Southdown sheep no longer economical and smaller flocks averaged only 135 ewes apiece. The use of artificial fertilizers had gained ground, and the combine-drill, which sowed grain seeds and fertilizer together, rendered close-folding by sheep unnecessary. Gradually surrendering to basic arable farming changes, the Southdown became largely a grassland breed. During the interwar years, the United Kingdom was known for farm animal breeding, and pedigreed Southdowns were still being exported to most parts of the world, especially New Zealand. In 1937, the number of exported Southdowns reached 459 head. During the Great Depression, a severe and prolonged fall in the prices of
A Breed of Heroes command, AAC(A) Sgt. Wheeler – Charles’ loafing platoon sergeant Capt. Henry Sandy – Battalion medical officer and ‘famous cad’ Beazley – Northern Ireland Correspondent for "The Times" "A Breed of Heroes" won the 1981 Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize and was shortlisted and became runner-up in the 1981 Booker Prize "A Breed of Heroes" was adapted for a BBC Television production by Charles Wood, starring Samuel West in 1994. The story of Charles Thoroughgood is continued in Alan Judd's 1996 novel "Legacy", having left the military he now works for MI6. A Breed of Heroes A Breed of Heroes is a