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THIS OBJECT IS PART OF THE PROJECT 'A HISTORY OF CORNWALL IN 100 OBJECTS'.

DAVIDSTOW AIRFIELD. The Women's Land Army's battles were fought in the fields of Cornwall as elsewhere. Scorned as an idea in 1939, the scheme lasted eleven years and involved more than 100,000 land girls. The most distinctive parts of the land army girl's uniform were the green pullover and corduroy breeches. These had to be handed back and a brightly coloured armband was awarded for time served - one diamond per year.

Land girls worked on farms to bring in the harvest, sow the seed, tend the cattle, pick the fruit or catch rats. A letter to 'The Land Girl' magazine concluded 'after putting in the regulation 50 hours plus overtime during the harvest, we have cropped our garden of half an acre, I have a green house full of tomatoes, and have made about 50 lbs of jam and some pickles.' Several of the girls sent to Cornwall stayed; often marrying Cornish farmers.

Photo: Bernie Pettersen