Commemorating VE Day: Milling through the Blitz

Bomb damage to Cranfield's Mill, Ipswich. Image provided by the Mills Archive Trust.

To commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day, or Victory in Europe Day, Nathanael Hodge, archivist at the Mills Archive Trust, described and shared photos of the effect of World War II (WWII) on the United Kingdom (UK) flour milling industry.

"There is a very big change in the world. We cannot help but realise that the war of the future will be a war in the air. We can no longer regard ourselves as isolated and protected by the Navy. In view of the terrific speed of bombers it is becoming clear to most of us that some of these bombers will pierce our defence and will get through. We are face to face with an extraordinary situation…"

With these words the chairman addressed a meeting of representatives from the UK milling industry, gathering to consider how they could work together to prepare for the threat of war. The minutes of this meeting can be found in a large red leather-bound minute book part of the large collection of records and archives which was kindly donated to the Mills Archive by UK Flour Millers in 2023.

It was clear that the war would be unlike any that the nation had seen before – bombing raids would bring devastation to the streets of British cities, and the large port flour mills on which the nation depended for its bread would be an obvious target. The firms needed to work together and pool labour, if necessary, in order to keep mills running in the event that workers were killed. Mills prepared air raid shelters – a document from Snodgrass Mill, Glasgow, lists the items stored in their shelter, including benches, blankets, pails, water biscuits, tins of jam, playing cards, books, and magazines.

The destruction the millers envisaged became a reality in September 1940. On the 16th, the Spillers and Ranks mills at Victoria Docks, London were both destroyed, to be followed by Solent Mills, Southampton on 30th November and the Hovis mill in Manchester on 23rd December.

Over the course of the war 13 mills were totally destroyed, almost all port mills, and 40 more were damaged. The resulting reduction in milling capacity left the nation with a greater dependency on imported flour, largely from Canada. Ground chalk was added to flour to provide calcium, and flour was diluted with oats, rye, and barley, though Churchill favoured mixing in potato flour. Bread was never rationed during the war, but rationing was introduced in 1946. Once peace had been declared, the industry was faced with the long, slow process of rebuilding.

The Mills Archive Trust is a charity dedicated to preserving the history of mills and milling. For more stories from milling history, sign up to their weekly newsletter: https://new.millsarchive.org/newsletter/

The images below, provided by the Mills Archive Trust, include Rank's Premier Mill, Silvertown, London, after a bombing raid on 16 September 1940 and bomb damage to Cranfield's Mill, Ipswich.