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Imperial War Museum Wartime Classics
Green Hands
The year is 1943, and a month into their service as Land Girls, Bee, Anne, and Pauline are dispatched to a remote farm in rural Scotland. Here they are introduced to the realities of lending a hand on the land, and grueling work and inhospitable weather makes it a struggle to keep their spirits high. Soon one of the girls falters, and Bee and Pauline receive a new posting to a Northumberland dairy farm.
Based on Barbara Whitton’s own wartime experiences, Green Hands details life for Britain’s women volunteers, illuminating their friendships, daily struggles, and romantic intrigues with intimacy and careful nuance. Originally published in 1943 and repackaged here with a contextual introduction by an Imperial War Museums historian, Whitton’s autobiographical novel paints a sometimes funny, sometimes bleak picture of her wartime past.
Based on Barbara Whitton’s own wartime experiences, Green Hands details life for Britain’s women volunteers, illuminating their friendships, daily struggles, and romantic intrigues with intimacy and careful nuance. Originally published in 1943 and repackaged here with a contextual introduction by an Imperial War Museums historian, Whitton’s autobiographical novel paints a sometimes funny, sometimes bleak picture of her wartime past.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1943
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
July 22, 2025
A fun story and very eye opening about what Land Girls were up against, especially because a lot of them had never been near a farm before. The last few chapters felt a bit repetitive with Pauline but I enjoyed Bee and Pauline’s relationship until then. I think my favorite chapters were about Bee driving the milk van and delivering milk to families. Fascinating and fun characterization with those she encounters on her route. (I could have used more of that!) Though I enjoyed this, I do very much prefer Tea and Hot Bombs by Lorna Lewis, which is about a young woman working in a mobile canteen in the Blitz. But I’m generally a sucker for women’s work on the home front in WWII and I like to speculate about what I would have chosen to do myself. I'm certainly glad I read this.
July 23, 2024
3.5 rounded up. Originally published in 1943, this lightweight account of ten months or so in the life of a land girl reminded me a lot of the semi-autobiographical works of Monica Dickens, but is perhaps a notch less mean-spirited (though there is plenty of class condescension). It's mostly about the farming, which sounds quite realistically exhausting and the quirks of the local characters. That, and the misadventures of Barbara's chum and fellow land girl Pauline who gets teased unmercifully by all and sundry. The war itself is barely referenced at all. Still, an interesting artifact of the times which I mostly enjoyed. I'll be trying more from the Imperial War Museum imprint.
June 1, 2025
An interesting and entertaining look at the life of land girls.
October 1, 2020
For Barbara, Anne and Pauline, their first impressions of what life as a Land Girl entails are not promising. The farm to which they are sent is cold, dark and rather cheerless. And its owner, Farmer Thompson, is scathing about their likely abilities. As they soon discover, the days are long and the weather veers between rain, sleet and more rain. Their initial task – throwing harvested mangolds into a cart – is back-breaking and more difficult than it sounds, especially when your aim is as poor as Anne’s. However, I was enchanted by the description of the mangolds flying in “a golden arc through the air”. (By the way, a “mangold” or mangel-wurzel is a variety of beet.)
Food portions at the farm are rather meagre, so much so that a meal of cold meat, rice pudding and prunes is looked upon as a “gala lunch”. It’s this sort of gentle humour and the camaraderie between the Land Girls that makes Green Hands such an engaging read. For example, I loved how Farmer Thompson is nicknamed ‘Mr Doomsday’ and the son of the family referred to as ‘the woeful Walter’. Ah yes, Walter, with his interminable talk about subjects of very little interest to anyone apart from himself and his inability to realise when he’s out-stayed his welcome. Having said that, he is responsible for a much-needed evening outing, to the cinema in the nearest town to see a Western. Barbara is surprised when the audience join in enthusiastically. “They boo the villain whenever the poor man shows his face and they stamp their feet and shriek with excitement in the final shoot-up.”
Things improve for Barbara and Pauline when they are redeployed to a dairy farm in Northumberland. The family are much more welcoming, with the exception of young Cecil “the Mussolini of the entire farm”. To Pauline’s delight, the food portions are more generous too. Barbara is given responsibility for a milk round and, as she carries out her deliveries, the reader gets a glimpse into the lives of people at different ends of the social spectrum.
