine starts up)
Two or three minutes tor the engine to warm up.
Then we can start cutting.
Put it on that one.
As is always the case with these things,
incredibly tense tor Peter and myselt.
This is a whole year building up to this harvest.
And the thing is, you're working with kit and equipment which is over 70 years old.
But here we go.
The combine is off to a good start.
We've made some progress but there's so much green material in the bottom there.
But the weeds in the crop couId cause troubIe.
Something's burning.
- Something is burning. - lt's the belt. That belt is burning.
Damp grass is all jammed in under the reel.
We had a jam and the problem is there's so much tilth.
There's so much weed in the base ot this crop,
that the cutter's struggling to get through it.
Wet grass, losing traction.
- lt's not going well. - No.
Weed-ridden wheat was a symptom of the wartime directive
to pIough up Iand that had never been used to grow crops before.
This is the type ot land you wouldn't dream ot putting a crop in outside ot wartime.
PETER: lt is the battle tor tood.
This is the tinal push to get this in.
And it's gonna take a Herculean and heroic effort to get it in, isn't it?
How's it looking?
- Terrible. - Terrible?
- That's not the word we like to hear. - At least he's honest.
If they can't get the combine working,
the team wiII have to harvest the fieId by hand,
taking around four days to cut and two to thresh.
The combine is capabIe of doing both jobs in Iess than one day.
Ruth's setting up the harvest ceIebration.
HoIidays at Home.
The government issued guideIines on how to get the most out of time off.
Have you seen this menu leatlet suggested tor Holidays at Home?
lt's quite incredible. l like this bit.
''What about mother? Too often she has to spend long hours in a hot kitchen,
trying to cope with the tremendous appetites ot the tamily. This is all wrong.
mother needs a change trom the kitchen,
just as much as Father needs one trom the office or the children trom school.''
But how can this be managed? By caretul menu planning.
Basically, you've got to spend the week betore your holiday...doing extra work.
mmm, some holiday.
l thought we'd have a go at monday's sandwiches suggestion.
''Sandwiches made with pilchard and cabbage spread.''
Oh, that sounds horrible!
The recipe caIIs for piIchard, cabbage...
.. vinegar, saIt and mustard.
That looks less appetising, doesn't it?
l should be brave and taste a little bit.
Here goes.
Actually, it's all right.
Genuinely, that's all right.
lt is, actually, it's very good.
l might try making that.
Are we ready to go or what?
An hour of adjustments have uncIogged the combine
and the harvest can continue.
Whoo.
Our tirst bag.
This is it.
You just put your hand in, you can teel the moisture.
lt teels damp.
We'll have to get this dried pretty smartish.
But, having said that,
this was beyond our wildest expectations about a month ago.
lt really is. This is tantastic.
There we go. Blimey.
To the grain drier.
CoIin's on hand to get the grain drier up to temperature.
l like this, Alex. This is you?
Yeah, a little message there, thought it was quite pertinent.
The fire needs to die down before the grain can be dried.
RUTH: Blinking heck!
When you said a grain-drying kiln, it's not quite what l had in mind.
No, it's incredibly makeshift.
Ruth's brought aIong a batch of the piIchard sandwiches.
l'm starving. Wow.
This is detinitely one ot those recipes l was really worried about but it seems all right.
Unusual.
- Delicious. - Good, aren't they?
Taste the sea.
- We're gonna have a lovely Holidays at Home? - We will it the weather holds.
We've got tireworks as well.
But we've got a lot ot hard work ahead ot us.
- They didn't last long, did they? - That was delicious.
The fire's under controI
and the drying surface hot.
But before the team can dry any grain,
there's one finaI caIcuIation they must make.
The wartime target was to store grain with a moisture content of around 1 4 per cent.
Any more than that, and there was a risk it wouId go mouIdy over winter.
- You got it? - Yeah.
The team need to know how wet the crop is to start with.
Historian John Martin has come to heIp with this cruciaI stage.
