How did Scotland manage during the Second World War with so many
men fighting overseas?
This exhibition told the important story of the Women’s Land
Army (WLA) and Women’s Timber Corps (WTC) in Scotland: the Land
Girls and Lumber Jills who played a vital role in feeding the
nation and providing timber.
What was daily life like? Who was home sick? What was on the
menu? What was the work like?
The exhibition revealed what life was like as a Land Girl
or a Lumber Jill in Scotland and how their work helped win the
Second World War.
Who were the Land Girls and Lumber Jills?
The WLA and WTC were formed in 1917 to help meet growing demands
for home production during the long struggle of World War I, and
remained active during both World Wars.
Women of the Land Army, or ‘Land Girls’ as they became known,
took on all types of agricultural work. From sowing to harvesting,
calving to shearing, this was hard physical work that until the war
had largely been undertaken by men. The Women’s Timber Corps too
was vital, as these ‘Lumber Jills’ supplied the wood used for
manufacturing, energy production and much more.
Click on the images above to see the photos in full. You can see
more photos from our Scottish Life Archive on
Flickr.
Things to see
This exhibition gives you the opportunity to step into the shoes
of a Land Girl or LumberJill and find out where and how they lived.
See the recruitment posters that called the women to the fields and
find out what it was like to conform to a strict regime, through
uniforms on display. Experience the wide range of work the women
did by seeing tools of their trades, and discover what it was like
to be part of the war effort.
The objects on show will be brought to life by personal
testimonies, audio recordings and wonderful period film footage.
You’ll also discover the stories of four women in an extraordinary
period of their lives, three from the Land Army and one a Lumber
Jill.
The final section of the exhibition features various women’s
land armies amongst the allied countries and looks at the
long-awaited recognition for the women who fought in the fields and
forests of Scotland.
This exhibition was previously shown at the National War Museum. Additional 1940s costumes
and wartime memorabilia have been added to the display at the
National Museum of Costume.