Women’s Land Army and Bedfordshire in WWII

The government has, belatedly in the view of many people, announced that former land girls from the Women’s Land Army and lumber Jills (from the Women’s Timber Corps) are to receive a special badge in recognition of their wartime service. After the announcement, on 6 December 2007 the BBC Radio 4 PM programme interviewed Hilda Gibson, a former land girl - see http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/pm/9childa_gibson_land_girl/ for the interview, comments and her poetry about her experiences.

BHRS Council member, Stuart Antrobus, wrote to praise the interview and to draw people’s attention to his Internet site about the Women’s Land Army in Bedfordshire. The site http://www.galaxy.bedfordshire.gov.uk/webingres/bedfordshire/vlib/0.wla/wla_home.htm
which is hosted by Bedfordshire Libraries, has a wealth of information and photographs about the land girls and their work – where they trained, where they lived, what work they did, and who they were. Stuart has identified and lists hundreds of land girls and would like to hear from anyone who can contribute information about them.

For more on Stuart’s work, see http://www.galaxy.bedfordshire.gov.uk/webingres/bedfordshire/vlib/0.wla/wla_stuart_antrobus.htm
Another source of information about the Women’s Land Army and the Bedfordshire War Agricultural Committee is BLARS.