Projects seeks info on women in agriculture during World War One

The majority of women who worked in agriculture during WWI were milkers and field workers, but some were carters and plough women
The majority of women who worked in agriculture during WWI were milkers and field workers, but some were carters and plough women

A project is seeking to find families who have ties to women in the suffrage movement who kept the nation fed during the First World War.

The Old Chalk New Downs project wants to retell the story of women on the land during World War One.

Fresh from the battlefields of the suffrage movement, women were called to serve on the Home Front, in the years of the First World War (1914-1918).

Many people will be familiar with stories of the British Land Girls of the Second World War. This land army fought in the fields of home, keeping the national agriculture going and doing “their bit” as men battled across Europe.

What is less well-known is the tale of their predecessors, brave women of the latter years of World War One, who broke down barriers and forged farmland paths for those girls to follow years later, in the second war.

Facing suspicion and even hostility, these girls battled on to ensure Britain had food to sustain it.

Food production

In Kent, women were trained at centres in Wye and Swanley. The main aim of this workforce was to increase food production during the war.

The majority who worked in agriculture were milkers and field workers, but some were carters and plough women and market gardeners.

They trained in agriculture, forage and timber cutting. Those working in the Timber Corps were often called “Lumber Jills”.

As part of the environmental project, showing the heritage value of the British landscape, research has helped find out more about these forgotten women.

Old photographs

The Old Chalk New Downs project are now appealing to the families of those mothers and grandmothers, to look out those old photographs and share their stories.

Much has been documented about the girls of the Second World War and many photographs abound online and on exhibition.

It is hoped that the pioneers of our modern-day movement may be remembered in this centenary year, marking the end of The Great War and the winning of votes for women in 1918.

The project’s Outreach Officer, Hilary Hunter set out her appeal: "I would really love to hear from anyone who has a story, or some memorabilia, from women working on the farms in Kent during the First World War."

You can help the research out by contacting Hilary Hunter by email at hilary.hunter@kent.gov.uk