Food Rationing during World War 2

Previous blog post was on CLOTHING RATIONS and this one is a little about the FOOD RATIONING during World War 2.

The State Library of Victoria has an article on this subject amongst their History Research area here.

In Australia, the war did not only affect those men and women who went to fight and serve abroad. Many things also had to change for those who remained at home.

Many men left their jobs to join the armed forces leading to a shortage of labour. New industries had to be created to supply the troops with weapons, uniforms and ammunition . The government had to control the buying and selling of scarce goods, to ensure that everyone received a fair share.

Australians began to experience shortages of almost everything they needed in daily life. At the time of World War II, most of them drank tea, not coffee. When the Japanese captured many of the countries that grew the tea supplied to Australia, this caused severe shortages. Enemy action in the Pacific also disrupted the normal supply of goods by ship to Australia. Australian troops abroad had to be supplied with food produced in Australia, and when thousands of American troops arrived in Australia to fight the war in the Pacific, they also had to be fed.

To ensure that everyone received a basic amount of essential supplies such as meat, butter, sugar and tea, the government brought in a system of rationing. Everyone had to apply for ration books, which contained a number of coupons. Each coupon gave the holder permission to buy a certain amount of something, usually over a weekly period. Despite the hardship, rationing was well received by the public because it applied to everyone equally. Nevertheless, when the government announced in May 1942 that they would impose rationing on clothing, there was a rush to buy as much as possible before rationing began. 

Petrol rationing was first enforced in Australia in October, 1940, a little more than twelve months after the commencement of the 1939-45 War.

No very drastic cuts in consumption were made for some time, but, commencing in April, 1941, when the replenishment of stocks from overseas supply sources was becoming increasingly difficult and uncertain, progressive reductions in the monthly allowances to civilian users were made, the basic ration being finally reduced to the equivalent of only 800 miles of running per annum.

The period of severest rationing lasted from late in 1941 until towards the end of 1944, non-military consumption during these three years or thereabouts being at a rate not very much in excess of one-third of the estimated pre-war rate of 30 million gallons per month.


another article about the Food, Clothing & Petrol Rationing can be found here on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website.

Museum Victoria also contains a lot of excellent information regarding the Food Rations.

the above Food Ration Cards were issued to:

Frederick William James ROBERTS [1900 - 1972]
May Eileen Rose ROBERTS (nee NORMAN) [1900 - 1985]
and their two sons:
Ronald Frederick ROBERTS and Dennis ROBERTS

ROBERTS family outside their home at St Kilda in 1934

with thanks to the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the State Library of Victoria for the above valuable information.

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rationing of clothing during the Second World War

 

We all know of the food rationing coupons that were issued during World War 2, but most of us are unaware of the clothing coupons.

Need a warm coat or hat? 

Think how hard it would have been during World War 2 when you would have to check how many coupons you had left to purchase the items?

Was not always about how much money was left in the wallet!

You were issued 112 coupons per year per adult.

To 'purchase' a mans hat it was 6 coupons, a pair of socks was 4 coupons, a ladies dressing gown was 15 coupons and a coat was 27 coupons.

 

The main reasons for clothing rationing were the serious falling off in imports, increased Service demands, and reduced labour for local production of textiles and making up of garments. 

in a shop window during WW2

Rationing regulations for food and clothing were gazetted on 14 May 1942. Rationing was introduced to manage shortages and control civilian consumption. It aimed to curb inflation, reduce total consumer spending, and limit impending shortages of essential goods. The broad reasoning behind the introduction of rationing was to ensure the equitable distribution of food and clothing. It was also hoped that a cut on consumer spending would lead to an increase in savings, which in turn could be invested in war loans.

Australians were never as short of food nor rationed as heavily as civilians in the United Kingdom. Rationing was enforced by the use of coupons and was limited to clothing, tea, sugar, butter, and meat. From time to time, eggs and milk were also rationed under a system of priority for vulnerable groups during periods of shortage.

Rationing was administered by the Rationing Commission. The basis for policing food rationing was through the surrender of coupons before rationed goods could be supplied. This had to occur between traders as well as consumers. Coupons were passed back from consumers to retailers, from retailers to wholesalers, and in many cases from wholesalers to producers, who were requested to return them to the commission.

Breaches of rationing regulations were punishable under the general provisions of National Security Regulations by fines of to £100 or up to six-months imprisonment. Responding to the complaint that these penalties were inadequate, the government passed the Black Marketing Act at the end of 1942. This Act was for more serious cases and could carry a minimum penalty of £1,000.

