The Land Army

The Land Army Girls Outside St Andrews Hall
Trevor Williams

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  • In this photograph, my dad, the tractor driver, was the late Alfred A. Williams, who worked for the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. Many of the Land Army girls worked with him on the land, and dad, aged there about seventeen/eighteen, was asked to organise a float for the carnival.
    The trailer was no problem, covered in straw the girls were adequate decoration. But Dad thought the tractor looked a trifle bland in colour, and chose to repaint it. Although a black and white photograph, the radiator frame is white and mud guards and wheels, the upper cowling – black. Fine. All agreed very striking, apart from the Dept. Agriculture & Fisheries, who insisted it was repainted back to its original colour afterwards.

    By Trevor Williams (02/02/2020)
  • Sorry Trevor, I did not know your Dad by name, but I recognise his face. I was only 5yrs old at that time, I remember them well as it was the only excitement we got in those days, living up unmade roads in Runwell.

    By BOBCROOT (24/10/2019)
  • I too remember the Land Army. Mr and Mrs Stones of Egbert Gardens were well known members. I often watched them start their Fordson tractors in the cold mornings at Wantz Corner, west side of Lower Brock Hill (Morland Road) also building potato clamps for storing potatoes. They used to clean out all the ditches, which no councils do now.  I also remember one British soldier guarding 30-40 prisoners of war, German or Italian, all these helped to save us from starvation during  the 39/45 war. Whether the soldier had his rifle loaded, who knows. I also remember a man named Jim Bardell who used to walk miles with two Suffolk Punch horses pulling a one furough plough to drain the fields into the large ditches which have all been piped since.

    By B0b croot (01/05/2014)
  • I noticed when this photograph was added it never mentioned the fact that the young tractor driver was in fact my late father, Alfred Williams, who worked for the War Agriculture and Fisheries Dept. He was also an original member of 1st Battalion the Wickford Home Guard.

    By T.A.Willams (28/04/2014)

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