Britain suffered a heavy defeat on 18 December in the “Battle of the Heligoland Bight” when 22 Wellington bombers which had been sent to attack German ships in a naval base and harbour were themselves attacked by German fighters: 10 Wellingtons were shot down and another 5 were ditched or crashed on landing, for the loss of only two German fighters. As a result, Britain put a stop to bombing raids in daylight.
Now that Britain was no longer exporting herring to Germany and Russia there were more available for domestic consumption, and the Ministry of Food was still trying to persuade people to eat more. So a Herring Booklet and a Potato Booklet were published: “Please remember, that if you eat more potatoes and more herrings you are making a simple and a pleasant and at the same time a valuable contribution towards winning the war”.
Food rationing was due to come in next month, but fuel and petrol rationing had been enforced since the beginning of the war and difficulties were starting to arise. Now the Director of Education wrote to the authorities to request more petrol for the head teacher of Bower School in his daily commute by motor bike. His allowance was four gallons a month (the equivalent of some eighteen litres), but that only lasted a fortnight for school travelling alone. (Given that a modern car can hold 45-80 litres of petrol, you can see that the ration was actually pretty tight.)
This Christmas the John O’Groat Journal offered a special concessionary rate to soldiers serving away from home: for just the normal cover price of 2d per copy the paper would be posted to “your boy”, “wherever he is serving or training”.
Finally, spare a thought for the children of Britain in the run-up to Christmas in 1939. The John O’Groat Journal ran a poignant article with tips on how to make the first Christmas of the war a happy one (“Unfortunately, this year there may be gaps in the home circle, but we shall have to make up for them mentally”). Nevertheless, it was suggested that, “sweets, a string of beads, a rosy apple or an orange tied up with ribbon will be greeted with shrieks of approval”.
And so, from all of us at the Caithness Archive Centre, have a very happy Christmas – and if you do find an apple tied up with ribbon in your stocking, may it be a good one!
