VE Day – the 80th anniversary
The NFU remembers those who fed the nation
On 8 May 2025, the UK will celebrate 80 years since VE (Victory in Europe) Day which saw Britain and its Allies formally accept Germany’s unconditional surrender, marking an end to World War II in Europe.
“Let’s stand together in remembrance as we prepare to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day. This is a poignant moment to honour both the fallen soldiers and resilient farmers of World War Two, who, in the face of unparalleled uncertainty, farmed the fields to ensure our nation was fed.
“VE Day symbolises not just a military victory but also the collective strength of a nation.”
NFU President Tom Bradshaw
Agriculture’s contribution to Victory
British farmers played a crucial role in producing food for the nation during the war. If one campaign encapsulated the wartime years, it would be ‘Dig for Victory’.
As U-boats prowled the oceans and Britain faced the very real prospect of starvation, the government embarked on a major campaign to boost food production.
Crucially, everyone was involved. From allotment holders to farmers; even the Tower of London moat was put into production growing vegetables.
The impact was profound. Before the war Britain imported about 75% of its food. By 1945, 75% of food was produced in Britain.
Plough up campaign
Prior to the outbreak of war, the Agricultural Development Act 1939 introduced a payment of £2 per acre to farmers who ploughed up grassland. Part of the ‘plough-up’ campaign, they were encouraged to replant the land with wheat, oats, barley, rye, mixed corn or potatoes.
There was a huge drive to increase productivity – during the war, Britain had the most highly mechanised agriculture in Europe.
County WAECs (War Agricultural Executive Committees) were reintroduced following a lapse in the inter-war period. They were given greater powers to carry out inspections, give out directives and take possession of land.
From the day in 1939 when the network of county and district WAECs began to operate, farmers in general, and the NFU in particular, had to learn to live as full partners with the state, writes former NFU Deputy and Vice President Guy Smith in his book A History of the NFU.
The backing of the NFU was crucial to making this possible.
“This sense of partnership between state and farmers was key to the mood that pervaded after 1945.”
NFU member Robin Milton remembers the letter sent to his grandfather from the Minister of Agriculture thanking him for his work during the war farming, as Robin does today, in West Anstey.
Dated 8 May 1945, the letter reads:
On behalf of His Majesty's Government I wish to thank you for the service you have rendered to the nation during the war.
The task of British agriculture, an arduous, indeed a vital one, was to keep the nation fed. With your help, this has been done.
WAEC’s by their care and consideration, secured the willing cooperation of the farming community and have, by their energy and example, raised the production of our farms to a new high level.
I am confident you will always be proud of having played so important a part in the contribution which British agriculture has made to our Victory.
Escape to the countryside
By September 1940, the German bombing campaign known as the Blitz was underway.
This lasted for a period of eight months, with London one of the worst cities affected.
Many were evacuated out of urban areas to stay with families in the countryside.
NFU members the Nott family traced back the history of their farm which was home to child evacuees from London during the height of the Blitz.
Two sisters, the Pincotts, had the tenancy of Prickley farm in Worcestershire during the war, before it was bought by the Nott family.
One evacuee recalled: “Having lived my life in the city it was my first real appreciation of colour. I clearly remember the greenness of the fields with yellow cowslips and the brown sod appearing when I was allowed to hold the horse drawn plough early in the morning.”
During their time at the farm one evacuee fell in love with the plough horses and went on to devote their life to equestrianism.
Photograph: Jinx Photography Brands / Alamy
Photograph: Jinx Photography Brands / Alamy
Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash
Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash
Photograph: Jinx Photography Brands / Alamy
Photograph: Jinx Photography Brands / Alamy
Agriculture’s contribution to Victory
British farmers played a crucial role in producing food for the nation during the war. If one campaign encapsulated the wartime years, it would be ‘Dig for Victory’.
As U-boats prowled the oceans and Britain faced the very real prospect of starvation, the government embarked on a major campaign to boost food production.
Crucially, everyone was involved. From allotment holders to farmers; even the Tower of London moat was put into production growing vegetables.
The impact was profound. Before the war Britain imported about 75% of its food. By 1945, 75% of food was produced in Britain.
Plough up campaign
Prior to the outbreak of war, the Agricultural Development Act 1939 introduced a payment of £2 per acre to farmers who ploughed up grassland. Part of the ‘plough-up’ campaign, they were encouraged to replant the land with wheat, oats, barley, rye, mixed corn or potatoes.
