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This story was submitted to the people war Website by a volunteer from Tiverton Museum of Mid Devon Life on behalf of Jean Searly.

JEAN SEARLE

I was in the Land Army on a farm until they died I remember being there in Spreyton with the Simmons family. There were times when we girls had to do the work because there was no one else to do it. When I started I knew nothing about it al all. Milking by hand, I had no connection with cows before. I liked the life but it was jolly hard.

Joe, my husband, went away in the Navy at first and when he came out of that he worked on his parents’ farm. When we were at the age of leaving school, being on one side of the fence and girls on the other we met — that was before he went in the Navy.

When Joe was on a ship when he was in the Navy there was a mine and suddenly there was a most almighty bang and several of them were killed but about three that came out alright. He was one of them.

One of my jobs they had what was called a horse and butt cart and it used to be my job to take it out of the houses and put it into heaps and spread it.

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