Mary Isabella Sutcliffe (née Allison)

General Information

First Name(s): Mary Isabella

Unmarried Surname: Allison

Married Surname: Sutcliffe

Date of Birth: 11 January 1924

Place of Birth: Sunderland, England

Date joined the WLA: 1943 (maybe 1942)

Date left the WLA: 1946/47

Pre-war occupation: My mum worked at Bata Shoe Factory in Tilbury, then a cement factory in Thurrock.

Reasons for joining: Mum wanted to contribute to the war effort. I don’t think she was particularly enthralled with her factory job, and the Land Army provided a sense of adventure and a way to serve the Country.

Family’s reaction to joining: My mum’s younger sister, said that the family was thrilled for my mum. My grandmother participated in the WLA or some type of Home Service in the First World War.

Reactions of local people towards WLA: I gather the village was happy to have the Land Girls there, and grateful for the work they did. It’s my impression that the addition of the WLA Hostel and the US soldiers at the Nuthampstead Airfield, brought a little extra life to the village.

Reasons for leaving: The war ended. My mum and her friend Elsie, I think, were the very last to leave the hostel at Langley.

Mary Allison sitting on top of a tractor in 1945.

Employment

My mum was stationed in the village of Langley, Essex. She said that the girls worked on the local farms. After contacting the Parish Council in Langley, I learned that, “Betty George” managed the Land Girls who worked and lived there.

The Vicarage in Langley became the Hostel for the Land Girls. Mum said there was a pub at the top of the hill and one at the bottom, with the hostel in the middle. There was also a U.S. Airbase close by at Nuthampstead Air Field. The Land Girls lived at the Vicarage and biked to the surrounding farms. If the farms were more than 5 miles away, they were driven in the back of a lorry.

Mary Allison and MaryLou, Dick in the background – with the thrashing tackle, 1945.

Any names of other Land Girls: My mum had a diary/autograph book and some photos. I only have the first name of most of the girls. My mother died be- fore I could finish this questionnaire, and I didn’t have a chance to ask about last names. Here are some of the names she had written down: Doreen, Elsie, Joan H & Joan Witherington, MaryLou, Joyce, June, Petunia, Pat, Milly, Gwen, (from Langley) and Mary Wilching (I’m not 100% sure that I read the handwriting prop- erly for this one).

WLA Langley girls in Codham 1946 (Mary, middle row 2nd from left)

Type of work undertaken: Cleaning out barns, chopping hedges, digging ditches, harvesting, threshing, forming stooks of grain, and haystacks…

Work liked most and least: She loved it all, “It was good, hard work.”

Best and worst memories of time: My mum had great memories of working hard together with the girls, having a night out at the village pub, and attending dances at the nearby U.S. Airforce Base. Her saddest memories were leaving Langley and saying goodbye to her friends at the end of the war.

“Rookies” after 2 months in the WLA 1943 – Doreen, Ruth, Elsie, Joan – bottom: Joan & Mary Allison

Opportunities to meet other Land Girls: The Langley WLA girls lived together in the Vicarage hostel, six to a room.

Any accidents or injuries: My mum was bitten by a dog on the back of her leg, while she was in the WLA. She had an apprehension about dogs the rest of her life, often recounting that incident as an explanation.

Treatment by farmers: From what I understand, the WLA girls were respected and appreciated for their work. In fact my mum said that one of her best compliments in life, was from a farmer, who said that when he first laid eyes on her, he wondered why they would send such a “little thing” out here. He then said that she turned out to be among the best of them!

Any outstanding events or achievements in WLA: My mum continued with a strong work ethic and a “carry on” attitude. She immigrated to Canada, married, had two children, and was widowed after 15 years of marriage. She worked hard to raise, feed, and educate 2 successful children.

Outside “The Bull” pub hangout for land girls and airforce boys in Langley.

Life after the war

What was their post-war occupation? After the war, Mary worked on a mobile canteen in Tilbury Docks with her sister Bess. After that she was promoted to the office, and worked for the Port Authority of London In Tilbury until she migrated to Canada.

Did they stay on the land? Yes, in a way. Because she came to know some American Air Force boys stationed near the WLA Hostel, she wanted to go to America. She immigrated to Canada in 1957, planning to work for a while, then go to the States. However, she met and married my father, who was a butcher in a small farming community in Ontario, called Little Britain.

How did work in the WLA effect their life? She continued her association with farm work and the land, as she worked side by side with my father in the butcher shop, and became part of that farming community.

Until the day she died, she would say, “Aside from you kids,” her Land Army days were, “The Best Years of My Life.”

Any other comments: You can see on the autograph book pages that my mum is referred to as “Twidge,” or “Twidget”. My mum got this nickname at Langley. This is because she was very small when she entered the Land Army. The nickname did not stay with her after she left the WLA. She often told the story of being interviewed, or “sized up” during her Land Army application process. She said one of the people doing the screening, commented that she was not very big. She said, “But I’m strong.” The person then said,“Come here and squeeze my hand,” which she did – and got herself into the Land Army! My mum had beautiful hands, large for her size, soft and strong. I think the good food and healthy lifestyle in the WLA, and the confidence built in contributing to the war effort, helped my mum’s growth physically and as a person.

In the last few months of her life, my brother would sing her songs from the war days, show her the photograph of the Land Girl statue in Lichfield, and read her its inscription. We told her how proud we were of her hard work and contribution to the war effort. I think she was proud too. She died December 2023, just 4 weeks shy of her 100th birthday.