FORMER members of the Women's Land Army are being invited to a reunion to mark the first official recognition of their contribution to the Home Front.
Beverley and Holderness MP Graham Stuart is planning a formal presentation ceremony to congratulate those in his constituency who have been awarded a Women's Land Army or Timber Corps Veterans' Badge, pictured left.
Following the Government's deci
sion last year to award the badge, a national ceremony will be held in Downing Street on next Wednesday attended by about 50 veterans from across the country, and Mr Stuart would like to hold a separate event to honour local recipients.
He said: "There's been an outstanding reaction to the announcement of this award, with more than 29,000 applications, and yet only a small number of people will be able to attend the national ceremony at the end of the month.
"I'd like to offer all those veterans who live in my constituency and who have collected their badges the opportunity to celebrate their achievements with a formal ceremony. All they have to do is contact my office and once we've got a proper idea of the numbers involved we'll book the venue and arrange a date."
The Women's Land Army, also as the Land Girls, was formed during the First and Second World Wars to allow men working in agriculture to fight. By 1943 there were 80,000 young women performing a range of tasks from milking cows to digging ditches, sowing seeds and harvesting crops.
The Women's Timber Corps, who became known as the Lumber Jills, worked in the forests to provide timber for the war effort, felling trees, sawing timber and sharpening saws
The commemorative badge was revealed last December.
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