As the Land Girls discover, many of the tasks on a farm are characterized by monotony: gathering stones, manure spreading, cutting thistles. The routine is relieved at intervals by the fun of driving the tractor or working with horses. And just occasionally there is time to pause and appreciate the surrounding landscape. “The country is spread out at our feet in all colours of green and golden brown, and looks like a giant patchwork quilt… A black bee, heavy with honey, blunders like a ball of sooty thistledown into the hay beside me, clings for a moment, and then zooms away again high into the sky.”
The great thing about the Wartime Classics series is that, not only does it introduce you to authors you may never have otherwise come across, but the introductions to each book provide fascinating nuggets of information. For example, I was surprised to learn that compulsory conscription of single women was introduced in 1941. I had always assumed that service in the Women’s Land Army or the Auxiliary Services was voluntary. I also hadn’t realised that the Women’s Land Army had originally been formed during the First World War.
Green Hands recounts the realities of life working as a Land Girl with wit and humour, demonstrating the vital role these remarkable women played on the Home Front during World War Two.
Food portions at the farm are rather meagre, so much so that a meal of cold meat, rice pudding and prunes is looked upon as a “gala lunch”. It’s this sort of gentle humour and the camaraderie between the Land Girls that makes Green Hands such an engaging read. For example, I loved how Farmer Thompson is nicknamed ‘Mr Doomsday’ and the son of the family referred to as ‘the woeful Walter’. Ah yes, Walter, with his interminable talk about subjects of very little interest to anyone apart from himself and his inability to realise when he’s out-stayed his welcome. Having said that, he is responsible for a much-needed evening outing, to the cinema in the nearest town to see a Western. Barbara is surprised when the audience join in enthusiastically. “They boo the villain whenever the poor man shows his face and they stamp their feet and shriek with excitement in the final shoot-up.”
Things improve for Barbara and Pauline when they are redeployed to a dairy farm in Northumberland. The family are much more welcoming, with the exception of young Cecil “the Mussolini of the entire farm”. To Pauline’s delight, the food portions are more generous too. Barbara is given responsibility for a milk round and, as she carries out her deliveries, the reader gets a glimpse into the lives of people at different ends of the social spectrum.
As the Land Girls discover, many of the tasks on a farm are characterized by monotony: gathering stones, manure spreading, cutting thistles. The routine is relieved at intervals by the fun of driving the tractor or working with horses. And just occasionally there is time to pause and appreciate the surrounding landscape. “The country is spread out at our feet in all colours of green and golden brown, and looks like a giant patchwork quilt… A black bee, heavy with honey, blunders like a ball of sooty thistledown into the hay beside me, clings for a moment, and then zooms away again high into the sky.”
The great thing about the Wartime Classics series is that, not only does it introduce you to authors you may never have otherwise come across, but the introductions to each book provide fascinating nuggets of information. For example, I was surprised to learn that compulsory conscription of single women was introduced in 1941. I had always assumed that service in the Women’s Land Army or the Auxiliary Services was voluntary. I also hadn’t realised that the Women’s Land Army had originally been formed during the First World War.
Green Hands recounts the realities of life working as a Land Girl with wit and humour, demonstrating the vital role these remarkable women played on the Home Front during World War Two.
September 26, 2020
Green Hands is a fictionalised account of the author’s real life experience as a Land Girl in 1939 and is told from Barbara Whitton’s, or Bee’s, point of view. She tells us the stories of her time working on a farm in Scotland and then onto a dairy farm in Northumberland.
The arduous work and the physical effect on the girls is described in back breaking detail, the weather is mostly awful and their accommodation leaves a lot to be desired, especially when they are in Scotland living and working with the frugal Mr and Mr Thompson. However, everything considered, Bee’s story still comes across as a positive experience as she learns to take pride in her work and proves that women can do a ‘man’s job’.
She writes warmly of the friends she makes, evenings out and witty stories of having to fend off the amorous advances of potential suitors. Bee forms a special friendship with fellow Land Girl Pauline, who is a loveable, clumsy and comical character in contrast to Bee herself who comes across as much more self assured and mature.
