Post by Administrator on Jan 20, 2021 18:46:37 GMT
WHY BRITAIN WASN’T STARVED INTO SURRENDER IN WORLD WAR ONE THAT GREAT BRITAIN WASN’T STARVED INTO SUBMISSION IN WORLD WAR 1 WAS THANKS TO THE GRITTY & SPIRITED DETERMINATION AND INDOMITABLE COURAGE OF THE MEN OF THE MERCANTILE MARINE & THE FISHING FLEETS – A STORY SELDOM TOLD.
In this, the final centenary year of the First World War I want to focus on the more often forgotten than remembered men of the Mercantile Marine - as it was then known - and the Fishing Fleets whose steadfastness, stoicism and indomitable courage ensured that we were able to fight on and win, and in particular, that we did not starve.
To fight and survive the country still needed to import raw materials such as ores, cotton, jute, oil and rubber and export manufactured goods and coal in order to earn its living. In addition, it now needed to bring in military hardware, munitions, timber for trenches, horses and men to fight. The military supply chain alone across the English Channel to France required transporting some 40,000 tons a day to sustain our troops on the Western Front. The other theatres of war - Salonica, the Dardanelles and Palestine had also to be supplied. And then there was the food. In 1914 Great Britain relied heavily on imported food stuffs: 80% of our wheat, 64% of our butter, 40% 2 of our meat and virtually all our raw sugar came by sea from North America, Canada, Australia, Java, the West Indies and South America among other countries. It was estimated that 64% of our daily calorie intake came by sea.
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In this, the final centenary year of the First World War I want to focus on the more often forgotten than remembered men of the Mercantile Marine - as it was then known - and the Fishing Fleets whose steadfastness, stoicism and indomitable courage ensured that we were able to fight on and win, and in particular, that we did not starve.
To fight and survive the country still needed to import raw materials such as ores, cotton, jute, oil and rubber and export manufactured goods and coal in order to earn its living. In addition, it now needed to bring in military hardware, munitions, timber for trenches, horses and men to fight. The military supply chain alone across the English Channel to France required transporting some 40,000 tons a day to sustain our troops on the Western Front. The other theatres of war - Salonica, the Dardanelles and Palestine had also to be supplied. And then there was the food. In 1914 Great Britain relied heavily on imported food stuffs: 80% of our wheat, 64% of our butter, 40% 2 of our meat and virtually all our raw sugar came by sea from North America, Canada, Australia, Java, the West Indies and South America among other countries. It was estimated that 64% of our daily calorie intake came by sea.
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