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Research in Other Countries => Australia => Topic started by: Top-of-the-hill on Wednesday 05 June 19 22:15 BST (UK)
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I have just had a reply from a member of Countrywomen of Australia to an email I sent them about parcels of food which our W.I. received from them in 1947. This seems to have been part of the Food for Britain scheme.
I wondered if any of the Australian contributors to these threads had any memories or knowledge of this - mothers taking part perhaps?
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I was only a kid, but I remember watching my grandmother prepare parcels. There were tins of food like tinned peaches as well as a cake or biscuits which she made. The outer packaging was always calico which she stitched up. I was always under the impression she sent the parcels back to her relatives. She migrated as a child with her family. Her mother died on the voyage out from dysentery. Her father was left to rear the young children and start up his business as a saddler. He eventually remarried, we think, his housekeeper.
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I was born 1947, and I have living relatives born in 1910s, I phoned several re this enquiry. All, like me are born in NSW Australia, but I remember the doing up of parcels for Britain, so I was concerned if I was remembering watching the 'doing up,' or remembering the oral history about it.
Nope, I did see my mother, gran, aunties ... all the local ladies get together various homes, the rural communities in central west NSW made boiled fruit cakes, jams, preserves, etc, stitched into unbleached calico and sent by seamail to Food for Britain in England. Postage stamps were subsidised by various church groups and ladies auxiliaries. This went on until mid 1950s stopped when we stopped half day holiday 24 May Empire day.
So from prior research NSW schools ceased 1/2 day holiday for 24 May in 1957 or 1958.
I dont know what happened in the cities or in other states ....sorry
JM
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I remember my mother talking about it. The Tudor Village in the Fitzroy Gardens was given as a thank you to the people of Melbourne for food parcels sent to Britain.
http://www.fitzroygardens.com/Index_Page.htm
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In 1948 I was in England, three and a half years old with my mother and waiting awaiting passage to Malaya where my father was working after his demob from the Army. On arrival on the SS Oranje we went by train to the north and it was there, on the platforms, Banana Sellers. Never seen a banana or had one before. My mother always loved to recount that story. Never heard about the food for Britain Scheme. How was it determined who got a parcel?
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Thank you for the interesting replies. I only came across this when I was researching our W.I. minutes for WW2. I am not sure how well known the "Food for Britain" name was in U.K. - it did not appear in the minutes, just that a particular CWA branch had sent parcels of food. My recent contact with the branch in Victoria sent them off to their archives to find out about it! How they got the addresses to send parcels to, I don't know. I have only found one little press report in Trove.
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I was born in 1944 and do remember rationing; however, I never heard of 'Food for Britain'. I would imagine it would be for the people of the inner cities who had lost so much of their infrastructure and were having problems finding a place to live, let alone put food in their stomachs. We were lucky, living in the country where we did have rationing but also could grow a lot of stuff ourselves. However, on behalf of all those who DID need the goods you sent over, thank you so much for caring about those on the other side of the world.
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ToTH I just googled “food for Britain” and found a few reports from Trove, also a display from New Zealand. One was a report of the CWA joining the Lord Mayors Appeal for foods. He also asked for money donations to buy bulk items.
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https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/206447286 Age 21 August 1953 Committee sending food parcels to Britain since 1946
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/103933644 Western Herald 3 Dec 1954, CWA Annual meeting Bourke branch (as in far western NSW) sent Food for Britain parcels ….
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/62533860 Townsville Daily 1 Jan 1955
New Years Honour List … Order of the British Empire OBE Miss J… McL…, of Brisbane for work in the interest of Community Welfare through the Victoria League and the Food for Britain fund. (I did not type up the full name of the lass being awarded the OBE in 1955, I have no knowledge of if she is no longer living.)
JM
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I have a memory as a child of my mother receiving one of these parcels. She was most surprised as we lived in the country. However it was very welcome indeed. It was also exciting as there were jams and fruit that we knew nothing about!! I can remember we really enjoyed them. So from a once upon a time child, thank you to the wonderful people who packed those parcels. I am so pleased to have the chance to thank them even if only through their children or grandchildren. It is a wonderful memory.
They were probably even more appreciated in the towns where infrastructure had gone and people were living in difficult conditions.
We had American troops in a camp on the edge of the village where we lived and one Christmas they gave the local children a Christmas party. They gave us all an orange, some of the small children did not know what they were, they had never seen one. So I can understand the banana story.
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A distant cousin from Cumberland told me his mother and aunts celebrated receiving packages from Australia.
