Land Army Records

 

                                          A mockup of the Land Army Alphabetical Index Card which I found

Unfortunately, when I started to look for information about my mother's time in the Land Army she was no longer around for me to ask for further information. I was left with some fragmentary memories of what she had told me and whatever I could learn from other sources. When I started this research, one of the first things that I did was to check the Discovery catalogue on The National Archives site for the UK. There were no online records, but there were copies of alphabetical index cards for the Land Army which covered the years between 1939 and 1948. The reference number for these records is MAF 421. I found this record on an in person visit to The National Archives at Kew.

As the name indicated, the information on the index card was sketchy at first glance but gave intriguing tidbits of information to follow up on. There was, of course, her name and her current address. The address given was in Welwyn Garden City, a different address from the Greenwich one that I found in the 1939 Register for her father. That's something else to follow up on but I'm not sure if the whole family had moved to Hertfordshire or if my mother was staying with someone there.

Also on the card was her age with her birthdate in brackets. The bottom right corner of the card also had a date with no explanation. When I did the math, it appeared that 5/1/42 (May 1, 1942) was likely to be her date of enlistment. There was a W.L.A number, no doubt this number was a key to any further records but no further records were available. Under the space left for the age of the woman, was a space for Present Occupation which, in this case, was given as clerk. There was a diagonal line through the whole card. Above this line was writing that I interpreted as saying: "Resigned Herts Reg't 8/12/45". 

It looks like this was the only official record for my mother's years in the Land Army. It's enough to give a brief sketch of her time there, giving the length of service and information such as the address to follow up on. I'll see what else I can find. 

Unsung heroes

 

                                                                       Information for knitters during WWII

In 2008, after more than 50 years of campaigning, the British government at last officially recognized the members of the Women's Land Army and the Women's Timber Corps for their contributions to the war effort. A badge was issued in recognition of their services. But there was a catch, the women had to still be alive to receive the award. Many had died between the time of their service and the government's official recognition.

I can remember my aunt being upset as that meant my mother wouldn't be recognized even though her time in the Land Army was one of the defining experiences of her life. Was it there that she received the injury that required her to have skin grafts on the back of her hands? Why didn't I ask when I had the chance?

Actually knowing that she was a Land Girl was a step in the right direction because that's the thing with non-military war service; it's hard to know what you should be looking for unless there is a whisper of what they got up to during the war period. I don't know if either of my grandmothers volunteered for any wartime duties. That's also the case for my uncle's wives. Perhaps they didn't take on an actual volunteer job but took on extra tasks such as knitting for the troops. But there is no way to know unless a family story was handed down.

There were a variety of tasks in which those left at home could take part. For example, the Home Guard performed many harrowing tasks to help keep those at home safe. A trawl of information about WWII records shows that it is possible to access limited records for the Home Guard, the service which provided local defense. Generally the personnel were men who were too old or young for the regular forces. But I have not found a database of the names of the people involved in that service. According to the blog post whose link is given below, it might be possible to find minimal information on your ancestor's time in the Home Guard if the record survives but there is a cost involved that doesn't guarantee that they will find anything for the person you are looking for. So finding out what your ancestor did during the war is not an easy task.

Sources:

https://www.familysearch.org/blog/en/search-british-war-records-ww2/

International Express, Tuesday July 29, 2008, "At last, Land Girls honoured" 

Image:

By Storye book - Photo of object in my possession. Linda Spashett Own work, CC BY 3.0,  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11832744

Blackouts and furniture

 

                                                                   A World War II era buffet still in use today

The history that interests me the most is social history. That's probably the case for many family historians. Rather than focusing on what was happening with the great and good (or bad), social history encompasses the rules, events and fabric of the lives of the man and woman on the street. They weren't the movers and shakers of society but the masses who dealt with life as it came and tried to find their way through it, in the good times and bad. My current focus on World War Two sheds light on a challengingly bad time.

Footage and pictures that show the damage in London during the Blitz are familiar. Those images show the dramatic reality but the smaller, more annoying privations were something I didn't think that much about before starting to research the war era.

People had to change their ways of doing things and obey new rules, like the blackout. Householders were fined for showing light. To get around this, people had to pay for and fit their own blackout curtains or find other means of hiding the illumination in their homes. Of course, I knew about rationing but only thought of the difficulties of obtaining food. But other things were rationed as well, like clothing.   

Fashions reflected wartime regulations as dresses and suits slimmed down and used less material, giving rise to the wartime silhouette familiar from old movies. But other materials were also in short supply such as metal for pots and pans or fabric for upholstery or rugs.

Because wood was scarce and metal was needed for the war effort rather than springs for upholstered furniture, simplified furniture designs were developed. This led to Utility Furniture. This furniture was rationed and only available to newly married couples or those who had lost their household goods because of bombing.

Even after the war Utility Furniture must have been all that was available as, when my parents got married in 1949, it was this type of furniture with which they started married life. My mother was frequently disparaging of the sideboard which followed her to Canada, calling it "cheap war stuff". It was very simple and plain but that's one of the reasons I value it. I still have it with me as a functioning memento of that time in history.  

 

Sources:

Evans, Paul and Peter Doyle. The 1940s Home Shire Publications Ltd., Oxford, 2009

 

Living through history

 

                                                             Families beating the heat in the Coquitlam River

Sometimes research takes a pause or at least slows down. I don't really have an update on my current World War Two research this week. Progress has been slow as I wade through the numerous WWII books on my shelves as well as the other records at my disposal. Added to that, are the in-person events that are now possible. That has been a long time coming and people are taking full advantage with invitations for get togethers being added to those ubiquitous Zoom meetings.

One of the topics of conversation at in-person meetings is often the unprecedented heatwave experienced in this part of the country at the end of June. In the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, June months are known for their rain and cold. Junuary is a name we often give the month. Not this year! In the last weekend of June, the heat reached the sidewalk cracking low 40s Celsius which is 104 Fahrenheit and above.

That also means an early start to wildfire season. It remains to be seen how our summer will play out. It is enough to give me the feeling that we are truly living through history.

 

                                                               This sidewalk cracked in the recent heatwave