大象传媒

I joined the Land Army in December 1941, still 16 until my birthday the following January. I had a months trial near my home in Capps Corner, East Sussex which I spent sitting in the middle of a field picking spinach for a local hospital. Then I was asked if I would travel, I said yes and was sent to Wareham in Dorset. I had never been on a train on my own before, I had to change in London and Bournemouth and take my bicycle with me. I knew where I was until London, after that I had to count the station stops in the dark. I got off the train late afternoon, it was December 28th and pitch dark. I did not know which way to go - no-one met me. I just had an address to go to so asked the way, it was the home of a rag and bone man (Mr Churchill!). The house is still there just the same.

I was to work for the Forestry Commission about 4 miles away - hence the need for my bike. There were 6 of us working there. We had our board and lodging paid and 11 shillings a week pocket money. After a year that went up to 13 shillings and we were all sacked! They took on school leavers instead who were paid 2 shillings and 6 pence.

Then I was sent alone , the others still lived at home in Dorset, to Yeovil. This time I lived in a hostel in a farmhouse, North Farm. It was very overcrowded there. I worked on a sugar beet farm which was a long walk away down a main road. We had to walk in a single line with the person at the front holding a light and the one at the back doing the same.

After 4 months I went to Shapwick, near Blandford and lived in one half of a vicarage. Not a lot of work to do there so we had plenty of time off. This was closed after 6 - 6 months, I think the farmers did not want us there. Most of the girls were Cockneys.

Next off to Woodyates with three of the others where we did varied jobs on different farms. One farm had an elderly farmer and his wife with two sons living at home. The mother was in poor health so they wanted me to go and help spring clean. I went into the house to help but kept it hush hush and did not tell anyone.

The American First Army was based in Dorset so we saw black soldiers for the first time and came across segregation which we did not understand. There were problems with fights at dances and the white soldiers wanted the black chaps kept out.

One day we were told we had to stop picking potatoes by a white officer as his black men were terribly upset to see us doing this. He insisted that we stop and went for tea and cake whilst his men did the potato picking. Another time a tank battalion moved in and dug their latrine trenches right by the road in the dark. Six men were sitting there when we arrived for work next morning! We had a lot of fun with them, they were so different. We had presents, sometimes nylons or very large tins of mixed fruit to share.

I visited my family every six months using the travel warrant provided. One winter I had an extra visit after we were snowed out 12 miles from Salisbury. We had to melt snow in buckets to give us water. Eventually soldiers came on a high lorry to rescue us, we could only take our toothbrushes and a change of clothes and were given warrants to go home for a week. Closer to London there wasn't any snow at all!

Weekends off were often spent in Salisbury. The YWCA used part of the Cathedral ground for a dormitory - they used sheets for walls and charged 6 pence for a bed for the night.

At harvest time we worked from 7.30am until 10.30pm. This went on for weeks as we moved round all the farms. Then from October we were thrashing, a horrible job especially the peas. We got very dirty and wore 4 scarves in layers on our heads. To get down from the hay ricks we slid down the ridge and then grabbed the pitch fork handles stuck into the side to get to the ground. We often turned summer saults on the way - no health and safety rules then!

I stayed on until 1947. The day I left the manager said he had a parting present for me and threw a rat full of maggots at me. He knew I hated rats and the maggots went everywhere. I was not at all sorry to leave him.

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