According to the book I’m reading about the partition of India (Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire by Alex Von Tunzelmann), after the Second World War, things were so bad in Britain that they asked the US to relax the terms of the loan of $3.75 billion. This was mostly due to a growing lack of food. In case the US refused, a secret plan was developed by the British Government to conscript schoolchildren into agricultural work. This was in the summer of 1947.
There were already ‘School Harvest Camps’ for school kids to go picking in the holidays. These were mostly created to ease the lack of agricultural labourers due to the war. My dad was sent to them in Kent where he would have to pick hops, which he hated.
Actually, when dad was evacuated from London during the war, he was sent to a farm in Wiltshire where he was essentially used as slave labour. He slept in a barn with the cattle and was despised by the farmer, his family and the locals. He hated that as well. Though, to be fair, he rather enjoyed spending time with the animals and didn’t mind the fresh country air.
Conversely, when my mum was evacuated, she went and lived with relatives in Berkshire and had a wonderful time with her cousins. And saw the Queen and Princess Margaret at the village shop.
None of that is really relevant to my day today, except that I read about the conscription thing this afternoon during Reading Hour. I think the author thought it was something shocking to add to the general history but, done properly, I don’t see why it should have been a bad thing.
The other thing I read today was Franz Kafka’s description of working in an accountancy office. I thought it was so apt, I used it for the title of this post.
My day today was spent mostly plotting points on a map using a bit of software Mirinda found. The points were where she recorded various sounds during her two-week dig experience. Though a bit laborious and time-consuming, I thoroughly enjoyed it. And I don’t care if that makes me sound a bit geeky and sad.
The only other thing I did was go shopping, something else I enjoy. On the way, I noticed that the half road has been reinstated as a whole one again, though work has not yet been completed. Still, it was lovely having a full footpath once more, even if it has great cracks and loose gravel all over it.
In other news, Loretta Swit died today, aged 87. On the World Service, the reporter reading her obit said that Swit hated her characters nickname of ‘Hotlips’ on MASH and, after badgering the producers and writers for years, eventually managed to get it dropped and her character became less about the sexy nurse and more the professional US Army Major.
As well as TV and film, she was much involved on the American stage, starring in heaps of productions over the years. She also did a lot for animal welfare. She was the child of Polish immigrants. I bet that pissed Donald Trump off.
