Digging for Victory

During the Second World War, food shortages were a major concern for both the government and civilians. The government had already attempted to address the problem of how resources, such as food and clothing should be distributed, by introducing rationing. However, rationing did not address or solve the conundrum of how supplies could be increased or what would happen in the event of the supply being disrupted as a result of enemy action. Furthermore, it was also felt that the merchant ships that were being used for transporting food could be better used in combat. One way of achieving both of these aims was to persuade the general public to grow some or all of their own food. "Digging for Victory" was a large national campaign, which aimed to promote the idea of independent food production to those who had previously had very little or no knowledge of gardening or farming. Posters, wireless programmes and newspaper columns were dedicated to spreading the word. Members of the public were urged to utilise garden and allotment space for the purposes of growing vegetables.

In Halifax, the local population were encouraged to attend a Digging for Victory exhibition, which took place at the Halifax Town Hall from 9th-14th March, 1942. Events such as this were one way of educating civilians about basic food production. Lectures and demonstrations provided participants with information about a range of topics, such as poultry care, bee keeping and gardening. All lectures and demonstrations were listed in the event programme, which is on the right hand side of this page.

back to search results