World War One brought severe food shortages and the real fear that the country could be starved into surrendering. Scott Lomax tells how, exactly 100 years ago, Chesterfield established the country’s first-ever food rationing scheme.
THROUGHOUT WORLD WAR ONE, there were concerns about the availability of food. Upon Britain’s declaration of war in August 1914, panic buying was witnessed across the country. There was a common fear that Germany would invade Britain, as it had Belgium, and so stockpiling began in earnest by those who could afford large purchases. This resulted in shortages for everyone else and massive queues of people began to form outside shops…