Sue Baker's view...

Daniel Smith takes us back to a time when even the moat at the Tower of London was sacrificed to Vegetable growing. Faced with the real possibilities of serious food shortages during WWII gardening got serious and urged on by propaganda and radio broadcasts the country turned its hand to tilling the soil. A fascinating story, the author highlighting the role played by the gardening gurus of the day, the facts and figures behind the food production, the health benefits and the sheer hard work involved in Digging for Victory.

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Digging for Victory: Gardening with Mr Middleton, C. H. Middleton
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Synopsis

After food rationing was introduced in 1940, and German U-boats began threatening merchant shipping bringing in essential foodstuffs, the Ministry of Agriculture decided something had to be done to make the kitchens of Britain more self-sufficient. The result was one of Britain's most successful propaganda campaigns - Dig for Victory - encouraging every man and woman to turn their garden, or even the grass verge in their street, over to cultivating vegetables. By 1942 half the population were taking part, and even the Royal Family had sacrificed their rose beds for growing onions. Now Dan Smith tells the full story of this remarkable wartime episode when spades, forks and bean canes became weapons the ordinary citizen could take up against the enemy. It had tangible benefits for the war effort in that shipping could be reallocated for munitions instead of food imports, as well as for the health of the nation in encouraging a diet of fresh fruit and veg. The campaign threw up unexpected celebrities like C.H. Middleton, whose wartime BBC radio talks on gardening reached a vast audience, and it even sowed the seeds for the modern allotment movement. Ultimately it is a war story without fighting or killing, one that shows how even The Little Man with the Spade, in the words of the Minister for Agriculture at the time, did his bit for Victory.

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About the Author

Daniel Smith is author of the Sherlock Holmes Companion, also published by Aurum, and The Lucky Bugger's Casebook. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation