James Hoare revisits the rationing of the Second World War as rising food prices continue to hit our pockets
The Second World War didn’t come as a surprise to Britain, and neither did the danger our hungry little island would be in. We were importing an estimated 55 million tonnes of food – 70 per cent of the total consumed – from overseas every year, and these ships would obviously make tempting targets for German submarines.
With the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939, the Government immediately assumed direct control of the nation’s imports of food and raw materials. A price freeze was also introduced, along with the rationing of petrol.
On 8 January 1940 rationing was introduced on butter, bacon and ham, and sugar, and by 11 March this was expanded to all meat. Everyone in the UK was issued a ration book in their name by the Ministry of Food. Neatly pocket-sized, the ration book’s pages were divided into tokens that could be cut out (or scribbled on) as you paid for your groceries. Each household had to register with a particular butcher, grocer and milkman, to ensure – at least in theory – a perfect match between customer and stock.
In the first half of 1941, rationing was extended to eggs and cheese, and by February 1942 tinned and dried foods. The typical weekly ration consisted of an egg, an ounce of cheese, two ounces each of tea and butter, four ounces each of bacon and margarine, and eight ounces of sugar.
Non-foodstuffs were added to the rationed list in 1941 too. Due to the need for uniforms, from 1 June clothing was rationed. Coal was rationed the following month, and by February 1942 soap was rationed so that the oils and fats used in its manufacture could go towards food instead.
Recollections Of Rationing
Many of the oral histories held by the British Library (sounds.bl.uk) provide insights into our wartime relations’ experiences. For example, May Chirnside – who worked in her family bakery in North Shields – recalled some people making Christmas cakes with liquid paraffin “because they didn’t have the fat”.
Rationing was as much an act of social intervention as it was a wartime necessity, levelling the classes – the Royal Family received ration books – and ensuring that even the poorest and most vulnerable had access to nourishing food. The Ministry of Food consulted with nutritionists to define the healthy diet for the first time. This included Scotland’s John Boyd Orr, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1949 “for his lifelong effort to conquer hunger and want, ther
