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| Land Girls to receive WWII honour | Land Girls to receive WWII honour |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| The service of tens of thousands of women who worked the land to provide food and timber during World War II is due to be formally recognised. | The service of tens of thousands of women who worked the land to provide food and timber during World War II is due to be formally recognised. |
| Surviving members of the Women's Land Army and Women's Timber Corps will be presented with badges of honour. | Surviving members of the Women's Land Army and Women's Timber Corps will be presented with badges of honour. |
| Fifty of the women - who were dubbed Land Girls and Lumber Jills - will go to 10 Downing Street for a ceremony attended by Gordon Brown. | Fifty of the women - who were dubbed Land Girls and Lumber Jills - will go to 10 Downing Street for a ceremony attended by Gordon Brown. |
| More than 30,000 badge applications have been received to date. | More than 30,000 badge applications have been received to date. |
| Long campaign | |
| The Land Girls and Lumber Jills have long campaigned for formal recognition of the often gruelling work they did during the war and were delighted when the badges were announced earlier this year. | |
| Hilda Gibson now 83 served with the WLA from 1944 to 1946 and will be collecting her badge at Downing Street. | |
| "I think it's a really good idea to create these awards. Everyone had to do their bit during the war and serving my country in its hour of need was a privilege. They were men's jobs we took on, they were heavy jobs and hard work," she said | |
| "I wanted a job that was important and I felt that it was." | |
| It gave me everything in the world - plenty of companions, a good husband and a good family. It was the best time of our lives, we didn't even think about helping the war effort, we just got on with it. Dilys BullockFormer Land Girl | |
| Announcing the move last year, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said their service had been "selfless". | Announcing the move last year, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said their service had been "selfless". |
| The prime minister will meet the Land Girls and Lumber Jills later and he has praised their efforts. | |
| "The Women's Land Army and Women's Timber Corps worked tirelessly in the war years to keep this country going by providing food and supplies and timber for the war effort," Gordon Brown said | |
| "Their work was absolutely vital and it is right that we thank them now for their dedication in the service of their country." | |
| Missed opportunity | |
| Elizabeth Harding, 89, from London, worked on a dairy farm on the Somerset-Dorset border. | |
| "In the main, I did milking. Also there was field work, but I preferred the dairy work and in particular I enjoyed the fact that every morning I would go with the milk all round the village with the little bottles for the school." | |
| Mrs Harding said that getting her badge made up for a missed opportunity during the war. | |
| "The thing that most upset me in the war was that I missed out on seeing the Queen," she said | |
| Photojournal: My life as a Land Girl | |
| "Some of us were invited to meet her but I wasn't well on that day, but this makes up for missing out." | |
| Dilys Bullock, 83, will also receive her badge. | |
| "I volunteered because I wasn't allowed to join any of the other women's corps - my father wouldn't allow me," she said | |
| "It gave me everything in the world - plenty of companions, a good husband and a good family. It was the best time of our lives, we didn't even think about helping the war effort, we just got on with it." | |
| Following Wednesday's events, women who served, from across the UK, will be sent their badges and a certificates. | |
| Further events will then be held in each region to mark the formal recognition of the women's role in the war effort. | |
| "Dig for victory" | |
| The Women's Land Army was first formed in WWI but then disbanded in 1918. It was re-formed in 1939 and disbanded again in 1950. The Women's Timber Corps was set up in 1942. | The Women's Land Army was first formed in WWI but then disbanded in 1918. It was re-formed in 1939 and disbanded again in 1950. The Women's Timber Corps was set up in 1942. |
| Women were called upon to help in agriculture as male workers went to fight in the war, and by the peak year of 1943 some 80,000 were serving. | Women were called upon to help in agriculture as male workers went to fight in the war, and by the peak year of 1943 some 80,000 were serving. |
| They worked on farms and estates, milking cows, digging ditches, making hay, sowing seeds and harvesting crops, to help alleviate food shortages. | They worked on farms and estates, milking cows, digging ditches, making hay, sowing seeds and harvesting crops, to help alleviate food shortages. |
| The Lumber Jills worked in forests to provide timber for the war effort, felling trees, cutting timber and sharpening saws. | The Lumber Jills worked in forests to provide timber for the war effort, felling trees, cutting timber and sharpening saws. |
| With war hampering the transport of food around the world, civilians were also encouraged to "dig for victory" during the war, and arable land increased in are by 63% between 1939 and 1944. | With war hampering the transport of food around the world, civilians were also encouraged to "dig for victory" during the war, and arable land increased in are by 63% between 1939 and 1944. |