Women's Land Army
September 29th, 2026
The month of September saw the Bombshells welcoming many of our fellow WI members from the afternoon group in Broadbridge Heath to join us for our meeting.
We were all enthralled by the fantastic talk given by Ian Everest on the subject of the Women's Land Army. We all learnt a great deal about the courage and determination of thousands of girls and women who stepped into the shoes of their male counterparts during both the First and the Second World Wars when the country desperately needed to produce as much food as possible. In many ways it was these women who bridged the gap between the old ways and the new, by being unphased by the new, mechanised ways of farming. Some of us were surprised to hear that the woman behind setting up the WI was also responsible for launching and running the Women's Land Army, our very own Lady Gertrude Denman. We also learned that she preferred to be know as Trudy!
Sheila Joy, one of our sister WI members brought along some very precious mementos of her mother Mary Martin who served in the Land Army during WW2. After a protracted campaign to have the Land Girl's contribution to both world wars recognised. The government presented a certificate and 'medal' to all Land Girls who were still alive in 2008. Very sadly this was many years too late for some.
During the month many of the Bombshells got together and enjoyed one of our regular coffee meetings at Camelia Botnar Garden Centre.
Another of our regular haunts saw us gathering again the following week to mark and celebrate the 111th anniversary of the founding of the WI.
The morning and evening Book Clubs met to discuss 'Atmosphere,' a novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Our next book will be Verity' by Colleen Hoover.
Also during the month, some of our members got together and thoroughly enjoyed a laughter filled cocktail evening at The Rock in Horsham.
If all this looks like fun and you're not already a member please get in touch. Your first meeting is always free!
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