British Coal for the Winter of 1939

In the autumn of 1939, a Britain at war depends on coal for its factories, its homes, its railways and its fleet. But mobilisation has called up many experienced miners, while others have left for better-paid industries: production is faltering at the very moment when wartime demand is surging. The "Phoney War" has not yet brought any large-scale bombing, but winter is approaching.

The Mines Department, attached to the Board of Trade, had drawn up pre-war plans for controlling the distribution and pricing of coal. Allied France, a major customer for British coal, is demanding massive deliveries at the very moment when domestic needs are tightening.

The official handling the matter must arbitrate the allocation of a scarce resource. Should a strict system of state control be introduced, allocating coal first to the war industries through the existing marketing channels? Should the export programme to France be honoured first, at the risk of straining the domestic supply? Or should the market and prices be left to distribute the shortage? The choice bears at once on the war effort, the alliance, and the comfort of households through the winter.