Summary:

Ration card for clothing, consisting of a single peach-coloured card with coupons to be cut off. Originally 24 coupons would have been included; three remain. The card is printed '1945-6 issue'. The card was issued to GALBRAITH of Clifton Hill.

Description:

Pink-coloured card, printed in black with coupons to be cut off from the left side. Three coupons remain from the original 24 supplied.


most of the above information came from the AWM (Australian War Memorial) website with grateful thanks.

The Clothing Ration Card was in my mothers possession but I have no knowledge of who Galbraith (of Clifton Hill) is.

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Raymond Everard BARTRAM (1893 - 1917)

Raymond Everard BARTRAM

born in Richmond, Victoria, Australia in 1893 to 

George Andrew BARTRAM and Isabella SHANDS

George and Isabella were married on 27 August 1878 

in Richmond, Victoria, Australia 

and had seven children.

Ray enlisted on 3rd July 1915 in the 

Australian Imperial Forces (AIF)  and 

embarked Melbourne (Victoria, Australia) with 

8th Reinforcements, 14th Battalion,
service # 2682 aboard the SS Makarini on 15 Sep 1915

Just 4 weeks later Ray Bartram became dangerously ill with appendicitis and did not recover until after Christmas in December 1915.

In March 1916 he was given 14 days detention for "pilfering goods at the Abu-Sueur Railway Station".

By July 1916 the 46th Battalion occupied the Front Line at Sailly-le-Sec in France.  By August the Battalion was part of the Battle of Pozieres which was a two week struggle for the village of Pozieres and the ridge on which it stood.

The following month (September 1916) the 46th Battalion made an unsuccessful raid against Hollandscheshuur Farm Salient. The raid consisted 3 Officers and 46 'other ranks'.

Ray was admitted to hospital twice in October 1916 with "septic hands" and rejoined his unit on 27th. This would have been a terrible time for all the men as it was written in the
"Australians on the Western Front 1914 - 1918" re the winter of 1916:

The autumn rains had set in by the time the Australians reached the Somme and the whole battlefield had become a sea of mud. Broken ground, easily traversed in dry weather, was a bog. Trenches and tracks were often impassable. It could take relays of stretcher-bearers many hours to bring in a wounded man, the mud slowing the journey to a kilometre an hour.

Early in December the 46th Battalion was at the "New Carlton Camp" situated near Bazentin, Somme, France, 10 klms behind the front line engaged in road making and from there marched on to Dernancourt where they stayed until early January.
and the following was written in the

"Australians on the Western Front 1914 - 1918"

On 18 November 1916, the Battle of the Somme officially ended and for the remainder of the winter of 1916–17 the Australians garrisoned the line east of Flers. From there they kept pressure on the Germans by means of small attacks and raids. However, the main battle was against mud, rain and frost-bite.

The front lines were up to twelve kilometres away from good roads so major efforts were made to repair approach roads to allow supplies to be brought forward. As the roads neared the front they became ‘duckboard’ tracks’, the only surface by which it was possible to get across the sea of mud. Supplies of hot food, leather waistcoats, thigh boots, worsted gloves, dry socks gradually reached the front where they made the awful conditions if not better at least bearable. In the rear, however, both the accommodation and comfort for troops in reserve were dramatically improved.

Messines Ridge

 on 8th December 1916

Ray Bartram was promoted to Corporal and on 

26 May 1917 was promoted to Sergeant.

12 days later he was killed in action 

south of Ypres near Wyschaete in Belgium 

along with five of his comrades by a 

high explosive shell on 7th June 1917.

The article on the Battle of Messines 

can be located HERE and in part reads:

It has been argued that the Battle of Messines was the most successful local operation of the war, certainly of the Western Front.  Carried out by General Herbert Plumer's Second Army, it was launched on 7 June 1917 with the detonation of 19 underground mines underneath the German mines.

The target of the offensive was the Messines Ridge, a natural stronghold southeast of Ypres, and a small German salient since late 1914.  The attack was also a precursor to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele, decided upon by the British Commander-in-Chief Sir Douglas Haig following the collapse of the French Nivelle Offensive earlier in May 1917.

General Plumer had begun plans to take the Messines Ridge a year early in early-1916.  Meticulous in manner, Plumer preferred to plan for limited successes rather than gamble all on a significant breakthrough.

