Honour for Land Girls

11:01am Saturday 2nd August 2008

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They were the backbone of the country - toiling in fields, forests and farms to produce food and timber for the nation during the war years.

The Land Girls - members of the Women's Land Army who were employed by the Government's War Agriculture Executive Committee (War Ag) to work on the land, grow food and care for livestock - have now been recognised for their work to keep the country on its feet during World War Two.

This week, former Land Girls Edith Akrigg and Betty Shuttleworth received badges of honour from the Government in recognition of the hard labour they went through, often in unfamiliar work in places a long way from home.

Mrs Akrigg, of Sharphaw View, Gargrave, and a resident of Craven for 62 years, said she enjoyed the hard work, camaraderie and even the rationing during her time as a Land Girl.

Originally from the Windermere area, she joined the WLA and worked on an estate near her home.

"There was no machinery as such and most things had to be done by hand," said Mrs Akrigg, now 88. "I used to hand-milk 20 cows morning and night, muck them out and bring feed," she said.

"We also picked potatoes and turnips from the fields which the farmer unearthed with a plough-like machine. It was back-breaking.

"When things were quiet in the winter we used to help in the forest. I had charge of a 17-hands horse which I would take into the forest to bring out felled trees. They called it snigging. It was hard work, both in the forest and the farm, but I enjoyed all of it."

"I expect I could still milk a cow now if someone brought me one!"

Betty Shuttleworth, a resident of Threshfield Care Home in Threshfield, was brought up in Scarborough and went to work on the land at Church Farm, Overton. It was there she met her future husband, Edward, whose family had moved there from Beamsley.

The couple farmed for a while before moving to live in Australia and New Zealand for many years. On their return to England they lived in Nottingham before settling in Grassington.

In total, 30,000 badges and certificates are being issued to former Land Girls, most of whom are now in their 80s.

During its peak, the WLA had 80,000 Land Girls working from dawn until dusk.

Many were from the towns and cities and had never been "up close" to farm animals before.

They soon learned to do all the work a regular farm hand could do, including ploughing, working in the hay fields, milking and harvesting. Some moved from place to place, living in hostels, while others were based in food-cultivating nurseries. Their work ensured the nation did not go hungry.

In Yorkshire and Humber, 1,700 badges have been received by former Land Girls and those in the Timber Corps - those working in forestry and often referred to as Lumber Jills.

Fifty Land Girls from across the country, including five from Yorkshire, were invited to represent their former colleagues at a ceremony at Downing Street. There they met Prime Minister Gordon Brown and were awarded their badges of honour by Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.