Published under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, this work is illustrated with photographs depicting land-girls in nearly every branch of the work undertaken during the war. The text by Vita Sackville-West aims at giving a human picture of the land-girl's life. A number of tables of facts and statistics are also included. It is thus a comprehensive survey of an important branch of women's work in the war.
A compelling study of the sea change brought about in politics, society, and gender roles during World Wars I and II by campaigns to recruit Women's Land Armies in Great Britain and the United States to cultivate victory gardens. Cecilia Gowdy-Wygant compares and contrasts the outcomes of war in both nations as seen through women's ties to labor, agriculture, the home, and the environment. She sheds new light on the cultural legacies left by the Women's Land Armies and their major role in shaping national and personal identities.
Rosie the Riveter is an icon for women's industrial contribution to World War II, but history has largely overlooked the three million women who served on America's agricultural front. The Women's Land Army sent volunteers to farms, canneries, and dairies across the country, accounting for the majority of wartime agricultural labor. On the Farm Front tells for the first time the remarkable story of these women who worked to ensure both "Freedom from Want" at home and victory abroad. Formed in 1943 as part of the Emergency Farm Labor Program, the WLA placed its workers in areas where American farmers urgently needed assistance. Many farmers in even the most desperate areas, however, initially opposed women working their land. Rural administrators in the Midwest and the South yielded to necessity and employed several hundred thousand women as farm laborers by the end of the war, but those in the Great Plains and eastern Rocky Mountains remained hesitant, suffering serious agricultural and financial losses as a consequence. Carpenter reveals for the first time how the WLA revolutionized the national view of farming. By accepting all available women as agricultural workers, farmers abandoned traditional labor and stereotypical social practices. When the WLA officially disbanded in 1945, many of its women chose to remain in their agricultural jobs rather than return to a full-time home life or prewar employment. On the Farm Front illuminates the Women's Land Army's unique contribution to prosperity and victory, showing how this landmark organization changed the role of women in American society.
Based on true events from World War I, this fictional story follows “farmerette” Helen Stevens as she trains to farm the land, convinces a farm owner to hire her and her colleagues, negotiates a fair wage, and does her bit for the war effort. Beginning as a movement to put women to work on farms in place of men serving overseas during WWI, the Woman's Land Army grew to be an integral part of the food supply chain during the war. This unique look at a forgotten history celebrates the true grit of American men and women.
A moving story of love, loss and survival against the odds by bestselling author of The Last of the Bonegilla Girls, Victoria Purman. It was never just a man's war... Melbourne,1942 War has engulfed Europe and now the Pacific, and Australia is fighting for its future. For spinster Flora Atkins, however, nothing much has changed. Tending her dull office job and beloved brother and father, as well as knitting socks for the troops, leaves her relatively content. Then one day a stranger gives her brother a white feather and Flora's anger propels her out of her safe life and into the vineyards of the idyllic Mildura countryside, a member of the Australian Women's Land Army. There she meets Betty, a 17-year-old former shopgirl keen to do her bit for the war effort and support her beloved, and the unlikely Lilian, a well-to-do Adelaide girl fleeing her overbearing family and theworld's expectations for her. As the Land Girls embrace their new world of close-knit community and backbreaking work, they begin to find pride in their roles. More than that, they start to find a kind of liberation. For Flora, new friendships and the singular joy derived from working the land offer new meaning to her life, and even the possibility of love. But as the clouds of war darken the horizon, and their fears for loved ones - brothers, husbands, lovers - fighting at the front grow, the Land Girls' hold on their world and their new-found freedoms is fragile. Even if they make it through unscathed, they will not come through unchanged... MORE PRAISE 'a well-researched and moving story' - Canberra Weekly
The book brings together a wealth of black and white pictures which together record not only the operations of the Women's Land Army (WLA) but also scenes of the countryside between 1939 and 1950. Drawn from the worldwide albums of many ex-land girls at a time when film was rationed and photography monitored, this collection offers a fascinating insight into the people and places associated with the WLA. Many of these photographs have never been published in book form and so offer a unique record of the organisation. Every image is captioned, providing names and dates where possible, and revealing historical anecdotal detail which gives life to the scenes and personalities captured through the camera lens. Presenting training, occupations and the social activities of the Land Army women, this absorbing collection will not only evoke many wartime memories, but will also inspire readers through these images of hope, strength and unity.
Army Girls tells the unique and compelling story of the women who lived and fought during the Second World War. It is a celebration of the phenomenal achievements of women who gave everything to their country and joined the armed forces at the outbreak of war. At long last, the story of their service will be heard, interwoven with events and precious moments from 1939-45. Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Conscription Act which then allowed British women to enter service into the armed forces, it the final chance to hear the incredible true stories from some of the very last living female veterans of the conflict, who capture a pivotal moment in British history from a woman's perspective. Army Girls is about belonging, resilience, gender, fear, life and death. More than any other oral history from veterans of WWII published, this one is bedded in the present day, too. The Coronavirus pandemic has shaped the last year of these women's lives, there are both parallels and paradoxes. War was about opportunity and comradery, Covid is isolation and resilience, where memory and nostalgia play an even bigger role. This book is a fitting tribute to them all - the living and the dead.