The following website has quite a bit on the battle of Messines including some images and is titled:

Digger History:  

an unofficial history of the 

Australian & New Zealand Armed Forces.

The attack effectively began on 3rd June when the preliminary bombardment intensified, and was kept up until 0250 hrs on 7th June when Raymond Everard BARTRAM was killed.

he was 23 years of age.

The Argus Friday 7 June 1918

 

The above is an informal outdoors portrait of three Bartram brothers who have met up whilst on active service, from Richmond, Vic. Identified left to right: 6955 Private (Pte) Reginald Percy Bartram, 37th Battalion; 2304 Pte Arnold Roy Bartram, 60th Battalion; and probably 2682 Sergeant (Sgt) Raymond Everard Bartram, 46th Battalion.

all three brothers were killed in 1917

Arnold Roy BARTRAM - KIA 13 May 1917
Raymond Everard BARTRAM - KIA 07 June 1917
Reginald Percy BARTRAM - KIA 04 Oct 1917

Ray Bartram is buried at the Messines Ridge Cemetery in 

Mesen, West Vlaaderen, Belgium.

The grave of Raymond Bartram at Messines Ridge Cemetery

Blog post on Arnold Roy Bartram has been updated on 

3rd May 2012 and can now be found here.

Reginald Percy Bartram is located here, but is yet to be brought up to date.

and the cousin of "The Bartram Brothers" Leslie Norman Krause  has a blog post that needs updating, but in the meantime can also be found here.

 

takes time to create blog posts on family members that served in WW1 and WW2.

Over time they will be completed or updated.

LEST WE FORGET

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William Murdoch Le Brun [1895 - 1916]

William Murdoch Le Brun, was a young man on a mission, a 20 year old young man desperately wanting to get to fight in the war with his friends. Yet not even 12 mths after enlisting he was dead.....

Willie was born in Brunswick, a suburb just 6 klms north of the city of Melbourne. His parents being Murdoch Le Brun and Rebecca Ann Moore.

Murdoch and Rebecca had ten children, William being their third child.

William Murdoch Le Brun Joined the AIF (Australian Imperial Forces) on 13 July 1915, declaring he was 20 years and one month of age,  his previous employment was as a Farmer.   He nominated his Father as his Next of Kin, stating the address was Mirboo South, in Victoria, Australia.   He was 5' 7" tall, weighed 8st 11lbs,  chest 32-35.   His complexion was medium, eyes blue, hair Brown and had a scar on front of left wrist, 1 1/2" long and his service number was 3393.  

He departed Melbourne on board HMAT A71 "Nestor" on 11 October 1915 and he was taken on strength at 7th Battalion at Tel-el-Kebir, Egypt on 7 January 1916.  

He was admitted to hospital at Serapeum, Cairo, in January suffering from Mumps and discharged one month later, rejoining his Battalion in March. He embarked Alexandria 26 March 1916 for France, disembarking at Marseilles and the 7th Battalion entered the front line trenches for the first time on 3 May.

The 7th Battalion was among the first infantry units raised for the AIF during the First World War. Like the 5th, 6th and 8th Battalions, it was recruited from Victoria and, together with these battalions, formed the 2nd Brigade. The battalion was raised by Lieutenant Colonel H. E. “Pompey” Elliott within a fortnight of the declaration of war in August 1914

William Murdoch Le Brun was killed in action on 2nd June 1916 and buried by Rev G W Carter at Military Cemetery Rue David, 3 1/2 miles SSW of Armentieres, France on the 11th June.   His personnel effects were listed as:  Disc, Prayer Book, Razor, Pipe, Handkerchief, Mirror (broken), Belt, with Badges, Buttons, Gun metal Watch (glass broken), letters, coins (4), Wrist Strap.   These were dispatched by registered packet to his mother in December 1916.

 

On 23 Aug 1916 the National Mutual Life Assoc received a copy of Williams death certificate to allow processing of his life insurance policy.  His mother requested advice on 23 Sep1916 regarding  whether William had left a will, and any details of deferred pay, as she wanted to finalise his affairs.   On 3rd Oct she received a reply stating their was no record of a will, and information regarding deferred pay would be forwarded to the District paymaster for answer.

on 15th Oct 1920 Rebecca (mother of William) received his 1914 -15 Star, the Memorial Plaque and Kings message on 16th Jan 1922, and the Victory Medal 1st Feb 1923.   He was also awarded the British War Medal but the date of receipt is unclear.

