The Land Army
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Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 7 Land Army the Woman’s Role THE LAND ARMY The landgirls carried out a vital role on the farms, and for many, coming from factory work or domestic service, discovering the countryside was quite an eye opener! A whole range of new skills were waiting to be mastered. Clearly, in the early days, adaptations had to be made – one article in the Stamford Mercury in November 1939 declares: ‘It Isn’t Done on the Farm Not Fair to Milk With Pointed Nails Advice For Landgirls’ In May 1940, Lady Spencer visited Sacrewell, Burghley Estate and Fotheringhay Dairy and reported just how much the girls were enjoying their work. In January 1942, the first hostel for landgirls opened in Barnack, and the following extracts give a taste of what life was like for them: [PA 30/1/42] [1] Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 7 Land Army the Woman’s Role [PA 30/1/42] A second hostel for 25 Londoners opened in Newborough later that year, and the previously empty Rectory at Thornhaugh was taken over to house another 26 girls. The girls get a couple of other mentions in the press, once when the Barnack Hostel presented Cinderella, ‘a delightful show’, and again when Evelyn Gamble and Maisie Peacock from Thornhaugh were each fined 2s 6d (12½p) at Norman Cross Court for riding two on one bicycle at Stibbington! OTHER ROLES FOR WOMEN Well before war was declared, women were being prepared for voluntary roles. In June 1939, for example, there was a report of a rally of women drivers at Woodcroft Castle, Etton ‘tests in wheel changing and driving wearing a respirator this week, map reading classes next week’ There were calls in 1940 for women who could ride a bicycle to act as messengers for parachute patrols; details of the Peterborough House WiVeS Service were published, encouraging those women unavailable to volunteer for Civil Defence Services who would however be able to offer help to neighbours in their immediate locality in the event of a raid. A ‘Castor News ‘ paragraph in January 1943 reports that approximately 4000 pies had been sold by the WRVS since August 1942, and goes on to detail the work carried out in the village to provide so- called ‘comforts’ for servicemen: ‘Working party output lower than previous years due to illness of Mrs Pelham and shortage of materials, includes 30 helmets, 20 scarves, 70 pairs of socks, 56 pairs of gloves, 2 pullovers, 6 padded waistcoats and 48 children’s garments, plus 103 pairs of socks, 10 pairs of pants and 2 pullovers mended for the troops.’ There was clearly a passion for counting things, because the same month a report details the items of clothing given out to evacuees by the Peterborough WVS: [2] Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 7 Land Army the Woman’s Role ‘Since October 1940, 4987 new and 4862 secondhand articles have been dispensed absolutely free. Initially these were gifts from local people but subsequently from generous American and Canadian Red Cross donations. Reserves are kept at Woodcroft Castle. Everything is free but clothing coupons must be surrendered.’ To make it easier for women in the City to be engaged in war work, two day nurseries were opened in July 1942, at Caverstede Road and in Fletton. [PA 10/7/42] [3] Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 7 Land Army the Woman’s Role FINANCING THE WAR [PA 23/8/40] From 1940 onwards there were regular campaigns to encourage ordinary people both to make donations and to invest in war bonds. The Peterborough Spitfire Fund raised £6,318 in the Autumn of 1940. The War Weapons week in December 1940 raised £350,000 in six days, producing the headline: ‘Destroyer Bought in Six Days’ [4] Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 7 Land Army the Woman’s Role Further major campaigns followed: “Warship Week” in December 1941 quickly reached its target of £425,000 to “purchase” the submarine HMS Olympus [PA 21/11/41] [Sadly, June 1942 brought the report of the loss of the Olympus. The City Council placed an Olympus plaque on the wall of the balcony of the Town Hall.] At a more local level, individual parishes, schools and other organisations were encouraged to ‘save’ for specific items: in August 1941, the Stibbington War Savings Group had a target – a parachute, to cost £40, and hoped to raise this amount in August and September; the King’s School was working towards £400 for a ‘heavy’ ambulance; Fulbridge School £300 for a ‘light’ ambulance, and Thornhaugh School £4 for a pistol. In 1943, Ailsworth held a’Victory’ Fete, becoming one of the first villages in the country to start a fund for a recreational centre to be built for the lads and lasses in the forces when they returned to civil life. In October 1944, the Norman Cross Area Presentation ceremony for ‘the Salute the Soldier’ saving campaign celebrated the district beating their target of £30,000 by over £21,000 ‘Village results include: Stibbington-cum-Sibson: Target £1,000, Result £1,022 Elton Target £3,000, Result £13,698 Waternewton Target £ 100, Result £ 381’ [5] Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 7 Land Army the Woman’s Role HELPING THE ENEMY “Chatterbugs” and Careless talk Any activity which might demoralise others, or assist a spy or perhaps an enemy who had parachuted in, was liable to be deemed an offence. There were regular Court cases involving unattended cars being left unlocked or not immobilised; in Lincolnshire ‘an extremely stupid and foolish 18 year old youth’ was charged with unlawful possession of information which might be directly useful to the enemy – he had been caught making notes of passing trains, and was found to have maps and compass in his bedroom. His defence was that he was merely trainspotting and following other outdoor hobbies. He was threatened with prison, but eventually dismissed with 10s (50p) costs. The following is an account of one ‘chatterbug’ offence: [PA 30/8/40] In May 1944, there is an account, under the headline ‘Guilty Or Not Guilty Has Your Careless Talk Cost Lives’ of a test run by small number of soldiers, dressed as civilians, in a local (un-named) town to find out as much information as they could, to gauge the public’s awareness of the potential danger of giving information to strangers. [6] Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 7 Land Army the Woman’s Role THE END OF THE WAR Plans to celebrate the formal declaration of the end of the war were being finalised at the end of April 1945: [PA 27/4/45] [7] Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 7 Land Army the Woman’s Role And when it actually came at the beginning of May, the Advertiser could celebrate: [PA 11/5/45] Tuesday 8 May 1945 was 'Victory in Europe' (VE) Day, and it marked the formal end of World War II As a formal celebration, a thanksgiving pageant was held in the City, with nearly 3,000 personnel in a Services’ parade, and the papers carried reports of dozens of Victory street parties. As far as the evacuees were concerned, a report at this time estimated that there were still approximately 500,000 in reception areas around the country. The mothers with children still in Peterborough were told to expect their first trains home in about a month, with unaccompanied school children to leave within six weeks. The last of the Stibbington evacuees, Eileen and Ellen Gower, left the school on 27 June 1945, after a stay of 4 years 8 months. [8] .