Threshing

The harvest, in late August and September, was the main farming event of the year. This was a time where Land Girls were drawn upon greatly, along with other members of the local community.

Threshing was a key part of the harvest, as after reaping, it involved loosening the edible part of grain from the chaff. Land Girl Joan Snelling recounts that it was one of the dirtiest jobs, especially removing the sacks of colder as they became filled from the threshing machine. She remembers how dirt got everywhere, including her eyes, which was particularly painful.

Women were advised to tie string around their legs in order to stop mice and rats from running up trousers.

Land Girl Dorothy Sills (aged 19) from Middlesborough helps with the harvest on a farm in Yorkshire. She was a shop assistant before joining the Women's Land Army. She is shown helping with the threshing, by carrying a large sack of wheat on her shoulders. Source: IWM D 10778
Land Girl Dorothy Sills (aged 19) from Middlesborough helps with the harvest on a farm in Yorkshire. She was a shop assistant before joining the Women’s Land Army. She is shown helping with the threshing, by carrying a large sack of wheat on her shoulders.
Source: IWM D 10778
Threshing Poem, The Land Girl, March 1943, p10
Threshing Poem written by J. Baker (37832) published in The Land Girl, March 1943, p.10.