#WW2 Wartime Shortages In Britain Pt 1

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There were many shortages in Britain during the Second World War. Most everyday items were rationed; clothes, foodstuffs, fuel (heating oil, petrol, coal, coke). People learnt to 'make do and mend' when clothes wore out and became adept at improvising.

Clothes manufacture concentrated on making uniforms, the British Forces uniforms were made mainly of wool due to cotton having to be imported (remember this was before synthetic fibres).
New clothes for civilians were of a limited range and you needed clothing coupons from your ration book to buy them, so you had to choose wisely. The Women's Voluntary Service ran a clothing exchange, you were given points to use when you brought old clothes in.

WVS Clothing Exchange, photograph can be found here: Click here for WW2 WVS Clothing Exchange

The number of clothes coupons that were issued was reduced as the war progressed, please see the table below:

Clothes Rationing

Everyone was given a book of 66 coupons to use to buy new clothes for one year.

This was cut to 48 in 1942 and 36 in 1943. Each item of clothing cost a certain number of coupons.

Item	Men	Women	Children
Raincoat	16	15	11
Overcoat	7	7	4
Jacket	13	12	8
Shirt/Blouse	5	4	3
Jumper/Cardigan	5	5	3
Trousers	8	8	6
Shorts	3	3	2
Skirts		8	6
Boot/Shoes	7	5	3
Nightdress/Pyjamas	8	6	6
Underpants/Knickers/Vest	3	3	2
Socks/Stockings	2	2	1

#ww2 Rationing In The Second World War In Great Britain

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In Great Britain rationing food was essential to the country's survival. As soon as hostilities began on September 3rd 1939, Great Britain was effectively under siege,and from June 1940 she was on her own. Due to being an island, food had to be rationed other wise the country would run out of food. Without imports from U.S.A, Canada and the Commonwealth life would have been impossible. The war in the Atlantic also took its toll on imports,reaching a peak in 1943. From the outset, the population of Great Britain had to grin and bear it before any bombs had fallen.

Image found at: http://www.rhiw.com/y_mor/hugh_roberts/atlantic/shipsbuiltandsunk.gif

 

WW2 Food Rations.

This is the ration for one adult per week.

BACON and HAM ……… 4ozs ( 100g )
MEAT …………………… to the value of 1s.2d ( 6p today ). Sausages were not rationed but difficult to obtain : offal was originally unrationed but sometimes formed part of the meat ration.
BUTTER ………………… 2ozs ( 50g )
CHEESE ………………… 2ozs ( 50g ) sometimes it rose to 4ozs ( 100g ) and even up to 8ozs ( 225g )
MARGARINE ……………… 4ozs ( 100g )
COOKING FAT …………… 4ozs ( 100g ) often dropping to 2ozs ( 50g )
MILK …………………… 3 pints ( 1800ml ) sometimes dropping to 2 pints ( 1200ml ). Household ( skimmed, dried ) milk was available. This was I packet each 4 weeks.
SUGAR …………………… 8ozs ( 225g )
PRESERVES ……………… 1lb ( 450g ) every 2 months
TEA ……………………… 2ozs ( 50g )
EGGS …………………… 1 shell egg a week if available but at times dropping to 1 every two weeks. Dried eggs ----- 1 packet each 4 weeks.
SWEETS …………………… 12 ozs ( 350g ) each 4 weeks.

In addition, there was a monthly points system.
As an example of how these could be spent, with the 16 points that you were allocated you were allowed to buy one can of fish or meat or 2lb ( 900g ) of dried fruit or 8lb ( 3.6kg ) of split peas.

Babies and younger children, expectant and nursing mothers had concentrated orange juice and cod liver oil from Welfare Clinics together with priority milk.
This milk was also available to invalids.

School meals were started in the war because mothers were working extremely long hours to help the war effort.

Information from:http://www.memorylanehf.oddquine.co.uk/food.htm