York historian helps bring the 1940s to life
in new BBC2 documentary
by Mark Roodhouse
For University of York historian Dr Mark Roodhouse, working as an adviser on the
new BBC2 documentary Wartime Farm brought some very intriguing revelations.
Not least that ‘washing’ red petrol through bread really could have removed the dye added to
stop thieves stealing petrol in wartime Britain.
Dr Mark Roodhouse says: “The authorities dyed petrol to deter thieves from stealing military
or local government supplies during the war. This was expanded to include farmers and other
commercial users after the war – the forerunner of red diesel.
“With petrol rationed, there was a strong incentive for thieves to find ways to remove this
dye. I’d come across three plausible methods during my research: filtering the petrol through
charcoal, dissolving aspirin in the petrol and filtering the petrol through bread. The last was
common knowledge, but struck me and the Ministry of Fuel and Power as deeply unlikely.
To my delight, the bread method worked. A wholemeal bread being preferred. For me it was
an object lesson to pay closer attention to old wives’ tales.”
The new eight-part BBC/Open University production Wartime Farm tells the story of British
agriculture during the Second World War, focusing on food production and rations. Before
the start of the war, Britain relied heavily on foreign food, but by the end, the situation had
been transformed. Many of the farming methods used in Britain today are still shaped by our
wartime past.
The new production is the latest in the BBC’s historic farming series which started with
Victorian Farm in 2009, followed by Edwardian Farm in 2011. In Wartime Farm, historian
Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn take on the challenge of
running Manor Farm exactly as it would have been during the Second World War.
Dr Roodhouse not only advised on the series but made an appearance on screen in the second
episode which aired on Thursday, 13 September.
“When approached by producers Lion TV to contribute to Wartime Farm, I leapt at the
opportunity,” says Dr Roodhouse. “I’ve long admired the series due to the programme
makers’ commitment to communicating a vision of Britain’s rural past rooted in the latest
research to the widest possible audience.
“I was also keen to share the findings of my publicly-funded Arts and Humanities Research
Council (AHRC) research into black markets with people beyond the academy. This was a
golden opportunity to take my work to a much larger audience.”
Dr Roodhouse admits that donning period costume and visiting the farm was also a draw.
“I’ve written about gangster chic, but never had the opportunity to wear an ‘American Look’
suit from the 1940s!” he says.
But dressing up aside, he says he relished the opportunity to try some ‘experimental history’.
“I’ve written extensively about the ways butchers could make more money by selling cheap
cuts as premium cuts through careful cutting,” says Dr Roodhouse. “ aving helped butcher a
pig on a friend’s farm I had some idea how this might work, but seeing a skilled butcher
conjure a little extra from a side of meat was a revelation, confirming much that I’d
thought.”
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Dr Roodhouse can be seen in Wartime Farm on BBC iPlayer.
Department of History
Sep 2012