- Hello, John. How are you, all right? - Yeah, not too bad.
lt's not the prettiest grain you'll ever see.
That's typical ot lots ot the grains that were cut in the war, weeds were really quite common.
- So as a wartime crop, it's not looking too bad? - lt looks reasonably good.
John's pIan is to measure out three pounds of the grain...
- That's better. - On the nail.
..dry it and then reweigh it.
The amount of weight that's been Iost wiII be the amount of moisture in the originaI grain.
We've just got a set ot scales here,
and we're doing a very arbitrary test.
Surely the ministry would have had much more hi-tech equipment?
They would, but because it was in short supply, it wouldn't have been available tor all tarmers.
They've got to kind ot, in the war, improvise as best they can.
You can teel the heat in that. That is really drying quite quickly.
The grain's beginning to teel different.
Can you teel it?
The team are about to find out how much moisture is in their precious crop.
We have got here two pounds and tour ounces.
The grain has Iost around a quarter of its originaI weight,
meaning it had a moisture content of 25 per cent.
This wouId have been too high for the Ministry of AgricuIture,
who were Iooking for it to be around 1 4 per cent.
OK, so we know what we've got to do now in terms ot drying on here.
We know the thickness ot the bed ot grain we need,
we know how long we need to cook it on here,
and what type ot heat we need to keep up.
We've got a lot ot sacks to get through.
So l think we should start by getting on with it.
With the makeshift drier working,
the farmers are on course to bring in the crop at a standard the Ministry wouId have accepted.
Back in the day when men were men, Peter.
Right, Peter.
Hold tast, man.
On it goes.
That's good. We're getting there.
There's another dozen ot them sacks.
(Laughter)
How are you teeling about this, Colin?
lt we do this tor sort ot halt an hour or an hour,
then l think we'll actually dry this batch.
That's good news.
Let's get drying.
Know what this calls tor?
- A beer. - A beer?
Oh, my word.
Thank you.
The success of the food production campaign went far beyond officiaIs'pre-war pIans.
Never before had output increased so rapidIy in such a short period of time.
John Martin is one of the country's Ieading authorities on wartime farming.
Let's get this straight.
lt we were to try and rank the battle tor tood and the battle tor harvests, as you call it,
up against things like the Battle ot Britain, Dunkirk or D-day,
we can see it as a success, a victory won.
l think it was a clear victory.
lt saved us trom malnutrition and really starvation.
lt's a crowning achievement -
Britain entered the war with two-thirds ot its population being ted on imported tood.
As much as it must have been hard, it must have given so many people a purpose.
l think that's very true.
lt's a neglected story that people committed themselves to a war effort
and the countryside committed itselt to winning the war.
Well, l think we are sitting on the brink ot our own victory.
Everything seems to be going to plan.
- So, cheers. - Fingers crossed.
Here's to the heroes ot wartime tarming.
- Cheers. - All ot 'em.
By the end of the war, the fieIds of Britain were producing doubIe what they had in the 1 930s.
It was an unprecedented accompIishment.
But it created a Iegacy which has never Ieft the countryside.
Tractors enabIed 6.5 miIIion acres of grassIand to be pIoughed up
in areas often now protected by Iaw.
The use of chemicaI fertiIisers nearIy tripIed.
They've remained part of agricuIture ever since.
But despite increasing yieIds,
some peopIe feeI the chemicaIs have caused irreparabIe damage to the farming Iandscape.
These are all implements that actually do allow you to grow crops
in areas that you probably wouldn't normally have grown crops.
lt's almost as it you've become absolute master over that landscape.
That's trightening.
The poIicy of sIaughtering animaIs that couIdn't be fed caused Iivestock numbers to pIummet.
Many Iivestock now cIassified as rare breeds became rare because of the wartime cuII.
The tocus has been not upon the tarmyard and the tarm stock, but out in the tields.
That's telt quite different.
A yard that's empty ot animals, empty ot that routine...
