Land Girl - The Happiest Years of My Early Life

A Memoir of Service in the Women's Land Army 1939-46

  • Home
  • Acknowledgements
  • Contact Me
  • Blog

Introduction to My Land Girls Memoir

By LG-Admin Leave a Comment

Insignia of Women's Land Army worn by Jeanne Flann as member, a Land Girl

Introduction

One of my proudest moments that I offer here in this Land Girls memoir was nearly 70 years ago when as a young girl I was presented to HM Queen Elizabeth for my services in the Women’s Land Army (WLA). Why, because I had volunteered as a “Land Girl” at the outbreak of World War II in 1939, did well, and served until 1946.Continue Reading

Second Assignment as a Land Girl: Holt Hall Farm, Liverpool – Tragedy and Deliverance

By LG-Admin Leave a Comment

Chapter 5

Holt Hall Farm Liverpool, Tragedy and Deliverance

This episode I recall with little pleasure.

Having sorted out things at home, and as matters got no better in future years in dealing with them I always thought of myself as the juggler spinning plates, I went off to Holt Hall Farm. It was on the easterly outskirts of Liverpool at Gateacre, and for its day quite large, carrying a dairy herd of over 50 milking cows supplying milk locally. Holt Farm also had  pasture  and arable land of a considerable acreage. There were  no dogs,  sheep, pigs or hens.Continue Reading

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5

Last and Best Assignment as a Land Girl: Marshaw – The Trough of Bowland

By LG-Admin Leave a Comment

Chapter 6

Marshaw – The Trough of Bowland

And so I went to Marshaw, passing through Abbeystead on the way, but this time it was different.Continue Reading

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Welcome to Land Girls

By LG-Admin Leave a Comment

Born in Liverpool, England in 1924, I did not have a happy home for my early childhood. Things seemed to get worse with the advent of the second world war when I was fifteen. But along with the misery the war brought, it brought my salvation in a ticket out of my Liverpool home and into the Women’s Land Army as Land Girl. Instituted to train women for working on the land, and to replace all the men missing from England’s farms who were off fighting in the war, it enabled me to train for farm work, and to leave Liverpool for the countryside.

And so it was, a physically ill young girl, who was unhappy in her circumstances got the advantage of training, and physically demanding work in a rural environment. My experience was the making of me. As reflected in the subtitle of my memoir, these were the happiest years of my early life.

In Land Girls, I tell my story of how I became a Land Girl and my life on the farms that I worked on, in particular, Marshall in the Trough of Bowland. But I also tell of how this wonderful experience that I had set me up for the rest of my life. It helped me get a good job back in Liverpool when I finished my service. It was in Liverpool too that I met my husband John Flann, getting married in 1955. After marriage and starting a family – we were blessed with two fine sons, Christopher and Nicholas – I used much of housekeeping experience learned at Marshaw to look after my family. I would often tell them stories of time as a Land Girl, but it was an experience that was simply part of me, it no longer defined me.

Pages: 1 2

About Me

Proud member of the Women's Land Army, Jeanne Flann, nee Harlow, here. Happily retired in Utah after a full and satisfying life that got off to a great start working as a Land Girl in the Trough of Bowland, you can read more about me.

Follow Me

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter

Book Outline

  • Introduction
  • Part One
    • Chapter 1 – Prologue, the Sullivans, the Harlows and My Childhood
    • Chapter 2 – Joining Up – The Women’s Land Army
    • Chapter 3 – Lancashire College of Agriculture at Hutton
  • Part Two
    • Chapter 4 – Lower Greenbank Farm Over Wyresdale
    • Chapter 5 – Holt Farm Gateacre – Tragedy & Deliverance
    • Chapter 6 – Marshaw, The Trough of Bowland Fells
  • Part Three
    • Chapter 7 – Epilogue
    • Chapter 8 – Recognition at Last
  • Appendix

All Sections

  • Introduction to My Land Girls Memoir
  • Prologue – The Sullivans, the Harlows and My Childhood
  • Joining Up – The Women’s Land Army
  • Lancashire College of Agriculture at Hutton
  • First Assignment as a Land Girl: Lower Greenbank Farm, Over Wyresdale
  • Second Assignment as a Land Girl: Holt Hall Farm, Liverpool – Tragedy and Deliverance
  • Last and Best Assignment as a Land Girl: Marshaw – The Trough of Bowland
  • Epilogue – Life After Being a Land Girl in the WLA

Land Girls Memoirs and Other Memoirs

In the two step process of creating a paper memoir and now converting it into a web based one, it is my hope that my memoir, Land Girl - The Happiest Years of Early Childhood joins other Land Girl memoirs as a member of that genre, and contributes to it.

My husband has his own memoir through the same process as mine, paper memoir first, then website GunnerFlann.com. He too hopes his memoir contributes to the National Service Memoirs genre.

Please let us know if you agree contact me.

Recent Posts From the Blog

  • Introduction to My Land Girls Memoir
  • Prologue – The Sullivans, the Harlows and My Childhood
  • Joining Up – The Women’s Land Army

Popular Tags

Abbystead Aunt Monica chickens Convalesence Convent Deliverance Dolphinholme eggs escape Family History farming Farming training Fernyhalgh first assignement Galgate hand milking harlows Holt Hall Farm Horses Hutton join up Lancashire College of Agriculture Lancaster Land Girl Land Girls Liverpool lower greenbank farm Medical Exam Memoir Pigs Poultry Queen recognition Reverend John Sullivan Second Assignment sheep St Mary's Catholic Church sullivans Tractors Tragedy Trough of Bowland unhappy childhood Uniform Women's Land Army world war one veteran

Find It Here

Land Girl - The Happiest Years of My Early Childhood · Copyright · Privacy Policy · Sitemap