Of the nine children of Rebecca Ann MOORE and Murdoch Le BRUN, three of their sons went to war and only one returned.

William Murdoch Le BRUN 1895 - 1916

Charles Richard Le BRUN  1899 - 1943

Ernest Harold Le BRUN      1909 - 2006

I have also completed a blog post on Charles Richard Le BRUN as seen HERE.

Over time, I will hopefully be able to complete a blog post on all family members that served in WW1 & WW2.

.Lest We Forget.

12 months ago today .......

above: Janine took this image of Oscar on 7th Oct 2006

memories of Oscar

our very special little boy

28 March 1998 - 23 May 2012


We lost a special friend today
the kind you can't replace,
and looking at his empty bed
We still can see his smiling face.

  We see the endless energy
the sparkling puppy eyes,
Not the tired, fragile friend
we had to bid goodbye.

  We know he's in a special place
our Lord has for such friends,
Where meadows, fields & flowers
help make them strong and whole again.

We will remember how he'd run to us
to play his favorite puppy game,
And how his ears would perk right up
When he heard us call his name.

But as those precious years went by
And we all aged and grew,
  we found him often slowing down
But we had still so much to do.

We have noticed in the recent times
His ears were not as sharp,
Where is that running ball of fur
The years have shown their mark.

He started sleeping next to us
Was this his special clue,
Because he felt the end was near
We certainly feel that it was very true

  Our Oscar was a special boy
  We know he gave his best,
But as we looked deep into his eyes
  we knew it was the time for him to rest.

It will truly be a struggle
  we don't know how we will face each day,
  we have to let him go - we know
But in our hearts he'll always stay.

This special place our Lord has made
Health and strength, wait for him there,
So with our very special friend
  we are sending all our prayers.

For we  know he's watching over us
and he'll be with us when we cry,
So with one more kiss on his beloved head
  we told our darling boy 

goodbye.

the above is very much the same I wrote out for Zac and also for Pokey.

 

 

 

above: when Oscar was just a tiny little puppy

 

 

Oscars brother – Pokey - was born in January 1997. 

Then in March 1998, along came Oscar. But sadly 5 days after he and his 3 siblings were born, their mother – Sugar - passed away. Oscar was 55 grams in weight ....that is the weight of one medium sized egg! 

 

These four little five day old puppies ......  what to do? Even the Vet said they would not survive.  But with the love and care devoted upon them, they survived ... each and everyone of them.

Yes, Oscar is a fighter, his true name is Sugar Ray Robinson (one of the great boxers of all time [1921-1989]) and as with all four puppies, they were named after a famous 'fighter'.

In 2002 we took Oscar and Pokey on a 12 mths holiday traveling all over Australia.

 

 

above: in 2002, he used Pokey when he needed some extra height  to see outside the motorhome!

  

In 2005 he had an eye infection and had to have major surgery to have the lens replaced in his eye.

In 2007 both Pokey and Oscar flew to Singapore.

 

In 2009 he pulled one of his nails out when it caught in his collar, more surgery!

 

In 2011 Oscar lost his brother Pokey (7th July) and he grieved more than we thought was possible.

Two weeks later we took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with Pituatary Dependent Hyperadrenocorticism. (Cushings Disease) and a month later they found he also had Congestive Heart Failure.

 

He started off on his medication twice a day, but over the past month it was increased to three times a day. 

 

In December 2011 we applied for a permit for his re entry into Australia and this was declined due to his health and age.

 

We wrote a long letter to AQIS (Australian Quarantine) explaining a bit more about Oscar and that he was a fighter and that he would survive the flight, but could possibly struggle with the 30 days of Quarantine. But we were willing to take the risk as we felt he would be OK.

 

30 minutes later, we rec'd the permit and he was allowed to return to Australia!

He left Singapore on 21st February 2012 and arrived the following morning at the AQIS station in Spotswood where he stayed for the full 30 days.

 

 

 

above: running around while in Quarantine at Spotswood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

above: with John when he was in Quarantine

He was very happy to be back with us and settled in very well. We knew we wouldn't have him forever and the vet thought he might survive till mid April .... but we managed to have him for a full two months at home.
We brought him home to Ballan on 23 March 2012.

 

above: in April 2012 he got to go to Blackwood again where he used to chase lizards 

with his brother Pokey.

