A day in the life of a Land Girl

Our Land Girl presentation is designed for schools as part of their educational visits to the museum, and also sometimes adapted for general visitors as well.

For research we have drawn from many different resources. Books and articles on women’s experience of World War II proved useful, and one member of the team attended a talk on Land Girls and took notes. Possibly the most fascinating source though proved to be the direct reminiscences of the Land Girls themselves. The BBC Archive “World War II The People’s War” is full of memories and anecdotes about serving in the Land Army and this really helped to go beyond the mere facts to a more rounded picture of life as a land girl. Through this archive we found details of how Sparsholt Agricultural College in nearby Winchester was used as a training base for the Land Army.

And there were pictures of the girls practising milking on a wooden frame and canvas bag used to simulate a cow’s udder. We even produced a mock up of one of these to demonstrate! With plenty of research behind us we were then able to produce a script that would do justice to life as a land girl.

We discovered that there were many Land Girls serving in the Basingstoke area. Just down the road at Hook there was a large hostel where the girls stayed and were sent off to work at local farms. They also helped to raise money for wounded servicemen at Park Prewett Hospital, just to the back of the Milestones site. The local history archive at Basingstoke’s Willis Museum has a map of 1940 showing the area where Milestones now stands was a farm – so there is a chance that they may have worked this very ground.

So – that’s the background, now let’s hear from Alice Fidget – one of the Land Girls of Milestones.

“I stay at a hostel about seven miles from the farm where I work. My first posting after training was at a small dairy farm and as the only land girl there I was billeted in the farmhouse. Trouble was, the farmer’s wife thought I was good for a spot of cooking and housework. I had to complain to my area rep – Land girls are not meant to do domestic chores, just farm work, so she found me another posting on a bigger mixed farm. I’m much happier there and I share a dormitory with half a dozen other girls, which is much more fun. I managed to bag the top bunk too!

We’re always up with the lark in the mornings and then it’s off to the farm on our bicycles. It’s a scramble to get the best one – if you’re not quick you could end up with a bicycle with flat tyres and a loose saddle. Sometimes the army lorries will come by as we’re riding along and then we’ll get a lift! They just throw the bicycles on the back and off we go.

Depending on the time of year, a typical day’s work might include milking, feeding the animals, herding, ploughing, planting, threshing, hoeing or harvesting. Everyone has jobs they like and jobs they hate. I like milking – it’s nice and warm in the cowshed and the cows are gentle. I love driving the tractor as well. I’m quite good at it now and I have to be able to maintain it so often it’s out with the old grease gun to keep it working smoothly. They can be tricky on a cold day though – you have to crank them up and at night you have to drain the water to stop it freezing. So if you left your tractor in a far field it’s a long trek with the water can in the morning to fill it up.

Most of the girls don’t like the cold. We all hate planting potatoes because it’s back-breaking work but my least favourite is picking sprouts. I used to like eating them but I can’t stand the sight of them now. If it’s a cold wet day when you try to pull them off the stalk the freezing water runs up your arms and your hands turn numb.

We get a lunch break. We’re given sandwiches – it’s almost always cheese or fish paste. If you’re lucky the farmer’s wife will give you some home made cake as well. We might have some tea or coffee in a bottle and if you’re working with the tractor you can warm it up on the radiator.

At the end of the day it’s a cycle back to the hostel and a good wash or if you’re lucky a bath. Just five inches of water though so if you’ve been doing something dusty like threshing then it’s a real job to get clean. We go out quite a bit in the evenings. Sometimes it’s just down the Angel Inn in the village but the pilots from the local aerodrome go there so they’ll offer us a drink. The best nights out though are at dances at the nearby air bases. Last Saturday night I cycled to one with Gladys and Vi. There were plenty of Americans there – they always call you honey and promise to take you back to the States. There was a supper too and it didn’t end till 1am but we still had to cycle the nine miles back!”

Alice says that all in all it’s a good life and she’s just happy to be doing her bit. And it’s thanks to girls like her that we are now producing at home 2 out of every 3 meals we eat. So remember;

“For a healthy, happy job, join the Women’s Land Army”.