In an encounter with (war poet and soldier) Siegfried Sassoon in parliament in 1918, Winston Churchill claimed ‘War is the normal occupation of man’. When challenged, he added: ‘War – and gardening.’
The garden museum currently have an exhibition about war and gardening, which includes the story of the Ruhleben Horticultural Society. These were the British soldiers interned in the Ruhleben prisoner of war camp, which was described as 'not fit to keep pigs in' when it was opened. In this horrible environment, with seeds and bulbs sent by the RHS, they created gardens growing not only veg to supplement their meagre food rations, but also flowers and decorative plants to improve their surroundings. They even organised flower and vegetable contests.
members of the Ruhleben Horticultural Society
The exhibition runs until January next year.
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