There was a huge drive to increase productivity – during the war, Britain had the most highly mechanised agriculture in Europe.
County WAECs (War Agricultural Executive Committees) were reintroduced following a lapse in the inter-war period. They were given greater powers to carry out inspections, give out directives and take possession of land.
From the day in 1939 when the network of county and district WAECs began to operate, farmers in general, and the NFU in particular, had to learn to live as full partners with the state, writes former NFU Deputy and Vice President Guy Smith in his book A History of the NFU.
The backing of the NFU was crucial to making this possible.
“This sense of partnership between state and farmers was key to the mood that pervaded after 1945.”
NFU member Robin Milton remembers the letter sent to his grandfather from the Minister of Agriculture thanking him for his work during the war farming, as Robin does today, in West Anstey.
Dated 8 May 1945, the letter reads:
On behalf of His Majesty's Government I wish to thank you for the service you have rendered to the nation during the war.
The task of British agriculture, an arduous, indeed a vital one, was to keep the nation fed. With your help, this has been done.
WAEC’s by their care and consideration, secured the willing cooperation of the farming community and have, by their energy and example, raised the production of our farms to a new high level.
I am confident you will always be proud of having played so important a part in the contribution which British agriculture has made to our Victory.
Escape to the countryside
By September 1940, the German bombing campaign known as the Blitz was underway.
This lasted for a period of eight months, with London one of the worst cities affected.
Many were evacuated out of urban areas to stay with families in the countryside.
NFU members the Nott family traced back the history of their farm which was home to child evacuees from London during the height of the Blitz.
Two sisters, the Pincotts, had the tenancy of Prickley farm in Worcestershire during the war, before it was bought by the Nott family.
One evacuee recalled: “Having lived my life in the city it was my first real appreciation of colour. I clearly remember the greenness of the fields with yellow cowslips and the brown sod appearing when I was allowed to hold the horse drawn plough early in the morning.”
During their time at the farm one evacuee fell in love with the plough horses and went on to devote their life to equestrianism.
NFU members’ wartime farming memories
NFU members share their wartime farming stories.
NFU members’ wartime farming memories
NFU members share their wartime farming stories.
Select each image to learn more.
The Model Tractor: A wartime gift
Our family farm, an arable spread of cereal crops, has been in our family for generations. One of its most remarkable stories dates back to World War II, when a group of German prisoners of war came to work the land. My grandad was just 10 years old at the time. With many local men away at war, the prisoners were sent to farms like ours to help keep the country fed. One day, the prisoners presented him with a handmade gift – a model tractor, built from scrap wood and metal from around the farm. The model still sits on our farm today, a little worn but intact. As well as a special family keepsake, it's a reminder that even in wartime, kindness can cross borders – Rachel Clements (Pictured is Rachel's dad Stephen Clements and his mother Betty Clements).
The Home Guard
George Leavey, grandfather to NFU member Shaun Leavey, in his Home Guard uniform (right). Characteristically he seems to be “taking charge” which was very much his style – Shaun Leavey
Photograph: Wendy Shields
Photograph: Wendy Shields
The Lost Pilot
Andrew Frampton's grandfather Jack Frampton was on home guard duty the evening the plane crashed into Lewesdon Hill the highest hill in Dorset. On 15 March 2022 they had a memorial service at the scene of the crash and the Belgian relatives of the pilot came over to unveil a memorial plaque sponsored by the National Trust and were presented with a part of the plane a villager found buried and had kept in their garage not knowing what it was until the story came to light – Andrew Frampton
A fruitful endeavour
Grading and packing fruit on the Leavey's farm.
1940 harvest
In 1940 my grandfather (an active member of the local Home Guard) had to seek help with the 1940 harvest from soldiers serving with a battalion of the Irish Guards stationed locally – this would have been shortly after Dunkirk. – Shaun Leavey
“The farms of Britain are the frontline of freedom”
Winston Churchill, speech to the National Farmers’ Union October 1940
Winston Churchill was also an NFU member and farmed in Chartwell, Kent. According to his membership card (pictured), he grew cereals and fruit, had 128 cattle, a herd of pigs and 300 poultry.
Photograph: Our grateful thanks to Edenbridge NFU branch for the long-term loan of Sir Winston Churchill's NFU membership form.
