The Women's Land Army in Hertfordshire

Recruitment poster for the Women's Land Army

www.homesweethomefront.co.uk

What role did the WLA play in Hertforshire?

With war looming and food reserves rapidly diminishing, Britain desperately needed to revitalise its agricultural industry in order to produce as much as possible as we could no longer rely on imported goods and there was pressure to maximise the amount of land under cultivation.

Why the WLA?

The Government realised the need to establish an alternative workforce. Although farming was a reserved occupation, this only applied to the farmer, not to labourers, and initially there was an acute shortage of labour for the land. The Women’s Land Army (WLA) was founded in January 1939 by Lady Gertrude Denham and was a vital part of the war effort. At first they relied on volunteers but later they relied upon women conscripted into the WLA. They were not an Army in any military sense, but the women joined up to do battle with the land and livestock, in place of men who had left to join the Armed Forces.

From 65 to 2,100 members...

Hertfordshire initially had 65 women working on the land in 1939. By 1943 this figure had risen to over 2,100. Many of these women were ‘town’ girls and they had little idea of what this work would involve. The recruitment posters showed romantic images of pretty girls holding a lamb or gracefully lifting forkfuls of hay. The reality was very different- they endured long hours or incredibly hard, physically demanding work.

To read a Margaret Hurst's personal account of being a member of the WLA in Hertfordshire click here.

To read about the training and everyday life of Hertfordshire's WLA click here.

To read about the Land Girl Magazine click here

To read about life after the war for the WLA click here.