Interview with female. Women's Land Army girl in Bedfordshire, 1942-49. Father built the brickworks at Kempston Hardwick

  • Women's Voices and Life Writing
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Title
Interview with female. Women's Land Army girl in Bedfordshire, 1942-49. Father built the brickworks at Kempston Hardwick
Interviewer
Antrobus, Stuart
Document Type
  • Oral history Recording
Date
14 Feb 2003
Interview Date
14 Feb 2003
Biography
The interviewee was born 1 October, 1924. Her family came from Fulham, London. Her family had a conversion to Christianity by their father. Her father was a consultant mechanical engineer. He was a manager for Eastwoods brick company and was commissioned to build the brickworks at Kempston Hardwick for Bedford Bricks, later called Coronation Brickyard. During the Second World War he worked for the Ministry of Supply in London but the family lived in Bedford. She and her sister worked as shop assistants in Shenfield. She recalls air raids and German planes, fire-watching after hours, at night, at work, to deal with any firebombs that might drop on the premises. When she was nearly 18 she joined the Women's Land Army. She recalls her time during this, including attending dances for the armed forces in the Corn Exchange, Bedford and at the RAF camp at Shortstown. Later in life, she got married after her husband was demobbed from the RAF, and started work on her farm. She has good memories of her period in the Land Army. She took part in the Land Army parade in Bedford in February 1946, when Princess Elizabeth took the salute. She stayed on in the Land Army until 1949.
Length (minutes)
63
Copyright and Source Archive
Material sourced from Bedfordshire Archives and Records Service