Preface

At the beginning of World War II Britain imported 55 million tons of foodstuffs per year, including more than 50% of its meat, 70% of its cheese and sugar, nearly 80% of fruits and about 90% of cereals and fats. One of the principal strategies of the Axis was to attack shipping bound for Britain, restricting British industry and potentially starving Britain into submission (see Battle of the Atlantic). Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II... The word ton or tonne is derived from the Old English tunne, and ultimately from the Old French tonne, and referred originally to a large cask with a capacity of 252 wine gallons, which holds approximately 2100 pounds of water. ... Food is any substance that can be consumed for nutritional value and to provide energy. ... Various meats Cold Meat Salad Meat, in its broadest modern definition, is all animal tissue intended to be used as food. ... Cheese is a food made from the curdled milk of cows, goats, sheep, buffalo or other mammals. ... Magnified view of refined sugar crystals. ... Fruit stall in Barcelona, Catalonia. ... This article is about grains in general. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Battle of the Atlantic can refer to either of two naval campaigns, depending on context: World War I - First Battle of the Atlantic World War II - Second Battle of the Atlantic A Third Battle of the Atlantic was envisioned to be be part of any Third World War that arose...

In order to deal with the extreme shortages the Ministry of Food instituted a system of rationing. Each person would register with their local shops, and was provided with a ration book containing coupons. The shopkeeper was then provided with enough food for his or her registered customers. When purchasing goods, the purchaser had to hand over the coupon as well as the money for the purchase. On January 8, 1940, bacon, butter and sugar were rationed. This was followed by meat, tea, jam, biscuits, breakfast cereals, cheese, eggs, milk and canned fruit. One of the few foods not rationed were fish and chips. Strict rationing caused many people to buy food on the black market; however people were often tricked with cheaper substitutes such as horse meat instead of beef. The Minister of Food was a British government job separated from that of the Minister of Agriculture from 1939 until 1954. ... Rationing is the controlled distribution of resources and scarce goods or services: it restricts how much people are allowed to buy or consume. ... January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... Bacon is any of certain cuts of meat taken from the sides, back or belly of a pig, cured and possibly smoked. ... Butter is commonly sold in sticks (pictured) or small blocks, and often served using a butterknife. ... Tea leaves in a gaiwan. ... Jam from berries Jam is a type of fruit preserve made by boiling fruit with sugar to make an unfiltered jelly. ... A biscuit is a type of food. ... Breakfast cereal Breakfast cereal is a food product designed especially to be marketed to consumers as a breakfast food. ... A carton of free-range chicken eggs Ostrich egg Bird eggs are a common food source. ... A glass of cow milk Milk most often means the nutrient fluid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals. ... Although widely available, fish and chips have become particularly popular in seaside towns. ... The black market or underground market is the part of economic activity involving illegal dealings, typically the buying and selling of merchandise or services (for example sexual services in many countries) illegally. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Beef makes you fart ...

As the war progressed, most kinds of food came to be rationed, as were clothing and petrol. Restaurants were exempt from rationing, which led to a certain amount of resentment as the rich could supplement their food allowance by eating out frequently and extravagantly. In order to restrict this certain rules were put into force. No meal could cost more than five shillings; no meal could consist of more than three courses; meat and fish could not be served at the same sitting. British Restaurants supplied another almost universal experience of eating away from home. Here a three course meal cost only 9d. Standards varied, but the best were greatly appreciated and had a large regular clientele. British Restaurants were run by local authorities, who set them up in a variety of different premises such as schools and church halls. They evolved from the LCC’s Londoners’ Meals Service which originated in September 1940 as a temporary, emergency system for feeding those who had been bombed out. By mid-1941 the LCC was operating two hundred of these restaurants. Similar schemes were run in other towns and cities. Men and women wearing suits, an example of one of the many modern forms of clothing (from the 1937 Chicago Woolen Mills catalog) Clothing is optional, in its broadest sense, as coverings for the torso and limbs as well as coverings for the hands (gloves), feet (socks, shoes, sandals, boots... Gasoline, as it is known in North America, or petrol, in many Commonwealth countries (sometimes also called motor spirit) is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting primarily of hydrocarbons, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. ... A typical restaurant in uptown Manhattan A restaurant is an establishment that serves prepared food and beverages to be consumed on the premises. ... The shilling was a British coin first issued in 1548 for Henry VIII, although arguably the testoon issued about 1487 for Henry VII was the first shilling. ... London County Council emblem is still seen today on buildings, especially housing, from that era London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London from 1889 until 1965, when it was replaced by the Greater London Council. ... London County Council emblem is still seen today on buildings, especially housing, from that era London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London from 1889 until 1965, when it was replaced by the Greater London Council. ...

Clothing was rationed on a points system. Initially the allowance was for approximately one new outfit per year; as the war progressed the points were reduced to the point where the purchase of a coat constituted almost an entire year's clothing allowance.

