With the country at war and all of
the able-bodied men training or fighting, women were greatly needed for
agricultural labour. However, shortage of labour wasn’t the only problem-it
became incredibly difficult to import food and supplies from abroad. Therefore,
the women’s land army (WLA) worked hard to provide much of the labour and
supplies.
Propaganda was used to encourage women to get involved. One poster read ‘for a healthy happy job, join the land army’. This, along with many other posters, inspired many to volunteer. But life in the Land Army wasn’t all fun and games- the work they did was hard, the uniforms they wore were-in most peoples opinion- itchy and uncomfortable, and many young women who joined didn't have the approval of their parents. On top of this, it was very hard to fit a social life around their working hours. In the summer, Land girls(the nickname given to them) worked up to 50 hours per week; in the winter they worked up to 40.
Jobs
The
wide range of jobs that the land girls did required hard work.
These jobs included:
These jobs included:
- Farm work
- Mechanic
- Rat catcher
- Running saw mills
- Engineer
- Nurse
- Working in factories – making bombs and aircraft parts
Uniform
Opinions
on WLA uniforms differed. Whilst most people found them itchy and impractical,
some people like to wear theirs. Uniforms were often too big, but most Land
Girls could do their own tailoring in order to make them a better fit.
Uniforms consisted of:
Uniforms consisted of:
- 2 short sleeve shirts
- 1 green pullover
- 2 pairs of socks
- 1 pair of shoes
- 1 bib and brace overall
- 1 hat
- 1 pair of rubber boots
- 1 one long (very thin) mackintosh
Pressure from parents
Many parents weren’t happy about their daughter leaving home
to work in the Women’s Land Army. It was a time of family - when no one left
home. Some Land Girls have written accounts of when they told their parents
they’d enrolled for the WLA, and in many, their parents have been angry or
upset.
At the end of the working day, Land girls were free to do
what the wanted. Many girls liked to walk to the dances or picture shows, but the village halls could be up 3 hours away! Others liked to just relax and have a hot bath.