ST CLEARS LAND ARMY

28/12/11

Land Girl's work honoured
Monday, August 18, 2008

SOURCE: This is SouthWales

A FORMER Land Girl has received a special badge of honour commemorating her work in the Second World War.

Molly Williams, of St Clears, has received the Women's Land Army Veteran's Badge, a specially designed badge commemorating war service and acknowledging the debt that the country owes to these women.

The Women's Land Army, known as the Land Girls, worked on farms to feed the nation, as the male workers went to war.

At its peak in 1943 there were some 80,000 women working on the land, and it was continued after the war, finally being disbanded in 1950.

With their uniform of green ties and jumpers and brown felt slouch hats, they worked from dawn to dusk each day, milking cows, digging ditches, sowing seeds and harvesting crops. They supplied the nation with food, supporting the war effort and avoiding food shortages.

Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Hilary Benn MP, who last December announced that surviving members of the Women's Land Army and Women's Timber Corps would receive formal recognition for the first time, said: "The Women's Land Army and Women's Timber Corps made a vital contribution to this country during the Second World War.

"Supplying the nation with food and timber during the dark days of war was no easy task. These women worked tirelessly for the benefit of their nation.

"Their selfless service to the country deserves the recognition that this badge will represent."

EDITOR: Molly's interview is available at the Mezzanine in St. Clears along with a number of other interviews with local residents talking about their life in St. Clears during the war years.