Photograph: Our grateful thanks to Edenbridge NFU branch for the long-term loan of Sir Winston Churchill's NFU membership form.
The NFU Presidents of the Second World War
Sir Thomas Peacock, 1939 – 41
Sir Thomas Peacock led the NFU into the Second War. Born in Cheshire in 1895, he farmed a 200-acre dairy farm at Cotton Edmunds.
During the war, Minister for Agriculture Reginald Dorman-Smith (a former NFU President himself) held regular meetings with Sir Peacock, as well as between NFU General Secretary Fyfe and senior ministry officials.
Sir Thomas’s “quiet diligence and understated ability suited a time when wartime restrictions meant that important work had to be undertaken as a mattery of duty, without fanfare or acknowledgement”. (A History of the NFU, Guy Smith).
He was knighted in 1956 for his services to agriculture.
Christopher Nevile, 1942
Christopher served as Vice President and President of the NFU. He stayed in London during the worst of the Blitz as had Sir Thomas’s.
Under Nevile’s presidency, the NFU’s communications department was born with the appointment of its first publicity officer.
There was a greater focus on public relations as farming had secured the good will of the general public through its efforts during the war.
Captain J. Templeton, 1943
Captain Templeton first joined the NFU in 1918 and had been Glamorgan county delegate since 1932.
Under his presidency, the NFU was invited for the first time by the BBC to explain its position to hold the government to account on its 1940 pledge that price would be adjusted upwards if production costs continued to rise.
“Post war farm policy was far from decided but the position of the NFU in that debate was assured.” (A History of the NFU, Guy Smith).
J.K. Knowles, 1944
6 June 1944 marked the beginning of the D-Day landings when Allied Forces began their operation to liberate Nazi-occupied France.
With the end of the war in sight, it was the task of Knowles to prepare the NFU for post-war Britain.
He oversaw the NFU’s merging with the National Growers’ Association, along with the Farm Crop Driers’ Association, the Seed Growers’ Association and the British Poultry Union.
Sir James Turner, Baron Netherthorpe 1945 – 60
Sir James was the youngest man to become NFU President at the age of 36.
The NFU published its booklet, The Basis of Economic Security, which advocated for stabilised and guaranteed markets through fixing prices in relation to costs.
His presidency saw the introduction of the 1947 Agriculture Act, which sought to guarantee minimum prices. The first part of the Act introduced an annual review which the NFU and the ministry had been doing.
“The 1947 Act is the single most important piece of legislation in the long history of the NFU.” (A History of the NFU, Guy Smith).
The laws that shaped farming during and beyond the war
Agriculture Development Act 1939
This act saw the introduction of £2/acre payments for ploughing up grassland. The government had set a target of ploughing up two million acres of pasture.
The government were also able to stock up on fertilisers and tractors.
Members of the NFU war cabinet met with Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith Minister for Agriculture.
“We believe the Government are going to do the big thing, and come out with a full comprehensive policy for agriculture” – Thomas Peacock, NFU President, speaking at the NFU’s 1939 AGM
Defence (General) Regulations 1939
Made under the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939, the Regulations gave the government wide-ranging powers over people's lives and land such as food rationing.
- The County War Agricultural Executive Committees were established to direct farming in the regions.
- The regulations provided for the requisitioning of land for military purposes.
Horticultural (Cropping) Amendment and Consolidation Order 1942
- Flower growers were required to put land into food production.
- The government made payments of £20/acre for land freed from flower crops and subsequently planted for food.
Agriculture Act 1947
“An Act to make further provision for agriculture.”
The Agriculture Act sought to guarantee minimum prices for key agricultural products and bring stability to the sector.
It set the vision for post-war agricultural policy and reflected the government's commitment to supporting the sector.
The following provisions of this Part of this Act shall have effect for the purpose of promoting and maintaining, by the provision of guaranteed prices and assured markets for the produce mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act, a stable and efficient agricultural industry capable of producing such part of the nation's food and other agricultural produce as in the national interest it is desirable to produce in the United Kingdom, and of producing it at minimum prices consistently with proper remuneration and living conditions for farmers and workers in agriculture and an adequate return on capital invested in the industry.
Agricultural Wages Act 1948
An Act to Consolidate the Agricultural Wages (Regulation) Acts, 1924 to 1947, and so much of the Holidays with Pay-Act, 1938, as enables a wage regulating authority to make provision for holidays and holiday remuneration for workers employed in agriculture in England and Wales.
