LANDGIRLS IN UNIFORM

New Zealand Listener, Volume 7, Issue 175, 30 October 1942, Page 9

LANDGIRLS IN UNIFORM

Mrs. Dreaver And Mrs. Grigg Caused A Stir

formed a perennial topic of conversation for members of the British House of Commons, and we like to feel that, sartorially speaking, New Zealand’s women M.P.’s also provide food for discussion. They must have done so at any rate during the present Parliamentary session, for both Mrs. Dreaver and Mrs. Grigg appeared on their respective sides of the House clad in the distinctive uniform of the Women’s Land Service. Mrs. Grigg herself designed the uniform, and in doing so did a service to all present and future members of the Land Service. It consists of coat and skirt of a rich nutbrown, plentifully belted, buttoned, and pocketed, and complete with epaulettes, a beige shirt-blouse with dark green tie, brown shoes and stockings, and two kinds of hat-plain brown felt with upturned side, or brown beret (Tank Corps shape) decorated with a sheaf of wheat. Mrs. Dreaver and Mrs. Grigg have recently returned from their successful tour of North Auckland and the Waikato in search of recruits for the Women’s Land Service; and both in and out of Parliament they have done all they can to give publicity to the need for women on the land. On More Satisfactory Basis Mrs. Grigg, as the wife and daughter of a farmer, has been born a landgirl, but Mrs. Dreaver, a city-dweller and representative of a city electorate, ‘may be said to have achieved landgirlhood. She has all the additional enthusiasm of the convert, and when I interviewed her in the House recently she was brimful of enthusiasm for her project. "The whole scheme has been revised and put on a more satisfactory basis", she explained. "The W.W.S.A. formerly organised a scheme for a Women’s Land Army, but now certain improvements have been effected. We've altered the wages scheme, for instance." "How much do the girls get now?" "An untrained worker on a dairy farm gets £2/1/-, a trained worker £2/8/6; on a general farm, £1/16/- for an untrained worker and £2/3/6 for a trained worker. This is in addition to board. And you get also 4/- a week for the upkeep of your uniform." ie ASTOR’s hats are said to have

"And this is the uniform?" "Yes, plus hat and leather gloves and two pairs of stockings." (It must be confessed, however, that Mrs. Dreaver had defaulted to the extent of wearing full-fashioned pure silk in place of the lisle service issue). "We felt, you see, that girls who are working on the land are as much part of the war effort as girls in the other three services and we issue them with a uniform in acknowledgment of this. And they are thus entitled to the privileges that go with a uniform-travelling concessions and so on." "All Privates Together "And are all the girls in the land army privates, or can they qualify as n.c.o.’s or officers?" "No, we're all privates together. But we're considering issuing service stripes." "And are the girls issued with working kit as well as dress uniform?" "Yes, working» boots, overalls, socks, shirts, hats. Mrs. Grigg and I, however, are not going to avail ourselves of the working kit." "And I understand that farmers’ daughters and those women already working on the land are entitled to wear the uniform, too?" "Yes, if they enrol with the W.L.S. They. are then issued with the dress uniform but not with ordinary working gear." Mrs. Dreaver went on to speak of the regulations governing the employment of girls on the land, Certain kinds of heavy work’ were considered unsuitable for female labour. And there were certain rulings in regard to accommodation. The landgirl was not to be required to share a room with a member of the household, though two landgirls could share a room. "Of course the Service can function adequately only if the farmers as well as the girls co-operate. When the Land Army was first started the farmers were slow to take advantage of it. I think many farmers had the idea that men would be released from camp to help them during the busy season. Now that they’ve found that this doesn’t happen they’re taking quite kindly to the prospect of employing women. The Department of National Service is going to open three training centres, one at Lincoln, one at Massey; and an ‘experimental training farm at Dargaville. At present the inexperienced girl who goes on a farm is regarded for the first six months

as a trainee, and the Government subsidises the farmer by paying part of her wages." They Can Take It! At this point our discussion was ter: minated. Mrs. Grigg, in the full dress uniform of a private in the Women’s Land Army came into the room. "We're having our photographs taken", she explained to ‘me, arranging her hat in front of the mirror and pulling on her gloves. "Rather like a Girl Guide commissioner’s perhaps, but a comfortable hat." "And distinctive", added Mrs, Dreaver, retiring to fetch hers. Outside the wind was blowing. The hats billowed. With a minimum of fuss the Honourable Member for Mid-Can-terbury and the Honourable Member for Waitemata faced the camera and the curious gaze of passing schoolchildren and casual onlookers like myself. And thereby provided evidence that members of the Women’s Land Service can, and

do, take it.

M.

B.