Photograph of Women's Land Army Timber Girls in Suffolk (tactile)

Synopsis

The Women's Land Army was re-formed to farm and work on the land whilst many male farm workers served in the armed forces. The UK had to mobilise as much of its population as possible for war work. It was the only country to conscript women for war work or service in the forces. Many existing factories were converted to wartime production. Bournville chocolate works swapped packing boxes of chocolates for boxes of anti-aircraft rockets. New wartime factories were also built, often in areas outside of cities and towns. By 1944 over one third of the UK population was engaged in war work. By 1943, over a million people over the age of 65 were in paid jobs. Land for growing food had increased by six million acres by the end of the war. Description of photograph This black and white photograph shows three Land Army girls working in a large clearing at a forestry training centre in Suffolk. The clearing, which can be seen disappearing into the distance, is surrounded by conifer trees. A conifer is an evergreen tree. Along the clearing are several piles of logs that have been cut to the same length and stacked. The logs are stacked in alternating directions. One row has the ends of the each log showing with a row above where just the length of one log can be seen. In the foreground of the photograph, two of the Land Army girls are kneeling on one knee with other leg outstretched, facing each other with the log between them. The log has been trimmed of all its branches and the girls are starting to saw it in half using a two-man crosscut saw (a long, flat, large toothed saw with an upright handle at each end). Both girls have the foot of their outstretched leg pushed against the trunk to keep it in position. The third girl is standing further up the clearing away from two girls with the saw. She is using a large axe to trim off the branches from another log. The ground around all the girls is littered with trimmings from the trees. The girls are wearing Land Army uniforms - beret, green woollen long sleeved V-necked jumper, knee high brown corduroy breeches, knee-high woollen socks and stout lace-up shoes, called brogues. The girl on the left of the photograph sawing the tree trunk is also wearing gloves and what appear to be safety glasses. Tactile image details This image concentrates on the 2 girls (labelled girl 1 and girl 2) sawing, the lines of standing trees either side of the clearing and just 2 of the log piles. The third girl and most of the log piles have been left out. The position of the third girl has been labelled on the images along with braille labels for: log pile, clearing, conifers, tree trunk, girl 1, girl 2, beret, saw, and foot.

Copyright:

2011

Book Details

Book Quality:

Excellent

Publisher:

RNIB

Date of Addition:

05/10/17

Copyrighted By:

RNIB

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History

Submitted By:

Sarah Bennett

Proofread By:

N/A

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.