Were You Or A Relative of Yours A  Wandsworth WWII Land Girl?

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Wandsworth Mayor wants to recognise them & the importance of their campaign

Women living in Wandsworth who are veterans of an often overlooked but vitally important campaign in World War Two are to be received as guests of honour at the town hall by the borough's Mayor.

The Mayor of Wandsworth pictured left is inviting all former members of the Women's Land Army (WLA) and Women's Timber Corps (TC), who live in Wandsworth, to join him at a special celebratory tea party on Tuesday, March 3, in recognition of their contributions to Britain's war effort.

The WLA and TC were set up in 1939 to replace the tens of thousands of men who had left their civilian jobs to enlist in the armed forces.  A similar scheme had also been set up in the First World War.

The main job of the land army was to grow the food that would keep Britain fed. Their task was borne out of the knowledge that if Britain was to stand any chance of winning the war it had to cut its reliance on food imported from overseas. Bitter experience in 1917 when the German U-boat campaign against allied shipping almost caused Britain to starve, reinforced this view.

Women who served in the TC cut down trees or worked in sawmills to produce the timber that was necessary for the war effort. Others in the TC made pit props, without which mineworkers could not have produced the coal that powered Britain's armament factories and also kept the home fires burning.

By the end of the war almost 100,000 women had served in either the WLA or the TC.  Many already lived in the countryside but around a third came from Britain's industrial cities, including London.

The WLA was officially disbanded in October 1950. At a ceremony at Buckingham Palace 500 Land Girls marched past The Queen, who addressed them with these words: "I have always admired their courage in responding so readily to a call which they knew must bring them ... hardship and sometimes loneliness. Now the time has come to say goodbye, because the job has been done, but the sadness which many feel should be outweighed by pride in the achievement."

The Mayor Cllr John Farebrother said:
"It will be a real honour to meet some of the women who worked so hard and so tirelessly in very difficult circumstances to help deliver victory in World War Two."

"For most of them the work was hard, dirty, difficult and involved long hours. Occasionally it could be very dangerous. Yet the women involved overcame all these hardships and did a sterling job in keeping food on the nation's tables. Without their efforts it's entirely possible that Britain might have been starved into submission and lost the war.  

"Their contribution to that victory has often been overlooked which is why I am delighted that we will be playing a part in the wider efforts to belatedly recognise their importance and to also offer our very deep gratitude for everything they did."

The mayor is writing to all former members of the WLA and TC that it has contact details for. However, if you are or know of a former "land girl" living in the borough who has not already received an invite to the event on March 3, please contact Dee Manley on (020) 8871 6044, email dmanley@wandsworth.gov.uk or write to her c/o Room 144 Wandsworth Town Hall, London SW18 2PU.

 

February 18, 2009