Find your ancestors in England & Wales, Women's Land Army Service Cards 1939-1950

What can these records tell me?

You can find a lot of information about your ancestor’s life and service in these records -

• First name
• Surname(s) - maiden or married
• Age on entry
• Date of birth
• Occupation prior to entry
• County where enrolled
• Date officially enrolled
• WLA membership number
• Address

Additional information can be found in the image including

• Reason for leaving (acceptable reasons included medical or compassionate grounds, marriage, pregnancy, transferred to another service, demobilisation).
• Date when officially leaving WLA (release)

We are only able to publish records for women born at least 100 years ago. This means that you won’t necessarily be able to find your Land Girl ancestor, it will just depend on their date of birth. We plan to periodically refresh the data and open new records over the next few years.

Women's Land Army

The Women’s Land Army was founded during the First World War in 1917 to replace male farmers and farmworkers. Their main objective was to increase food production to support the war effort. Thousands of women joined the WLA and became affectionately known as ‘Land Girls’. The organisation was disbanded in November 1919.

In early summer 1939, with the prospect of war becoming increasingly likely, the British government wanted to increase the amount of food grown but, with the introduction of conscription, men were being called away to fight and there was a shortage of workers on the farms. The WLA was restarted in June 1939 under the command of Lady Denman. Initially recruits were volunteers but, with the introduction of the National Service Act in December 1941, women were conscripted to the WLA. Over 200,000 Land Girls served in the WLA between June 1939 – November 1950.

The Land Girls were recruited from all walks of life – cities, towns, and countryside – often with little to no agricultural experience. They undertook several roles including ploughing the land, dairy production, rat catching, growing fruit and vegetables, and driving and fixing machinery. In 1942, a branch of the WLA called the Women’s Timber Corps was set up to source and prepare wood. These women became known as ‘Lumber Jills’.

The WLA looked for physically fit, young, unmarried women, at least 17 years old, who had no dependents, mature enough to leave home and be sent anywhere in the country. Though the age limit was 17, this was not always enforced, so you would get girls as young as 14 or 15 joining the WLA. Potential recruits would enroll at a local WLA HQ and wait to be invited to an interview. At the interview, they could be asked about their work experience, size, occupation (they would check to see if they were employed in reserve occupations), experience of country life, and locations and work preferences. Those who were small or well turned out were asked if they would be able to carry out heavy and dirty manual work.

For the work, the Land Girls were paid 28s per week, 14s of which went on bed and board. This was comparatively less than their male counterparts who were paid 38s per week for the same work. They worked for 48 hours a week in winter and 50 hours a week in summer and, until the introduction of the Land Girls Charter in 1943, did not get holiday. The Land Girls Charter raised the minimum wage and allowed for one week’s holiday per year. They lived either on the farm, in hostels, or local digs provided for them.

Land Girls wore distinct uniforms, which included a green jersey, tan breeches, long socks, brown shoes, large brimmed brown hats, green ties, and beige shirts. They would often add pins and armbands that would denote length of service. Coats and old jerseys would also be worn if undertaking dirty work The Land Girl Magazine wrote, in April 1942, that ‘there is no doubt that the Land Army has the most attractive uniform of all the women’s services’. If out and about, WLA members were expected to dress smartly and according to the dress code. However, the Land Girls often liked to embellish their uniforms. On one occasion a land girl was seen ‘wearing a hat cocked on one side and tied on with red ribbon in a large bow under her chin, red tie and fancy shoes...passers-by gaze at her with a wild surmise as to whether it is she or the Land Army which has gone crackers’.

The WLA continued to operate beyond the end of the Second World War, officially disbanding in November 1950. The very last to have been recruited may have been a woman named Norah from Ilford, who joined with WLA service number 202785 on 21 April 1950.