Holding the Home Front: The Women's Land Army in the First World War

by Caroline Scott

Overview

An “insightful and extensive” history of the women who took over agricultural duties in England during World War I (Sussex Living Magazine).
 
One could be forgiven for supposing that the story of the Women’s Land Army starts in 1939 during World War II. But it’s a much older and more complicated history . . .
 
British agricultural policy during the First World War was held up as a success story; domestic food production was higher at the end of the war than at the start, the average calorific value of the British diet barely changed, and bread never had to be rationed. As the press reported starvation and food riots overseas, the 1918 harvest was held up as “one of the great achievements of the War.”
 
In 1917, at the darkest hour, when Britain’s food security looked most precarious, it was said that, “if it were not for the women agriculture would be absolutely at a standstill on many farms.” Using previously unpublished accounts and photographs, this book is an attempt to understand how the return of women to the fields and farmyards impacted agriculture—and, in turn, an examination of how that experience affected them. 
 
“Caroline’s wonderful book sets the record straight with beautiful illustrations and witting testimony from people who were there and saw how hard these wonderful women worked to keep Britain going during their darkest hours. Superb.” —Books Monthly
 
“This is a well-researched history of the British Women’s Land Army in WW1 and how it paved the way for the success of the WLA in the Second World War.” —World War One Illustrated

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781473886322
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Limited
Publication date:	02/20/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	991,001
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

After completing her Ph.D in History at Durham, Caroline Scott joined an investment banks graduate training scheme and spent two years working in the City. Since then she has worked as a market analyst for a diamond trading company, in London, Belgium and latterly France. In her spare time she continues to enjoy historical research. She has transcribed battalion War Diaries and works as a transcription volunteer for the National Maritime Museum (1915 Crew List Index Project).

Table of Contents

Illustration vi

Introduction viii

Chapter 1 'Such Dirty Work' 1

Chapter 2 'The New Woman and the Old Acres' 11

Chapter 3 'Keeping Calm' 17

Chapter 4 'Lilac Sunbonnets' and the 'No-Corset Brigade' 26

Chapter 5 'From the White Hands of Strapping Girls' 48

Chapter 6 'Our Front is Where the Wheat Grows Fair' 94

Chapter 7 'Hold the Home Front' 156

Chapter 8 Legacy 172

Notes 183

Index 209

Editorial Reviews

This is a well-researched his-tory of the British Women’s Land Army in WW1 and how it paved the way for the success of the WLA in the Second World War.

Summer 2018 World War One Illustrated

"When one thinks of the Land Girls, one almost certainly thinks of their contribution to the darkest days of the Second World War, whereas in fact, there was a women's land army in full flow during the first world war too. Caroline's wonderful book sets the record straight with beautiful illustrations and witting testimony from people who were there and saw how hard these wonderful women worked to keep Britain going during their darkest hours. Superb."

Books Monthly