Land Girls Gang Up

Back-breaking days of lifting potatoes; excruciating hours of pulling thistles; total inadequacy when faced with a group of belligerent sows - these are the stories that Pat Peters recalls. The language is strong: 'Get the 'ell away. What do 'ee think you're playing at. Bloody Land girls.' He looked straight at me. 'Get the 'ell out of 'ere before the sows drop their young 'uns.' The girls felt that they were being shunted around like cattle and in the end rebelled at their treatment. Some of the members left the service and returned to city life. Others, like Pat, who became a farmer's wife in Cornwall, stayed in the countryside for the rest of their lives.