Land girls deserve more, insists RAF veteran
Feb 4 2008 by Sam Wood, The Journal
A VETERAN of the Second World War has said he is furious that the Land Girls have only been recognised for their efforts by a badge.
Thousands of women, many from the North-East, worked on farms and timber mills to keep Britain going while many men were away fighting between 1939 and 1945.
The Government finally acknowledged the Land Girls by allowing them to apply for the badges last week. Before that, there was no official recognition of the sacrifices they made to keep Britain going during the war.
Now John Geddes, of Witton Gilbert, County Durham, who fought as a pilot for the RAF during the Battle of Britain, has hit out at the decision, saying it is ‘too little too late’.
He says there was a lot a fury and bitterness amongst the Land Girls he knew that they were not recognised much sooner.
Mr Geddes was so annoyed with the treatment of the Land Army that he wrote a letter to their patron, the Queen Mother.
The 89-year-old said yesterday: “I was based all over the globe with the RAF until I left in 1946. I received three medals after the war but the Land Girls got nothing, when their contribution was just as vital as any soldiers. This badge is not enough, these women who played such a big role should have been given proper medals at the time. It is disgusting the way these women have be treated. I went to a dedication service and I was sat next to two ladies and there was a lot of fury and bitterness from them that the contribution of the girls had not been recognised by anyone. I was so angry I wrote a letter to the Queen Mother about it and got a response. Politicians at the time said the Land Army was not the same, it was a disgusting attitude.”
One member of the Land Army, Joan Pringle, 90, has said she too is disappointed with the way they were treated. She joined the army at the age of 20, moving from her parents’ home in Wallsend to a farm at Wooler in Northumberland where she worked for more than five years. She toiled daily from 6am to 10pm, earning just 8s 9p a week.
She said: “I don’t know what these badges will be like, but I’m going to apply for one. It has taken them a long time to decide to recognise everything that we did during the war. It was a tough life, real hard work, we did everything that the men used to do. It is just a shame that many of the people I worked with will not be around to receive one.”
Application forms for the awards are available online at www.defra.gov.uk/farm/working/wla/ or by writing to Dermot McInerney at Defra, 5E Millbank, c/o 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR or by calling 08459 335577.
