The country was hard-pressed to feed itself during the war, looking to the farmers to plough every last acre. Come harvest time, there was a shortage of labour.
A Moment in Time: Manuden in wartime
The last few household possessions had been securely lifted into Mr Horley’s van and my mother had gone back to the cottage to lock the front door. She tried the handle again to make sure it was locked then put the key in an envelope, together with a note for Charlie. She walked briskly to his door and pushed it underneath. Walking back past our cottage she took one last look through the front window, hesitated a little, then turned and walked quite quickly down the path to the removal van.