This Act consolidated wartime changes in agricultural wages legislation.
The Agricultural Wages Board established a minimum wage and holiday entitlement for workers employed in England and Wales.
“Without the utmost efforts of the agricultural industry, either under-nourishment or widespread unemployment may have to be faced, or some combination of the two.”
Tom Williams, Minister of Agriculture 1945 – 1951.
The women who fed the nation
Feeding a nation in wartime is no easy task, but thanks to an army of women, the country was able to keep food on the tables during World War II, says author and co-host of the podcast ‘Where Politics Meets History’ Dr Tessa Dunlop.
Winston Churchill was clear: ‘the British soldier is more likely to be right than the scientist. All he cares about is beef.’ The war leader would later double down on his conviction that the way to lose a war was ‘to try to force the British people into a diet of milk, oatmeal, potatoes etc., washed down on gala occasions with a little lime juice.’
But how could an army of men march on a belly full of beef, and a nation survive on more than the meagre basics, when German U-boats sank millions of tons of shipping destined for Britain and the land was steadily stripped of workers destined for the front line? A situation made worse by the UK’s sizeable population growth between the wars, matched only by a significant decrease in productive agricultural land.
By 1939, Britain had never been less able to feed itself.
By early 1940 rationing was introduced. But measuring out the nation’s ‘thin gruel’ was not enough. Britain needed to do more than scrape by, it required sufficient provisions to win the war. One practical (and initially unpopular) solution came in female form. Originally established in 1917 but disbanded at the end of World War I, the WLA (Women’s Land Army) re-formed in 1939.
Conscription for women
Perhaps unsurprisingly, by 1941 the WLA only had 21,000 recruits and did not reach its wartime high of 80,000 two years later without conscription for women, introduced for the first and only time in Britain’s history in December 1941.
Winston Churchill and the War Office had long resisted this move, concerned that compulsory female service would ‘demoralise men’, but the realities of a war against a far mightier foe insisted on a significant U-turn. Preconceived ideas about the division of labour and traditional gender roles were (temporarily) sacrificed on the altar of war.
Earlier that year Land Girl, a volunteer manual, laid bare the urgency: ‘Germany is attempting to starve the British people into submission. To win the war, our country must defeat the blockade. This is the joint task of the British Navy and of Britain’s great field force of agricultural workers.’ Nor did the manual have any truck with calling out previous government inadequacies: ‘because we were satisfied to allow other countries to feed us, British farming developed in peacetime on the cheapest lines possible.’ Farms of ‘grass, grass, grass’ for grazing sheep’ were now being ploughed up for grain and were ‘crying out for labour.’
Women had to step into the breach.
Read the full feature in the May issue of the NFU's Countryside magazine.
How did the Women’s Land Army begin?
Lending a hand on the land
Land girls did a wide variety of jobs.
By 1944, when the Land Army was at its peak, around a quarter of all land girls were employed in some form of dairy work.
And finally... did you know this popular vegetable-based myth originated from the Second World War?
Photograph: Imperial War Museum
Photograph: Imperial War Museum
The idea that carrots can help you see in the dark can be traced back to an attempt by the British Air Ministry to mislead the Germans during WWII.
To prevent the Germans finding out that Britain was using hi-tech radar to intercept bombers on night raids, they issued press releases stating that British pilots were eating lots of carrots to give them exceptional night vision. This fooled the British public, as well as German High Command, and an old wives' tale was born.
References
With thanks to the NFU members who sent us their stories.
- A History of the NFU, Guy Smith
- The Front Line of Freedom: British Farming in the Second World War, edited by Brian Short, Charles Watkins and John Martin.
- The Museum of English Rural Life
- Imperial War Museums
- Mary Evans Picture Library
- Parliament.uk
More from NFUonline:
Our history
For more than 110 years we've been representing British farmers and growers. We're committed to doing that for 100 more.
Who’s who at the NFU
The National Farmers' Union is a membership organisation led by an elected officeholder team, working in partnership with expert staff for the benefit of our farmers and growers. Meet the NFU team representing you.
Tag us in your stories
If you have a wartime story to tell tag us in your social media posts @nfulife on Instagram and National Farmers' Union on Facebook.
Built with Shorthand
