Veterans meet Her Majesty the Queen
Ninety former members of the Women’s Land Army and Timber Corps were invited to London yesterday to attend a special event hosted by Her Majesty the Queen. After a lunch at the Royal Opera House with Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, the veterans then visited Buckingham Palace where The Queen hosted tea to celebrate their achievements.
The Women’s Land Army and Timber Corps were widely known as the Land Girls and Lumber Jills and covered essential roles when male workers went to war. Wearing uniforms of green ties and jumpers and brown felt slouch hats, Land Girls worked from dawn to dusk each day, milking cows, digging ditches, sowing seeds and harvesting crops and providing timber.  They supplied the nation with food, supporting the war effort and avoiding food shortages.  Lumber Jills worked to provide timber for essential industries, such as mining and aircraft manufacture. 
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said:
“I’m delighted to welcome the Land Girls and Lumber Jills to London as representatives of the thousands of women who provided food and timber for the nation during World War I and II.
“Over 34,000 members of the Women’s Land Army and Timber Corps have now received a commemorative badge which recognises their service and acknowledges the debt that we owe them. This was a fitting tribute to their great efforts when our country was at war.â€
At its peak in 1943 there were some 80,000 women working on the land, and 4,000 women in the Timber Corps. The Land Army was continued after the war, finally being disbanded in 1950.
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Page last modified: 22 October 2009
Page published: 22 October 2009