Our country was spared the devastation Europe suffered and was able to share the fruits we grew.
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I am going to have to go off and research this now! My original contact in Australia sent me copies of a list of names and addresses in UK, but whether they were recipients or distributors, I don't know, or how the names were selected, and by whom.
I knew I could rely on Rootschat members to have family memories of this.
Thanks for the links from Trove.
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My family were on the receiving end of a few food parcels in the years after WW2 to early 1950's. I have not heard of ' Food for Britain' as such. The parcels we received were all sent from Australia by the same person........ My grandmothers school friend They corresponded for years after the school friend migrated here c 1914. When I came here long ago now, the first thing I did was to go to Wahroonga and thank Grans school friend
Bye
Emilypos
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That could be quite possible emilypos that people known to the recipient sent the parcels in some cases. I know my mother said that she sent parcels to her first husbands family when she could. There was also arrangements for parcels to be sent to unknown families and collections made by groups to buy bulk food to send to England.
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Never heard of this. No one has asked 'why'. We still had an Empire and a large merchant marine only second to U.S.A. and no U Boats. No excuse for any shortages.
I remember being at grandmothers once and being sent to the corner shop with a ration book.
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"Why" was simply due to rationing. - see the Wikipedia article "Rationing in the United Kingdom", specifically the section "after WW2".
The full article does raise a few questions about the manner and timing of some of the restrictions but basically food was needed in most of Europe, the merchant fleet had been severely diminished by the war and was also required to move the raw materials needed to rebuild industries in many parts of the world, and Britain was near-enough "broke" and had to use its available funds to purchase essentials.
Some idea of the restrictions is shown below :
Summer 1946: Continual rain ruined Britain's wheat crop. Bread rationing started.
January–March 1947: Winter of 1946–1947 in the United Kingdom: long hard frost and deep snow. Frost destroyed a huge amount of stored potatoes. Potato rationing started.
Mid-1947: A transport and dock strike, which among other effects caused much loss of imported meat left to rot on the docks, until the Army broke the strike. The basic petrol ration was stopped.
1948: Bread came off ration.
May 1949: Clothes rationing ended.
26 May 1950: Petrol rationing ended.
February 1953: Confectionery rationing ended.
September 1953: Sugar rationing ended.
4 July 1954: Meat and all other food rationing ended in Britain.
I well remember sweets coming off ration, half the school headed for the sweetshops as soon as afternoon class ended ! Also, mixing margarine with butter to make it taste nicer and stretch out the butter ration !
Maec
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I remember sweets coming off ration too. In earlier time bread and milk were delivered by horse & cart in my local town. All our neighbours & us kept a weather eye on the horse in the hope of getting a shovel of horse poo for the garden . Fertilizer wasnt easily come by and there were a lot of shortages . Remember Mum telling me Dad had bought home one egg , so they shared it
Emilypos
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I too remember sweets coming off ration. I was at school in Windsor Road and the sweet shop was on the opposite side next to the Granada cinema. Same rush. The shop had been full of confectionery for some time, no different to now, except there were Lovells milky lunches and several other delights long gone. Went back on ration next day for a short while.
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FOOD FOR BRITAIN programs organised through the Victoria League movement -perhaps as part of noble oblige aspect of Empire... now part of Commonwealth of Nations umbrella...
Victoria League Committees still exist apparently, and were womens cttees - dating from 1901 ... wiki has an article...Victoria League mentioned in the citation for the OBE 1955 New Year Honours... see
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/206447286 Age 21 August 1953 Committee sending food parcels to Britain since 1946
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/103933644 Western Herald 3 Dec 1954, CWA Annual meeting Bourke branch (as in far western NSW) sent Food for Britain parcels ….
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/62533860 Townsville Daily 1 Jan 1955
New Years Honour List … Order of the British Empire OBE Miss J… McL…, of Brisbane for work in the interest of Community Welfare through the Victoria League and the Food for Britain fund. (I did not type up the full name of the lass being awarded the OBE in 1955, I have no knowledge of if she is no longer living.)
JM
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Thanks for all your thoughts. I think if I want to delve any further, it will have to be through sources in Australia. Archives? WW2 museums? Victoria League committees. I read the Trove articles, majm, the organization seems to have been widespread.
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I think it was started and based in London, and extended through all the Empires's Dominions .... I dont see it as 'Australian' .... the Wiki article I read mentioned South Africa, Canada, New Zealand ..... and that it still functions today for example with youth accommodation in London, .... The Secretariat of the Commonwealth of Nations is more than just the Commonwealth Games ....
JM