Originally set up in 1917, the Women’s Land Army was reformed in June 1939 in preparation for the Second World War. Over 200,000 Land Girls served from 1939-1950. Find out if your ancestor was one of them!
Originally set up in 1917, the Women’s Land Army was reformed in June 1939 in preparation for the Second World War. Over 200,000 Land Girls served from 1939-1950. Find out if your ancestor was one of them!
You can find a lot of information about your ancestor’s life and service in these records -
Additional information can be found in the image including
We are only able to publish records for women born at least 100 years ago. This means that you won’t necessarily be able to find your Land Girl ancestor, it will just depend on their date of birth. We plan to periodically refresh the data and open new records over the next few years.
The Women’s Land Army was founded during the First World War in 1917 to replace male farmers and farmworkers. Their main objective was to increase food production to support the war effort. Thousands of women joined the WLA and became affectionately known as ‘Land Girls’. The organisation was disbanded in November 1919.
In early summer 1939, with the prospect of war becoming increasingly likely, the British government wanted to increase the amount of food grown but, with the introduction of conscription, men were being called away to fight and there was a shortage of workers on the farms. The WLA was restarted in June 1939 under the command of Lady Denman. Initially recruits were volunteers but, with the introduction of the National Service Act in December 1941, women were conscripted to the WLA. Over 200,000 Land Girls served in the WLA between June 1939 – November 1950.
The Land Girls were recruited from all walks of life – cities, towns, and countryside – often with little to no agricultural experience. They undertook several roles including ploughing the land, dairy production, rat catching, growing fruit and vegetables, and driving and fixing machinery. In 1942, a branch of the WLA called the Women’s Timber Corps was set up to source and prepare wood. These women became known as ‘Lumber Jills’.
The WLA looked for physically fit, young, unmarried women, at least 17 years old, who had no dependents, mature enough to leave home and be sent anywhere in the country. Though the age limit was 17, this was not always enforced, so you would get girls as young as 14 or 15 joining the WLA. Potential recruits would enroll at a local WLA HQ and wait to be invited to an interview. At the interview, they could be asked about their work experience, size, occupation (they would check to see if they were employed in reserve occupations), experience of country life, and locations and work preferences. Those who were small or well turned out were asked if they would be able to carry out heavy and dirty manual work.
For the work, the Land Girls were paid 28s per week, 14s of which went on bed and board. This was comparatively less than their male counterparts who were paid 38s per week for the same work. They worked for 48 hours a week in winter and 50 hours a week in summer and, until the introduction of the Land Girls Charter in 1943, did not get holiday. The Land Girls Charter raised the minimum wage and allowed for one week’s holiday per year. They lived either on the farm, in hostels, or local digs provided for them.
Land Girls wore distinct uniforms, which included a green jersey, tan breeches, long socks, brown shoes, large brimmed brown hats, green ties, and beige shirts. They would often add pins and armbands that would denote length of service. Coats and old jerseys would also be worn if undertaking dirty work The Land Girl Magazine wrote, in April 1942, that ‘there is no doubt that the Land Army has the most attractive uniform of all the women’s services’. If out and about, WLA members were expected to dress smartly and according to the dress code. However, the Land Girls often liked to embellish their uniforms. On one occasion a land girl was seen ‘wearing a hat cocked on one side and tied on with red ribbon in a large bow under her chin, red tie and fancy shoes...passers-by gaze at her with a wild surmise as to whether it is she or the Land Army which has gone crackers’.
The WLA continued to operate beyond the end of the Second World War, officially disbanding in November 1950. The very last to have been recruited may have been a woman named Norah from Ilford, who joined with WLA service number 202785 on 21 April 1950
Amelia King was born in London's East End in 1917. Her father, Henry King, was born in British Guiana and worked as a stoker in Britain's Merchant Navy. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, Amelia was employed as a box maker.
In 1943, wanting to support the war effort, Amelia volunteered to join the Women's Land Army. She was refused entry by the Essex County branch because it was believed that it would be too difficult to place her due to the colour of her skin.
The incident made national news and eventually Amelia was offered a position on a farm in Hampshire. The farmer said that neither he, nor his employees and other volunteers working on the farm had any objection to working or living with Amelia. Amelia took this to her local MP, Walter Edwards. Edwards raised the issue in Parliament and this incident, along with others, raised questions and concerns over the 'Colour Bar'.
Eventually, the WLA accepted Amelia's application to join and she worked on Frith Farm in Hampshire until 1944. You can find her record in the collection.
Edna Girling was born on 21 December 1924 and lived in Ipswich. She was 17 when she enlisted on 1 June 1942. She worked on Hill Farm in Ipswich. Tragically on 27 January 1943, at the age of 18, Edna died whilst working on the farm. An inquest revealed that Edna was working with a group bailing straw with a bailing machine. Edna had been employed as a machinist before the war so it's likely she would have been familiar with machinary. The machine was stopped temporarily but suddenly restarted. The feeder arm caught the back of Edna's head and drew her into the machine. A doctor was called but it was too late, Edna died almost instantly. The coroner ruled that it was "accidental death through being inadvertently caught in the machinary of a straw baler". Edna's name has been included on the Ipswich War Memorial.
** Agnes Eke** was 18 when she joined the WLA in 1940 and worked on a farm in Maidstone. She was born in Dover but moved to Folkestone with her family when she was young. Before the war, she was employed as an assistant librarian. In the summer of 1941, Agnes was presented with the 'Sustained Courage Badge' at a rally of the Kent WLA.
In the weeks prior, Maidstone was hit in the Blitz raids. The local paper reported that 'while bombs were falling and there was machine-gunning from enemy plans, Miss Eke carried on with her work bravely and calmly, and by do doing set a valuable example for other workers'.
She left the WLA in 1942 when she got married.
Resigned – does not mean that members had written a letter of resignation; it means they have left the WLA and been put on an official ‘Resigned’ list.
Willing Release – acceptable reasons for leaving including medical or compassionate grounds, marriage, pregnancy, transferred to another service, demobilisation.
Unwilling Release – left without seeking approval .
Dismissed – forced to leave.
Immobile – got married and therefore not ‘mobile’ and able to be transferred around the organisation
Women may be indexed under their maiden or married surnames. If a woman was married when she enlisted, she will appear only under her married name. A woman who married while in the WLA, or afterwards while pension entitlements were still be calculated, is likely to appear under both her old and new names. This is also true of women who divorced or were widowed and then remarried.
Some women have two, three, or more cards. A woman is more likely to have more than one card if she changed her name, for example if she got married, and/or if she moved location from one Land Army area to another.
WLA service numbers are in theory unique identifiers. As far as we know, WLA service numbers were not recycled and re-used when a woman left the service. However, there are clerical errors dating to the 1940s/50s, and interpretation problems today due to unclear handwriting, smudged rubber-stamping and/or uncertain micro-reprographics.
Once the WLA got going in earnest, service numbers were awarded in consecutive blocks to women from certain areas. For example, on 2 August 1944, among others the following blocks were issued:
148341 to 148361 to Lancashire
148372 to 148387 to Nottinghamshire
148388 to 148407 to West Kent
148408 to 148458 to Yorkshire (West Riding)