Land Girls: a Shock to the British Status Quo
World War II has been presented and dissected from every possible angle and in every possible form of media almost to the point of saturation. One would have to be a non-consumer of media to be unaware of the particulars whether they pertain to the war’s origins, battle details, or home front issues. The same cannot be said for the conflagration that began a mere 25 years earlier and was promised to be The War to End All Wars. When World War I began in the summer of 1914, some believed it would be over by Christmas. Little did they know what lay ahead.
Britain declared against Germany and her allies in August sending over 3 million men to the trenches in France and other areas where conflict raged. At the time of declaration, much of Britain was still very much devoted to labor intensive, often non-mechanized agriculture. With farmers, tenants, and farmhands turned soldier, British agriculture faced a huge labor shortage. To whom did the country turn to make up the shortage? The call went out to young women and girls.
Initially, the call to service came from a non-centralized group of organizations such as the Board of Agriculture, the Board of Trade, the Women’s Farm Land Union, the Women’s National Land Service Corps, the University Association of Land Workers, and local Women’s War Agricultural Committees. Their efforts made some headway toward filling the labor gap, but not nearly enough. By 1917, the government realized a coordinated, centralized, and nationally funded effort was needed. The Women’s Land Army was established and by year’s end had recruited and placed over 23,000 women in agricultural work.
Logic might dictate that a general feeling of gratitude would have prevailed where the Land Girls and their work were concerned. That was not the case, however, and resistance ran high. Girls in overalls and breeches behind a plow or using a pitchfork to load a hay wagon ran contrary to the very rigid, traditional views of women’s abilities and place in society.
From a May 1916 London Telegraph article:
‘At the Ryedale Agricultural Club, held at Helmsley, yesterday, Mr. Hebron said he could not get women workers for love or money. Women labour on the land was a farce. They were simply out on spooning expeditions, trying to catch husbands. (Laughter.) Women’s place was at home.’[1]
Despite the public push back and general disrespect the women met, it is estimated by some sources that over a quarter million British young women volunteered for agricultural work. If records ever existed, they have long been lost. [2]
The Women’s Land Army’s work was divided into three general categories: agriculture, forage, and timber.
“Agriculture: In autumn 1918, this section employed 12,649 Women’s Land Army members. The majority worked as milkers and field workers.
Forage (haymaking for food for horses): The Forage Corps started in 1915, before becoming a section of the Women’s Land Army, working in Great Britain and Ireland. 8,000 women worked in Forage by the end of 1919,
Timber Cutting: The Women’s Forestry Corps was set up in 1916 and employed gangs of women to carry out forestry work to increase timber production. These women later becoming part of the WLA. By January 1918, 400 women worked as foresters in the Women’s Land Army.” [3]
The recruitment process and rules governing the Land Girls were rather extensive. Today’s young women would no doubt balk at such.
“Recruitment efforts appealed to women’s patriotism and their consciences, underscoring the importance of “doing one’s bit.” Those wishing to sign up for the Women’s Land Army had to be over 20 years of age, and women were required to submit references, complete paperwork that demonstrated their education and literacy, attend an interview, and pass a physical exam. If accepted, each Land Army Girl signed a six-month or one-year contract, agreeing to be sent anywhere in the country that she was needed. She was typically paid between 20 – 25 shillings a week, and charged 17 shillings/week for room and board. The Women’s Land Army Handbook asked each recruit to pledge that she would “behave quietly,” “secure eight hours’ rest each night,” “avoid entering the bar of a public house,” “not smoke in public,” and “never wear the uniform after work without her overall, nor walk about with her hands in her breeches pockets.””Recruitment efforts appealed to women’s patriotism and their consciences, underscoring the importance of “doing one’s bit.” Those wishing to sign up for the Women’s Land Army had to be over 20 years of age, and women were required to submit references, complete paperwork that demonstrated their education and literacy, attend an interview, and pass a physical exam. If accepted, each Land Army Girl signed a six-month or one-year contract, agreeing to be sent anywhere in the country that she was needed. She was typically paid between 20 – 25 shillings a week, and charged 17 shillings/week for room and board. The Women’s Land Army Handbook asked each recruit to pledge that she would “behave quietly,” “secure eight hours’ rest each night,” “avoid entering the bar of a public house,” “not smoke in public,” and “never wear the uniform after work without her overall, nor walk about with her hands in her breeches pockets.”
The Land Army issued each girl a knee-length tunic or overall (that could be no more than 14 inches above the ground), breeches, a hat, coat, boots, and leather leggings. After thirty days of service, she was issued a green armband to denote her patriotic service, to which was added a stripe for every six months of work. Land Girls also received a L.A.A.S. (Land Army Agriculture Service) badge after two months and were eligible to earn good service ribbons and distinguished service bars.”[4]
Seeing girls wearing breeches and bobbing their hair was a shock to the systems of most country folk of the time, but suspicion and hostility were gradually replaced with grudging respect. The Women’s Land Army helped keep British troops and the British people fed during the dark days of the war. It was a respect the girls earned.
In her own words, Doris Robinson of the Women’s Land Army described her daily duties on a farm in Essex.
I had the whole farm to look after. I had seven jersey cows; about four hundred hens; and a goat; and ducks and it was only me! I had to get up at six in the morning, you see, for milking. And I had to stay up until about 10 at night because they had a lot of eggs incubated that had to be turned. So there was nobody else there at all![5]
“God speed the plow and the woman who drives it!”
Gallery
Notes and Sources
- http://ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk/unconventionalsoldiers/the-land-girls-of-the-first-world-war/
- http://ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk/unconventionalsoldiers/the-land-girls-of-the-first-world-war/
- https://www.womenslandarmy.co.uk/world-war-one/
- http://ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk/unconventionalsoldiers/the-land-girls-of-the-first-world-war/
- https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-the-first-world-war-womens-war-services
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-womens-land-army-in-pictures
http://ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk/unconventionalsoldiers/the-land-girls-of-the-first-world-war
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1449940/
https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/womens_mobilization_for_war
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-the-first-world-war-womens-war-services
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Sounds like pretty thankless work! I suppose for some young women in poor living conditions it might have been a good thing.
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Hi Eilene, I think given the restrictions on women’s lives at the time, some of the young women probably found the new independence rewarding. That said, it does seem that the girls were not appreciated as much they should have been.
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