INTEREST
Women at home during war time The Land Girls are one of New Zealand’s unsung war heroes. With the service established to meet the shortage of male labour caused by their enlistment in the forces during World War II, there were nearly 4,000 women who came from rural and urban upbringings, working the land and managing farms throughout New Zealand as part of the war effort. WORDS BY RACHAEL RICKARD
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Women’s Land Army
Overalls and a killing knife
By 1917, as war became more entrenched across Europe, efforts required to support it were mounting. In Britain, to help sustain the effort, a civilian organisation was created, the Women’s Land Army (WLA) with its purpose to organise women to work in agriculture. The Land Army placed women with farms that needed workers, enabling farmers the labour they needed to pick crops and do the jobs that the men, who had been called up to the military, had previously done. The women who worked for the WLA were commonly known as, the Land Girls. With World War II looming in Britain, 1939, the government took over the administration of the WLA through the then Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. To grow more food, more help was needed on the farms, so again women stepped up into roles not traditionally given them. In 1942 as provisions became sparse, the Women’s War Service Auxiliary and the National Service Department officially formed the New Zealand Women’s Land Service. The service had to take on the task of providing for domestic and British citizens as well as the arrival of around 100,000 American soldiers in New Zealand and the Pacific. The agricultural industry was an essential component where the service of women was now vital.
The call to service for the Land Girls was one way many women felt they could serve their country. Some had grown up on farms, watching their fathers before them, others had never seen a plough. From experienced sheep shearers or novice farmhands, they felt the call to serve, much like the men. Initially, when the Land Service was first formed, women were less inclined to join because other women’s war services provided more stable conditions and support. Efforts were made to recruit more Land Girls by improving wages, providing them with a ‘smart uniform’ and a Service Handbook of Information containing the rules and information for members, including duties, wages, and placement. The Land Girls worked long hours, often from before sunrise to late in the evening. They seldom had a day off. The work was physically and mentally taxing. Women found themselves shearing, slaughtering, milking, gardening, and working the fields. From rabbiting to gardening, breaking horses, mustering, wool classing and general rouseabouts. From saddling up the ponies for children to ride to school, to helping with domestic chores, much of the work was done without electrical power, and field work was done without tractors but rather with a horse and plough.
RE AL FARM E R
Even though women were working with fewer resources and farmhands, the production of wool and most meat was at a record high; somehow nearly 4,000 women replaced 28,000 men and still managed to thrive under such difficult wartime conditions. In 1943, the First Lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt, come to visit New Zealand. While here, she visited some land girls on the farms and recognised them for their hard work and dedication. During the war, New Zealand media referred to the efforts of these women as “excellent” and “splendid”. Sadly, this sentiment did not remain once the war was over. When the men came home, the Land Girls were faced with opposition from both the New Zealand government as well as some of the farmers they worked with. The government did not want to foster the notion that women could effectively replace the men as they were beginning to return from their service. This idea caused the efforts of these women to be subdued in the eyes of the New Zealand public. And it would not be until 2011 when New Zealand women were recognised for their efforts. The land girls were forgotten, and most records discarded. While the men returned from war and were showered with recognition, the land girls were simply displaced. In contrast, the efforts of Britain’s land girls, were recognised with certificates from Princess Elizabeth, who would later become Queen Elizabeth II. ABOVE LEFT: Land girls moving sheep, Mangaorapa, Hawke’s Bay. Pascoe, John Dobree, 1908–1972: Photographic albums, prints and negatives. Ref: 1/4-000703-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23022700 BELOW: Pascoe, John Dobree, 1908–1972. Land Girl. Ref: 1/4-000544-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23229836
