Smith, Harry (IWM interview)

British civilian farm worker in Yorkshire, GB, 1916-1918

REEL 1 Family background in Sheffield area, GB, 1903-1914: reasons for father's change from farm work to industry; father's work for Anchor brewery; own and brothers' desire to farm; mother's ability to provide food and clothes for family; father's horse van driving work for brewery; brothers having beer from father's allowance and attitudes to alcohol; standards of personal behaviour; mother's religious beliefs; starting school age three; difficulties of being left handed; schools attended. REEL 2 Continues: Recollections of period as civilian in Sheffield area 1914-1916: local reactions and feelings on outbreak of war; Zeppelin raid on Sheffield and townspeople fleeing to countryside; effect of seeing wounded return and casualty figures; comparison of financial circumstances of soldiers' and munition workers' wives; mother's provision of food and clothes; attempts to help needy; civilian perception of nature of warfare; story illustrating effect of loss of Sheffield City Battalion; increasing food shortages; eating horse meat. REEL 3 Continues: reasons for leaving school age thirteen; desire to go into farming. Recollections of period as civilian farm worker at Summerley Farm, Unstone, GB, 1916-1918: pay, accommodation and food; lack of formal training and learning various jobs through observation and advice; farm personnel; co-operation between farms to complete jobs; schoolchildren's October holiday for potato picking; description of work involved picking and grading. REEL 4 Continues: children's potato picking week; turnip picking; description of processes and equipment used to prepare harvested land for new crops; sowing winter corn; farmer drilling corn; learning soil cultivating work; winter time hedge trimming and tools used; manuring land; contract to collect manure from Sheffield brewery stables and combining with trips to take produce to Sheffield market; clearing hedge and dyke bottoms; sowing spring corn in March. REEL 5 Continues: threshing corn using contract machines and work involved; grades of corn, their uses and wartime government restrictions; planting turnips and potatoes in April; method of sowing hay crop; crop rotation; wartime utilisation of land; green manure; method of weeding sown crops. REEL 6 Continues: importance of regular weeding of sown crops; removing thistles and dock; spacing turnip crop; background to acreage allocated to each crop and limits on corn imposed by Corn Laws; wartime direction to plough more land for corn and its fertility; mowing June hay crop; types of mowers; cutting method; turning hay; use of scythe; raking hay into rows; stacking hay into heaps in fields for collection. REEL 7 Continues: further comments on stacking hay; baling hay; role loading crops and raking; co-operation with other farms; use of tarpaulins; size of stacks; straw stacks; sale of hay; breaking up of stacks; use of horse driven corn binder; baling and stacking corn; loading cart. REEL 8 Continues: care of horses; grooming and feeding; harnessing; problem of cold weather and frostbite; slaughter of horses at end of working life; attitude to working with horses; government requisition of horses; story of horse sale; number of horses on farm; breeding of horses; story of horse Jack; care of cattle and pigs; killing of pigs for food; manure. REEL 9 Continues: daily routine and hours of work; food; recreational activities; Sunday routine; memory of fellow workers; opinion of uncle as employer; story of ploughing; farm machinery including automatic hay baler; question of trade union activity; attitude to women farm workers REEL 10 Continues: further comments on women war workers; opinion of organisation; effects of war on farming activities; question of exemption from military service for farm workers; state of health; accidents; reaction to sight of wounded soldiers; role of Sheffield City Bn on Somme; attitude to working on farm; Armistice Day celebrations, 11/11/1918. Aspects of post-war life and employment: description of situation in agricultural sector. REEL 11 Continues: status of agricultural workers and pay; employment on railway; question of recognition for farm workers during war.