Food rationing during The Second World War in Scarborough
After the war was declared in Sept. 1939, the British government had to cut down on the amount of food it brought from abroad as German submarines starting bombing British supply ships. There was a worry that this would lead to a shortage of food supplies in the shops so the British government decided to introduce a system of rationing.
Rationing made sure that people got an equal amount of food every week. The government was worried that food became scarcer, prices would rise and poorer people might not be able to afford to eat. There was a danger that some people might hoard food, leaving none for others. Rationing of food lasted for 14 years and ended on July 4th 1954. Every person in Britain was given a ration book. They had to register and buy their food from their chosen shops. There were no supermarkets, so people had to visit several different shops to buy meat, vegetables bread and other goods. When people wanted to buy some food, the items they bought were crossed off in their ration book by the shop keeper. On 8th January 1940, bacon, butter and sugar were the first food items to be rationed. Many other foods were added to the ration list during the war. These included : Meat (mar 1940), jam mar 1941, biscuits (Aug. 1942), Fish, Tea (July 1940), breakfast cereals, tinned tomatoes (Feb. 1942), peas (Feb. 1942), dried fruit (Jan. 1942), rice (Jan. 1942), canned fruit ,cooking fat (July 1940). Some food such as potatoes, fruit and fish were not rationed. The weekly rationed varied from month to month as food became more or less plentiful. A typical
ration for one adult per week was: Butter 2oz (50g), bacon 4oz 100g, margarine 4oz (100g) Sugar 8oz (225), meat: to the value of 1s. 2d ( one shilling and sixpence, milk 3 pints occasionally dropping to 2 pints, cheese 2oz (50g), eggs 1 fresh egg a week, Tea 2oz (50g), jam 1lb (450g) every 2 months, dried eggs 1 packet every 4 weeks, sweets 12oz 350g every 4 weeks. People were encouraged to provide their own food at home. The dig for victory campaign started in October 1939 and called for every man and woman to keep an allotment. Lawns and flower- beds were turned into vegetable gardens, Chickens, rabbits, goats and pigs were reared in town parks and gardens.
“During the war when we used to go to sea, we’d get ration ticket, and when we went to sea we’d get double rations instead of getting one ration of bacon you’d get 2 or you got 2 eggs instead of one. During the war when I came back from free town I brought some bananas back with me and I took em in me house and me two sisters said the same, what’s them, their bananas, they’d never seen them before given one and they spewed it out and I had 4 oranges, I put them in the ammunition block at bottom of boat, I had great big stick of em like that and by time I got em home I had 4 left out of 54. But they wouldn’t eat em. I’m a bit older than them we had em before war we’d see people eat em with skins on...and bloody coconuts, well.. Ha-ha”. Charlie.
Some of the offences common during the war were, the forging or stealing and/or selling of ration books, petrol coupons or clothing coupons, the transference of coupons between friends was an offence, even without payment for them - obtaining rationed goods without surrendering coupons - unlawfully endeavouring to breed disaffection among HM Forces for instance, telling a soldier that he was a fool for fighting for a country that only paid him a pittance when munitions workers got paid much more for staying safely at home. Trading on the black market, that is the exchange, barter or selling of goods or foodstuffs that were held to be obtained illegally, for instance, there was a black market in toys which were made from materials pilfered from factories on war production. There was also a black market in meat from illegally slaughtered beasts ie: those that were old or diseased (there was a health risk there too). - cases of profiteering usually came about when goods in short supply were stolen, then offered for sale, or a shopkeeper realised he had some old stock on his hands that had in the period between buying and selling become scarce. The government did try to stop this by regulating the price of goods but as usual there were loopholes, one trader was fined for making a profit of 450% on a controlled price of a packet of hairgrips - the list was endless.
Evacuation - Due to the threat of war in 1939, women, children and old people were moved out of high-risk areas of Britain such as industrial areas and areas with a high population. In 1939 approximately 1,125,000 people were evacuated. This was a precaution and was not necessary. No direct action was taken against Britain by Germany. Most of the evacuees were transported back to their homes. However in August 1940, the war took a turn for the worse. The number evacuees rose to about 1,300,000. Life for evacuees was difficult. Most lived with people who didn’t understand them. Some got to live with rich people and had a nice few years but most didn’t. They were separated from their parents, not knowing if they were dead or alive. Many Mothers, children had diseases such as Vermin or Scabies, (see source). The evacuees where chosen by families, like at an auction. Each evacuee had a label saying where they were from and what medical conditions they had. This was horrible for most and “I’ll take that one” became etched on the memory of our evacuees.
OTHER ARTICLES
• The German bombardment of scarborough in the First World War in 1914
• The U-Boat campaign in the First World War
• The national RNLI and the Scarborough lifeboat of 1861.
• The Coronia, Regal Lady and Dunkirk in World War II
• Trawling During WW2 around scarborough and the North - East coast
• World war one outbreak. The war effort in Scarborough
• Thomas Crimlisk - First of the Crimlisks
• William Cammish - log book of the Aurora - a Scarborough merchant ship
• Three Scarborough trawlers sunk by mines in 1920
• German U-boat sinks 11 Scarborough Trawlers in one night in World War One.
• Filey and the Great War - minesweeping and influenza
• Coastal erosion in the 19th Century around the North Bay and Scarborough Castle area
• Hotels And Places Of Entertainment - Scarborough in World War Two
• Filey and the gales of 1860,1867,1869 AND 1880
• Harwood Brierleys description of Scarborough harbour at the opening of the 20th century
• The early years of the Scarborough Lifeboat
• Blackouts in Scarborough during WW2
• Customs Officer during golden age of smuggling in Scarborough
• Tunny fishing in Scarborough in the 1930's
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