大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by a volunteer from Radio Northampton Action Desk on behalf of Margaret Lovelock and has been added to the site with her permission. Margaret Lovelock fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

When I went to join the Land Army I was really too young at 17, but the lady who was interviewing me asked me to grip the two fingers she held out and because I squeezed them so hard she said 鈥淵es, that鈥檚 alright, you鈥檒l make a milker鈥�, and I was recruited.

During the summer, I had to get up at 5am to bring the cows in from the fields for milking. During the winter, because the cows stayed in overnight, they had to be fed first thing in the morning before the milking started.

They all had to have their udders and teats washed before the milking could begin, and then this was all done by hand into buckets. No modern machinery such as is used on today鈥檚 farms. Usually the cows were quite placid animals and seemed to enjoy music and singing, though occasionally they could be fidgety and nervous. On one such day I was kicked into the gutter in the cow shed and could not work for a fortnight due to concussion.

Following all this hard work with the cattle, at 9am we were given a break for breakfast.

After a while I was promoted to looking after the cart horse, and had to harness him. I was very short and he was extremely large, so much so that when it came to putting the heavy collar round his neck, especially when he was tossing his head up and down, I found this very difficult. Once when turning the collar too slowly over the thinnest part of his neck, I pulled him on top of me. I cried out for help, but fortunately the horse decided to get up himself and I lived to tell the tale.

There was another day when the horse was in the field with the cows and the bull. I managed to bridle the horse but turned round to see the bull, head down, charging straight for me. Now, I鈥檝e never been the athletic type, but that day I ran for my life, grabbed hold of the barbed wire fence (OUCH!), and leapt clean over it. It was a miracle I cleared it; I鈥檓 sure the Lord was with me.

Of course, there were other jobs to be done in the fields - hoeing, collecting mangles swedes and cow-kale for cow fodder. Later carting hay and building hayricks. Then the great Harvest - my favourite job of all - sitting on the binder cutting corn. I remember the fields, 鈥榮tooking鈥� for the Scottish farmer, - 鈥榮hocking鈥� in Hertfordshire, - 鈥榯raving鈥� in Essex; and I guess there are other terms for this in other areas of the country - it鈥檚 piling sheaves into 6鈥檚 and 8鈥檚 like little tents around the fields, stalks downward, to dry for two or three days according to the weather, then carting them up to the farm and unloading them into barns, ready for the threshing machine. Sometimes the carting went on until 11pm. We had double summer time of course during the war days.

Harvest was such a great time of fellowship in those days, all teams working together. Tea, provided by the farmer鈥檚 wife was brought to the fields if you happened to be working for a generous farmer. I feel today鈥檚 harvesting must be a lonely job in comparison to those days - just one person spending hours working a combine harvester all alone. Yes, they are no doubt, much faster and more efficient and able to cope with the varying weather, but I can鈥檛 help but think of all the good times of fun and fellowship we had when I was in the Land Army.

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