..a very quiet tarmyard in some ways.
The war forged a Iink between government and farmers that was cIoser than ever before.
Governmental control at this sort ot level,
it was a necessity.
And to be brutally honest, it worked.
What it did ensure is that we did have enough tood to teed every single person on this island.
As a resuIt of the wartime agricuIturaI revoIution,
farmers in Britain found themseIves on a technoIogicaI treadmiII,
constantIy seeking to maximise output.
EventuaIIy the revoIution became the basis of agricuIture as we know it today.
With the combine making quick work of the fieId and the grain drying going weII,
the team's work on the farm is coming to an end.
The harvest ceIebration is underway.
HoIidays at Home.
PETER: Wow! ALEX: Whoa, look at that.
RUTH: That's quite a sight.
Weather like this, l'd have a holiday at home.
Decent location tor our tireworks.
What have we got, though, tor tireworks?
You'll have to wait and see, won't you, Peter?
- l'll have to wait and see. - lt's a surprise.
The HoIidays at Home harvest ceIebration is underway.
As weII as transforming agricuIture,
the war caused sociaI upheavaI across Britain.
That summer saw the first wave of peopIe reIeased from war work.
Among them were some of the two miIIion women who'd been mobiIised,
often into jobs traditionaIIy done by men.
RUTH: Women's lives were so turned upside down during the war.
l know immediately after the war things seemed, tor a while,
to go back to exactly the same way they had.
But they didn't really, because inside people's heads, something had changed.
lt could never completely go back.
But there was no Iet-up in shortages of everyday items.
Food rationing wouId continue untiI 1 954.
Other commodities, Iike cIothes, aIso went on being rationed.
The wartime mentaIity wouId have to endure Iong after the confIict was over.
l think the thing l've enjoyed most about the year is the resourcetulness.
There's no doubt about it.
Come on, then, winners! Come get your prizes.
There just didn't exist a concept ot throwing things away.
And that, tor me, is probably the biggest lesson that l can take away trom that period.
- Have your dogs go down. - Down.
Good boy!
l hope he's not giving marks tor handler's appearance.
And the winner is...
Henry.
(Cheering and applause)
PETER: We've torgotten the austere measures that people had to take during this period.
They had to sacritice things, they had to make do and mend.
lt's not just a mindset that was in the individual.
lt was a mindset ot the nation.
There was a collective ''Let's just do it''.
As night faIIs, it's time to reveaI the firework eIephant.
Are we ready?
(Gasps ot delight)
(Cheering and applause)
Oh, yes!
That is brilliant!
lt is brilliant and what a tantastic way to end our year.
You know, after six years ot war, seeing something so magical.
Bravo!
PETER: You can read about the Second World War in books.
But to actually come out here, to actually try and walk,
even just tor a tew tootsteps in their shoes,
to really understand what it must have been like to be in this country, to be up against it...
..it does change you.
RUTH: lt teels like being demobbed.
- lt is a bit like that, isn't it? - Back into civvy street.
l should have worn my spare pair ot clothes, you know.
Look a bit smart, tinally.
RUTH: l think the thing that has had the biggest impact on me this year
has been that talking, that connecting, with people who were really there.
l don't think l'd ever really truly done that.
l just teel a sense ot connection with that generation that l never thought l would.
lt's been a great year.
Enjoyed yourselt?
Yeah, l'm really sad to go.
Ot course, it's a countryside that will never be the same again.
Changed torever.
lt's so basic, isn't it, tood?
lt underpins everything.
RUTH: ls that it? ALEX: That looks like our ride.
ALEX: l've really tound myselt admiring the teats ot the people that worked on the land -
the tarmers, the War Ag, the land girls... everyone who contributed.
l lift my hat to those people, they really did win the battle tor tood.
Ding, ding!
PETER: Where to next?
ALEX: l think the seaside.
- Seaside, Ruth? You tancy that? RUTH: (Chuckles) That'd be good.