What was the Women’s Land Army?
The Women’s Land Army, often referred to as ‘The Forgotten Army’, was formed in 1917 by Roland Prothero, the then Prime Minister for Agriculture. The First World War had seen food supplies dwindle and saw the creation of the WLA. The WLA was reformed in June 1939, first asking for volunteers and later by conscription with numbers totalling 80,000 across Britain by 1944, and 8500 of them based in Scotland. When the country went to war for the second time, all able-bodied men were called on to fight, which drained the country of men to work on farms and in other jobs on the land. As it was very difficult to import food from abroad, the importance of home-grown food was paramount to feed the nation. The Land Army provided most of the labour force needed to work the land. Although some of the ladies would have been convinced with the advertising slogan ‘For a healthy, happy job join the Women’s Land Army’ the reality was quite different. The work was hard and dirty and the hours very long.
