大象传媒

During WW2, as a schoolboy in South Lincolnshire, because most men working on farms had been called up to the armed services, we were encouraged by Government posters and local gang masters to work on the land.These gang masters were employed by the farmers to organize groups of willing helpers to assist with seasonal jobs.
During Spring holidays and in the evenings, which were prolonged by Double British Summer Time, we would be working in the fields singleing out sugar beet plants with a hand held hoe, this was back breaking work. In early Summer we would be picking peas and early potatoes.
The Summer school holidays were extended by 22 days by Government license giving an opportunity to 12 and 13 year old boys and girls to participate in the harvesting of the late crop of potatoes. These 22 days were organized by the Education Authority and not by the gangmasters. During this period a group of about 20 children would be picked up together with a teacher from outside the schoolby a small bus, supplied by the farmer and taken to his farm.
On arrival we would be allocated jobs, the lucky one would be given the job of driving a horse and cart from the field to the place where the potatoes were stored. The potatoes were stored in graves which were constructed by digging a small trench in the ground, stacking the potatoes in it and covering them with straw and finally with a layer of soil. These graves were usually about 50 to 100 metres long.
Other children would be set to work picking potatoes up from the soil, these were spun out by a special appliance pulled by a tractor, but during wet weather when the soil was sticky the potatoes would be ploughed out by a horse pulling a singled bladed plough. The system for this work was that the furrow under which the potatoes were grown would be measured out and then divided into equal lengths and you would collect the potatoes in your allocated length, putting them in a round basket which was known as a molly. The tractor or plough would go up and down the rows working from both ends of the field so you would have to keep changing from one side to the other of your length. The full mollies would be emptied into the cart and taken to the grave. The rate at which you worked at was determined by the speed of the tractor or plough.
Working during wet weather was very uncomfortable as despite the weather we had to keep on working and by the time we got home we were often soaked right through to the skin. Suitable waterproofs were not availble to children during these times. We had to take our own sandwiches and drinks, which were either cold tea or water. During hot weather we were able to get more water from the farm well.
As well as schoolchildren, working with us on the farm there would be a young man, probably 16 or 17 who was under call-up age, driving the tractor. There would also be two older men, over call-up age, one who would be lifting the mollies into the cart and the other working at the grave stacking the potatoes.

When the potatoes were being sent straight to market they would be put into riddles to remove the soil and then placed in hessian sacks by local women who were working on the farm. The potatoes would be taken to the railway station to be sent to the potato markets in London and Nottingham.

For our work we received the following payments;
For Pea picking - about one shilling and sixpence (7.5p) per bag, which weighed 28lbs and took about 4 hours to fill. If it was underweight it would be rejected.
For early potatoes the pay was three shillings (15p) a day.
Working under the control of the school we received one shilling and ninepence (13p) per day. At this time the wage for a male agricultural labourer was approximately three pounds per week and women got less.

Although this was hard work and several children did not last the full time most of us found it great fun and had a sense of helping the War effort.

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