Children s Harvest Camps | Wartime Farm EP6 | Absolute History

With tasks mounting up on the farm, the team turn to a popular source of additional wartime labour - children. Children s harvest camps were set up by the Ministry of Agriculture to release kids from school during periods of urgent need on farms, and over 70,000 pupils took part, paid sixpence an hour to avoid accusations of exploitation. Ruth enlists eager child labour to collect herbs that were desperately needed by the pharmaceutical industry to make medicines during the war. But once the job s done, she has to feed them. A rat catcher helps Alex deal with the farm s rodent problem, a job which usually fell to Land Girls. It is estimated that rats destroyed two million tons of crops during the war, costing the country £60 million a year. Alex also tries his hand at making a much needed sugar substitute - honey. It s like Netflix for history... Sign up to History Hit, the world s best history documentary service and get 50% off using the code AbsoluteHistory https://bit.ly/3vn5cSH This channel is part of the History Hit Network. Any queries please contact: owned-enquiries@littledotstudios.com