Remembrance Day 2020: Remember Us

Back when life was black and white and not a thousand shades of grey,

A call went out for girls like us to join the W.L.A

To be alive at such a time meant living was intensified,

New tasks – new hardships – joy and pain distilled into a sense of pride.

We looked within ourselves and found a person we had never known

With qualities of inner strength, an independence newly grown.

From urban life to rural fields, from office, factory and shop

Replacing men who left to fight and trust to us each season’s crop.

Remember us? We worked long days till hands were rough and backs were sore,

Giving our all and finding strength each day to give a little more.

But rising in the morning mist and toiling in the summer haze.

This time was ours – a job well done – we will remember all our days.

By Land Girl veteran Hilda K. Gibson