As much as 70 per cent of Essex is agricultural, and given its proximity to the capital it is not surprising that so many members of the Women’s Land Army found themselves on Essex farms and in Essex fields during the two world wars, doing their bit to make sure that Britain did not starve.This book not only includes interviews with some of the last surviving land ‘girls’ but also contains a wealth of material unearthed in diaries, letters and in the stories handed down from one generation to the next about women in Essex who were, literally, wearing the trousers. They were not all local girls, and many arrived from the cities never having seen a cow or a tractor before. But the British spirit persevered, and the wit and camaraderie that served us so well during those tumultuous years shines through in every story.

As much as 70 percent of Essex is agricultural, and given its proximity to the capital it's not surprising that so many members of the Women's Land Army found themselves on Essex farms and fields during World Wars I and II. Thanks to the work of the Women's Land Army, Britain did not starve. This book includes not only interviews with some of the last surviving land "girls," but a wealth of material unearthed in diaries, letters, and in the stories handed down from one generation to the next about women in Essex who were, literally, wearing the trousers. They were not all Essex girls, and many arrived from the cities never having seen a cow or a tractor. The wit, camaraderie, and British spirit that served us so well during those tumultuous years shines through in every story, and will leave a lasting impression.

"The impact of the land girls cannot be ignored. It was not just that women were working and farms had more women than men, women who were not part of the family or, for some of them, had even lived in the countryside before – but women were wearing trousers and filling in for men, some of whom would never return from war. For the women, their time as land girls changed their lives and how they viewed their own role in society and the family. Using original interviews and photographs from some of these land girls, historian Ann Kramer delves deeper than any previous study to understand the role of the land girls both during and after the Second World War."

Although much maligned, Essex is a vibrant county with a long and exciting history. Being close to the Continent and with one of Britains longest coastlines, it was an obvious target for invasion as the threat of war grew. Many defensive structures were built by the sea and to protect major routes across the county. The remains of pill boxes can still be seen.Essex at War 1939–1945 tells how war greatly affected the county: children were evacuated both to and from Essex; being close to London the county suffered from regular air attacks; farming was important and the Womens Land Army arrived in force. Accounts of Essex airmen and sailors who supported those escaping from Dunkirk are told, and once the USA entered the war there was a new type of invasion in the county when their servicemen arrived and were welcomed at many of the countys airfields.Memories of children growing up during those difficult years are recalled. These include nights spent in cold, damp Anderson shelters, sleeping under solid tables or in claustrophobic Morrison shelters. We learn about disrupted school lessons and the fear felt when the air raid siren wailed. When the V-1 and V-2 unmanned flying bombs were launched in 1944, many still remember listening for the engines to switch off and counting the seconds until they fell to earth.

Ginny Beauchamp joins the Women’s Land Army in 1940. Posted to Essex, she gets in trouble for meeting pilots from a nearby airfield, including Piotr, a Polish airman to whom she feels some attraction, being part-Polish herself. Sent to work on a farm with a final warning, she finds herself in the middle of an emotional storm because another Land Girl, Anna, has fallen in love with the farmer’s son. In August after the Luftwaffe attack the airfield at North Weald Ginny discovers that Piotr has been seriously wounded, and she rushes to the hospital. When she returns to the farm late at night, she discovers the dead body of Anna in the yard beneath the barn’s winching point. Ginny believes that Anna’s death is suspicious, and she cannot accept that Anna fell or committed suicide, which is the view of the local police and coroner. Ginny is on her own in trying to reveal the truth of Anna’s death. For her challenge to the authorities over the death, Ginny is dismissed from service. Now on her own, she risks her own life to try to reveal the truth.

Land girls of two world wars depicted by the nation's artists.

'Not all Essex girls are party girls. They can be sages, martyrs, leaders. In her neat and provocative little book, Sarah Perry celebrates their courage and vivacity.' Hilary Mantel A defence and celebration of the Essex Girl by the best-selling author of The Essex Serpent Essex Girls are disreputable, disrespectful and disobedient. They speak out of turn, too loudly and too often, in an accent irritating to the ruling classes. Their bodies are hyper-sexualised and irredeemably vulgar. They are given to intricate and voluble squabbling. They do not apologise for any of this. And why should they? In this exhilarating feminist defence of the Essex girl, Sarah Perry re-examines her relationship with her much maligned home county. She summons its most unquiet spirits, from Protestant martyr Rose Allin to the indomitable Abolitionist Anne Knight, sitting them alongside Audre Lorde, Kim Kardashian and Harriet Martineau, and showing us that the Essex girl is not bound by geography. She is a type, representing a very particular kind of female agency, and a very particular kind of disdain: she contains a multitude of women, and it is time to celebrate them.