Rationing continued after the end of the war. In fact, it became stricter after the end of the war than it had been during it. Bread, which was not rationed during the war, was rationed beginning in 1946. This was largely due to the necessity of feeding the population of European areas coming under Allied control, whose economies had been devastated by the fighting. The final end of all rationing did not come until 1954. Some of the ersatz foods like apple crumble and carrot cake continue to be popular today. 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ersatz is a German name (literal meaning: substitute) for products, especially chemical compounds and provisions developed in wartimes when shortage of certain goods was imminent. ... A crumble is a dish of stewed fruit topped with a crumbly mixture of fat, flour and sugar. ... Carrot Cake Carrot cake is a sweet spice cake with grated carrot mixed into the batter. ...

The average standard rations during WW2 (per week unless stated)

Food rations

• 1s 2d (approximately 1 lb 3 oz or 540 g) of meat (offal or sausages ¹ weren't rationed)
• 4 oz (113 g) bacon or ham
• 3 pints (1.7 l) of milk per week or 1 packet of milk powder per month
• 2 oz (57 g) butter
• 2 oz (57 g) margarine
• 2 oz (57 g) fat or lard
• 2 oz (57 g) loose tea (teabags were not used widely in the UK)
• 1 egg per week or 1 packet (makes 12 “eggs”) of egg powder per month
• 2 oz (57 g) jam
• 3 oz (85 g) sugar
• 1 oz (28 g) cheese
• 3 oz (85 g) sweets
• plus, 16 "points" per month for tinned and dried food.

Other foods that were rationed were onions in 1943 (approximately 2lb (907g) per week). The shilling (or informally: bob) was an English coin first issued in 1548 for Henry VIII, although arguably the testoon issued about 1487 for Henry VII was the first English shilling. ... A variety of coins considered to be lower-value, including an Irish 2p piece and many US pennies. ... The pound is the name of a number of units of mass, all in the range of 300 to 600 grams. ... The ounce is the name for a number of different units of mass (oz), and also of two units of fluid volume (fl oz) and of one unit of force, the ounce-force (ozf). ... Various meats Cold Meat Salad Meat, in its broadest modern definition, is all animal tissue intended to be used as food. ... Offal is the entrails and internal organs of a butchered animal. ... Sausage making Russia A sausage consists of ground meat, herbs and spices, and possibly other ingredients, generally packed in a casing (traditionally the intestines of the animal, though now often synthetic), and preserved in some way, often by curing or smoking. ... Bacon is any of certain cuts of meat taken from the sides, back or belly of a pig, cured and possibly smoked. ... Template:Other uses Ham with cloves Technically, ham is the thigh and buttock of any animal that is slaughtered for meat, but the term is usually restricted to a cut of pork, the haunch of a pig or boar. ... The pint is a unit of volume. ... A glass of cow milk Milk most often means the nutrient fluid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals. ... Powdered milk is a powder of a substance that when mixed with water creates a milk drink. ... Butter is commonly sold in sticks (pictured) or small blocks, and often served using a butterknife. ... Margarine, as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter-substitutes. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with vegetable oil. ... A slice of bread spread with lard is a typical hors dœuvre in traditional rural cuisine of many countries. ... Tea leaves in a gaiwan. ... A carton of free-range chicken eggs Ostrich egg Bird eggs are a common food source. ... Jam from berries Jam is a type of fruit preserve made by boiling fruit with sugar to make an unfiltered jelly. ... Magnified view of refined sugar crystals. ... Cheese is a food made from the curdled milk of cows, goats, sheep, buffalo or other mammals. ... A selection of confectioneries The term confectionery refers to food items that are (at least perceptibly) rich in sugar. ... Binomial name Allium cepa L. Onion in the general sense can be used for any plant in the Genus Allium but used without qualifiers usually means Allium cepa L., also called the garden onion. ...

¹ Although sausages were indeed not rationed, it is important to say that the meat that was needed to make them was so scarce that they were very rarely seen.

Non-food rations

• 66 (later 48) “points” for clothing per year (e.g. 2 points for a pair of knickers, 5 points for a man's shirt, 5 points for a pair of shoes, 7 points for a dress and 26 points for a man's suit). Clothing rationing points could be used for wool, cotton and household textiles. People had extra points for work clothes, such as overalls for factory work. No points were required for second-hand clothing and fur coats, but their prices were fixed.
• 16 oz (454 g) of soap per month (household soap, beauty soap, and soap flakes, but not shaving soap

i love tori.......dont worry none looks at this anyways its very boring Knickers is a word used to refer to two very different items of clothing. ... Business shirt Look up Shirt in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A shirt is a piece of clothing for the trunk of the body. ... Womens shoes on display in a shop window, July 2005 A shoe is an item of footwear. ... The term dress may refer to either clothing or attire in general a specific type of garment, discussed in the article on skirt and dress This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Look up Suit in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A used item is one that is not new or a resource that has been partially or completely depleted. ... Coat can refer to any one of the following: The fur coat of a mammal. ... SOAP is a protocol for exchanging XML-based messages over a computer network, normally using HTTP. SOAP forms the foundation layer of the Web services stack, providing a basic messaging framework that more abstract layers can build on. ...

External links

• http://www.rationbook.co.uk
• http://www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/War/londonRation.html
• http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/0-9/1940house/ref/food/rat.htm