Published: Thursday, 31st July, 2008 12:00pm

Dunfermline great-grandmother's war effort honoured – 60 years on

by Matt Meade

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SHE played a crucial role in the war effort, helping to produce food on the farms to keep Britain"s pantry stocked amid a potentially disastrous food crisis.

Now, more than 60 years later, a West Fife great-grandmother"s hard work as a member of the Women"s Land Army (WLA) has finally been acknowledged by the British government.

Margaret Elvin (83), of Meadow Place, Dunfermline, received a badge of honour and certificate from Prime Minister Gordon Brown to thank her for her five years of effort during the Second World War.

The WLA played a vital role in combating food shortages by working in agriculture to replace men called up to war.

Margaret, who has lived in Dunfermline for more than 60 years, told the Press she was glad to finally receive recognition and looked back on her time as a Land Girl.

'It was important work and very hard at times,' she said.

'We often worked from the crack of dawn until the sun went down, especially after threshing, and there wasn"t much food to go around.

'But I have very happy memories and there was great camaraderie among the girls, as you would expect.

'I enjoyed the outdoors and working with the animals. I particularly liked the shire horses – I was only about seven stone at that time and their hooves seemed almost as big as me!

'Also, some of the girls used to squeeze milk from the cows straight into their baby"s bottles for feeding.

"There were some very rosy-cheeked, healthy babies too but I don"t think you"d get away with that these days.'

Some 80,000 women served in the Land Army during its peak year, 1943.

Their tasks included milking cows, making hay, harvesting crops and other farmyard duties.

Margaret ended up working in Stoke Poges in Berkshire after leaving her Jarrow-on-Tyne home at the age of 16.

She added, 'My father took all the wages I earned from my job at the rope factory in Gateshead and I had had enough of that, so I left.

"I lied about my age so I could would get into the Land Army, and passed all the medical tests.

She also found love as a Land Girl, meeting her late husband James who served with the Royal Army Service Corps.

She added, 'A few of the girls ran off with American servicemen but my Scotsman was the only one for me.'

On coming to Dunfermline, where James grew up, in 1945, she trained as a district nurse and upon retiring worked as a lollipop lady in the city before retiring at 74.

Margaret is now partially sighted because of macular degeneration in her eyes.

However, she evokes the spirit of her time as a hard-working Land Girl by continuing to grow her own vegetables – including leeks, carrots and potatoes – in the garden at her Dunfermline home.