The Women’s Timber Corps (WTC) was set up in 1942. The ‘Lumberjills’ felled trees, made pit props (necessary for the mines), sharpened saws, tended horses for hauling logs, and prepared wood for telegraph poles, road blocks and crosses for soldiers’ graves.
The Women’s Land Army (WLA) was established during World War I. During the first six months of World War II, over 30,000 men previously working in agriculture had joined the forces. So the WLA was re-formed and by 1943 there were 80,000 volunteers across the UK working on the land.
The ‘Land Girls’ wore green jerseys, brown breeches and brown hats. They had to do some hefty labour: ploughing (often horse-drawn), digging up potatoes, driving tractors, harvesting crops, tending livestock and killing rats were all part of their 50-hour working week. It was their task to make sure the country had enough food to survive.
The work of the WLA and WTC was not recognised officially until the 21st century, when the surviving few received a badge of honour from the Government.