Feeding the Workforce during WWII
What does it take to feed a workforce during a war? Using original material from the Corporate Archives collections, we shed some light on how the London Passenger Transport Board did it...
A London Transport Board Staff Canteen (1937-11-01) by London Passenger Transport BoardTfL Corporate Archives
Under the strenuous conditions of war, the canteen service became vital. By 1939, the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) had built up a well organised system of canteens for staff at depots, garages, works, and at places where meal reliefs were taken on the road
A shelterers' platform canteen at Christmas (1944-12-22) by Topical PressLondon Transport Museum
With the outbreak of war ,special emergency arrangements and a great expansion of the canteen facilities became necessary
Farming practices at Brockley Hill Vegetable Farm, which supplied staff canteens (1941-06)TfL Corporate Archives
Emergency field kitchens were constructed at all canteens, in case of gas and water supply issues. 70 blast proof equipped shelters enabled a refreshment service to be maintained during the air raids. The number of canteens was increased from 113 to 150, employing 1,930 staff
To supply the increased number of canteens, farms were established at Brockley Hill, Little Bushy, and Staines
Dusty the Plough Horse (1940-07-01) by London Passenger Transport BoardTfL Corporate Archives
Dusty the Ploughhorse
Not all staff drafted in to tend to the farms were human!
Farming practices at Brockley Hill Vegetable Farm, which supplied staff canteens (1941-06)TfL Corporate Archives
By 1943, 130 acres of farmland (spread over 5 farms) was supplying over four fifths of all the food required by the canteens. To cater for the canteens, 12,000 lb of vegetables were needed for harvest each week
Article describing the work happening on London Passenger Transport Board's victory gardens (1943-01)TfL Corporate Archives
By the end of the war, over 100,000 meals were being served daily in the canteens, using 5 cows, 30 sheep, 4,000 dried eggs, 100 sacks of potatoes, 130 sacks of cabbages, 30 sacks of flour, 1,200 loaves, 1,600 gallons of milk, 105,000 cups of tea, and 63,000 cakes!
LPTB helped with the 'Dig for Victory' campaign
It turned over free land including railway embankments, for agricultural purposes. 850 staff were allocated individual allotments for a nominal fee
A poem celebrating war-time efforts to plant vegetables along railway embankments (1939-12)TfL Corporate Archives
This poem describes an "agri-transport" vision to grow plants along the rail network, so that it's "not 'Mind the doors' but 'Mind the plants.'"
Dispatch on vegetable gardens from B. Russell Sprout (1939-12)TfL Corporate Archives
This humorous article summarises LPTB's efforts to join the "Grow-More-Food battalion" by gardening railway embankments
Story compiled by TfL using information in records at the Transport for London Corporate Archives. The Corporate Archives seeks to preserve and make accessible records, not to interpret them. A wider range of material is available for physical consultation.
Permission is granted to reproduce for personal and educational use only.
This story has been enhanced with images from the London Transport Museum and the Life Photo Collection. All enquiries regarding this material should be made directly to those organisations.