One of his favourite things to do was "get in the car". It was such a novelty for him to be able to travel around and he loved it. The minute we picked up the keys, he was waiting at the front door!

On Sunday (20 May 2012) he was chasing the Magpies outside, on Monday (21 May) he traveled with us in the car to Bendigo for the day. On Monday evening his breathing became erratic and through the course of the night we realised his time was coming to an end.

 

above: photo taken at 12 noon on 22 May 2012 (18 hours before he passed away) as he lay in the 

lounge room in the sunshine

On the Tuesday (22 May 2012)  he really struggled with his breathing, one minute hyperventilating and the next 'shallow breathing'. I was too selfish to take him to the vet after what we went though with Pokey, but at 3.15am the following morning while I was nursing him in the lounge ..... I knew we had no choice but to call the vet as soon as we got up.

We took him back to bed with us and we held him till he closed his eyes at 6:10am on 23rd May 2013.

 

Letting him go was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, unbearably difficult. He was my friend. A special friend I will never forget.  I know we were really lucky to have had him for so long, possibly more than his fair share of life expectancy.

above: John took this photo - Tuesday 22 May 2012

Rest in Peace Oscar 

(Sugar Ray Robinson), 

you fought the good fight right till the end.

we all loved you so much

you were one very special little dog

there will never be another like you.


its now been 12 months since our little man left us 

and we can honestly say, we miss him every single day. 

 

He did leave a huge hole in our hearts 

and life will never be the same again.

23 May 2013

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Edward Harold ARTSO

Edward Harold ARTSO was born in Warrnambool (Victoria, Australia) in 1892. He was the 9th child to Martha HAMMOND and William ARTSOW.

William ARTSOW was born in Canton, Guangzhou, China in 1831 and married Martha HAMMOND at the See Yup Temple in Emerald Hill on 15th September 1875.

There is no confirmed data as to when William arrived in Australia, except to say that "family information' states he arrived into Robe in South Australia.

01 February 1916.
At the age of 23 years and one month, Edward enlisted in the AIF, his occupation at that time was as a carpenter. He was enlisted in to the 29th Battalion. He was described as being 5 feet two inches, weighed 116 lbs, had a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair and was considered "fit for active service".

08 May 1916
Two months later he embarked Melbourne on board the troop carrier HMAT A14 EURIPIDES headed towards the Middle East, landing at Alexandria.  By July he had been dispatched to the "Bombing School" in Lyndhurst in England, where he stayed until the September of 1916. Which perhaps was just as well, seeing that he missed the Battle of Fromelles that his Battalion fought in during July 1916.

from the website: "Australians on the Western Front 1914 - 1918"

19 July 1916

The Battle of Fromelles.  I think Edward was lucky not to have been part of this particular battle, as one of the soldiers in his battalion wrote:

“the novelty of being a soldier wore off in about five seconds, it was like a bloody butcher’s shop.”

22 September 1916

Later in September, the 29th Battalion were at Riviere des Layes, just south of Armentieres and where Edward rejoins his Battalion. The Battalion were still holding the front line until 14th October, before marching onto Strazelle where, at long last, comfortable billets were provided. On the 22nd October the Battalion arrived at Flers, after passing through Bussus, Buire and Mametz Wood.

16 November 1916

Edward Artso was admitted to hospital in France with both Myalgia & Scabies and soon transferred back to England for treatment. He managed to stay in England until March of the following year when he was transferred from 29th Battalion to the 69th Draft Battalion. 

26 September 1917

The 29th Battalion played a major role at Polygon Wood, where they fought in the Ypres sector in Belgium.

2nd November 1917

He was with the 69th Draft Battalion until he was transferred back to the 29th, again missing out on another major battle, the Battle of Polygon Wood!

 

3rd May 1918
Edward was wounded in action at Sailly-le-Sec which is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France, not far from Amiens. He was immediately transferred to 11th Australian Field Ambulance Hospital.

This is the diary entry for the 3rd May 1918 from the 29th Bn showing they were at Sailly-Le-Sec in France.

 

18th May 1918
Edward Harold Artso died at Vignacourt in France from a Gun Shot Wound to his back and right arm that he had received at Sailly-le-Sec on 3 May 1918.


 
His burial took place that same day at Vignacourt British Cemetery (Plot II, Row B, Grave No. 3), in France.

Edward Harold ARTSO

18 May 1918
Lest We Forget

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