Women's Land Army

[2] Selborne's Ministry of Agriculture agreed to fund a Women’s National Land Service Corps with a grant of £150.

[4] They were tasked with improving recruitment and provide propaganda about the good cause of women of all classes undertaking agricultural work.

In April 1939, peacetime conscription was introduced for the first time in British history, which led to shortages of workers on the farms.

To grow more food, more help was needed on the farms and so the government restarted the Women's Land Army in July 1939.

A separate branch was set up in 1942 for forestry industry work, officially known as the Women's Timber Corps and with its members colloquially known as "Lumber Jills" – this was disbanded in 1946.

[14][15] In October 2012, the Prince of Wales unveiled the first memorial to the WLA of both World Wars, on the Fochabers estate in Moray, Scotland.

[18][19] In December 2007, following campaigning by former Land Girl Hilda Gibson, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announced that the efforts of the Women's Land Army and the Women's Timber Corps would be formally recognised with the presentation of a specially designed commemorative badge to the surviving members.

[20] In October 2012, the Prince of Wales unveiled the first memorial to the WLA of both World Wars, on the Fochabers estate in Moray, Scotland.