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Britain imported about 60% of its food before the war; now, she would have to grow most of it. Above all it meant growing more wheat and potatoes. The amount of land used for growing crops increased by 50% during the war, mainly by using pastureland and marshland.
The Women's Land Army filled many of the jobs left vacant when men went to fight. The Land Army was started by Lady Denman and by 1943 there were some 90 000 young women, called 'Land Girls', employed on the land.
Work on the farms was very hard. At harvest time they worked during all the daylight hours, 7.30 am to 9.30 pm and in winter it was very cold. Farmers at first doubted whether they could do the job, but many proved how useful they could be - even beating local men in horse-ploughing competitions.
Some 1 000 young women trained as rat catchers - a very useful job - a rat could eat about 50kg of food in a year.
Copyright © 2002 Peter N. Risbey.
