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The Women鈥檚 Land Army was formed in 1917 to provide labour on farms when the men went off to fight.

By 1918, up to 260,000 women are reported to have worked as farm labourers with over 16,000 working directly for the Land Army. They did everything from gardening and cutting timber to milking cows and ploughing the land.

Land Girls were expected to go where they were needed and wore a distinctive uniform consisting of breeches and boots, a felt cloche hat and a tunic over the top. Their work played a vital role in keeping farms going and providing food for the country.

Kathleen Gilbert had grown up in the countryside and relished the opportunity to join the Women鈥檚 Land Army, working in different types of farms around the south of England. When she spoke to Imperial War Museums in 1985, she had fond memories of her time at Goring Heath Farm where she worked mainly with horses and ploughed the land.

Location: Goring Heath Farm, on the borders of Oxfordshire & Berkshire
Photograph of a horse drawn self-binder driven by a land girl courtesy of Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading
Presented by 麻豆社 Reporter, Janice Hunter

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