大象传媒

The War Years On Our Farm: As I Remember Them. By Elsie Turner

On September 6th 1939 our summer guests gathered in the hall and on the stairs, the radio was on and we heard the Prime Minister announce that war had been declared with Germany. The next day there was a quick exit by all those staying with us.

Our way of farming changed completely, we were told by the Agricultural Advisory Committee what crops to grow and where to plant them. Every available bit of land had to be ploughed, this took many hours of work as it all had to be done by men and horses.

My father was furious because he was told to plant several acres of wheat, completely unsuitable for the soil on our farm. We were also told to plant several acres of potatoes. There was someone appointed to come and make sure that the work was carried out.

After harvest the Ministry told us what to do with the crops, we were only allowed a little to feed our own stock with. Each farm was allowed one workman for every 1oo acres of land. My two eldest brothers worked on the farm and I was classed as a land girl. My youngest brother when he became of age was drafted into the R.A.F. we were sometimes able to get help from prisoners of war and land girls at busy periods.

There was a restriction on the sale of livestock, lambs had to be 12 months old before they could be sold. Before the war we kept several pigs and used to kill about 1 a week and sell the meat and offal in Barnstaple market. This was all stopped, but we were able to keep 1 or 2 a year for our own use.

Another problem was the blackout; it was difficult at lambing times and feeding stock indoors with just a glimmer of light to help us.

After about two months the summer visitors were pleading with us to come as evacuees, at one time we had 11 children and 7 mothers to cope with plus 5 of our own family. We were too far from a school to have compulsory children.

Since then I have often wondered how my father and mother managed to cope with it all and keep calm. Being a Christian family helped us to keep a peaceful house most of the time!

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