It was lovely to read about a different way of life in that era, such as evenings sat listening to the radio, reading and writing letters, the food they ate (lots of tea, bread and jam), the blackout and the proper use of the english language, although it was quite jarring to read the words ‘fat’ and ‘tubby’ so often aimed at the lovely Pauline.
The majority of the book describes working outside and the descriptions of the landscape, animals and nature were absolutely beautiful;
‘The first field of hay is finished … behind him he leaves the broken spears of a vanquished army, their brave plumes broken, and their white bones bleaching in the sun. A host of dying marguerites and clover flowers load the air with the heavy scent of their mortality, and the already laden bees are completely intoxicated’
This book was simply lovely. Intelligently written and completely charming I found myself smiling along as I read all about Bee’s adventures as a Land Girl, as well as being in awe of the strength and determination of these women.
The arduous work and the physical effect on the girls is described in back breaking detail, the weather is mostly awful and their accommodation leaves a lot to be desired, especially when they are in Scotland living and working with the frugal Mr and Mr Thompson. However, everything considered, Bee’s story still comes across as a positive experience as she learns to take pride in her work and proves that women can do a ‘man’s job’.
She writes warmly of the friends she makes, evenings out and witty stories of having to fend off the amorous advances of potential suitors. Bee forms a special friendship with fellow Land Girl Pauline, who is a loveable, clumsy and comical character in contrast to Bee herself who comes across as much more self assured and mature.
It was lovely to read about a different way of life in that era, such as evenings sat listening to the radio, reading and writing letters, the food they ate (lots of tea, bread and jam), the blackout and the proper use of the english language, although it was quite jarring to read the words ‘fat’ and ‘tubby’ so often aimed at the lovely Pauline.
The majority of the book describes working outside and the descriptions of the landscape, animals and nature were absolutely beautiful;
‘The first field of hay is finished … behind him he leaves the broken spears of a vanquished army, their brave plumes broken, and their white bones bleaching in the sun. A host of dying marguerites and clover flowers load the air with the heavy scent of their mortality, and the already laden bees are completely intoxicated’
This book was simply lovely. Intelligently written and completely charming I found myself smiling along as I read all about Bee’s adventures as a Land Girl, as well as being in awe of the strength and determination of these women.
September 28, 2020
Being a Land Girl during the Second World War was not an easy option, and certainly not the clean, picturesque harvesting of the posters. This is a fictionalised memoir of the experiences of Margaret Hazel Watson who wrote under the pen name of Barbara Whitton. This book was first published in 1943 when the War was far from over, and so not celebratory in any sense. It has been republished in the excellent Imperial War Museum Wartime Classics series and made available to a whole new audience.
This is an account of the experience of a Land Girl over a year as she battles with weather, hard back breaking work and uncomfortable lodgings. It also shows her attempting a tricky job and discovering the different tasks connected with harvest. Written with the authentic voice of someone who actually experienced all of the small details of life on the farms as well as the wide range of treatment, Whitton explains how the young women were actually treated as untrained workers and only barely tolerated by some farmers. Indeed two of the girls are greeted by a farmer with the words “Well’, he says in a sort of doleful chant, ‘how do you think you are going to like the land? I doubt if you will last long.” There were eighty thousand women working on the land officially in 1943 after conscription took place, and they were probably subjected to some antagonism as well as gratitude for their efforts. I was really pleased to have the opportunity to read and review this fascinating book.
The book begins with an account of Barbara (called ‘Bee’)and her friend Anne arriving at a Scottish farm called Spital Tongues with a lot of luggage. Asked to share a double and uncomfortable bed is one thing, only having one drawer between them, and depending on candle light is another. Beginning work at six in the morning, they are expected to work until nine without breakfast. It is back breaking work lifting mangolds from the field in freezing sleet, and Anne utters her catch phrase “Any minute now I shall do a roaring pass out”. It is seriously heavy work, and that combined with bad weather and little food makes life difficult. Another girl, Pauline arrives, and the three young women have some adventures together, especially as the son of the house Walter has some designs on Pauline.
Bee and Pauline are then sent to a farm in Northumberland where the work is less challenging but still hard at harvest time. Bee is especially challenged and charmed by her job delivering milk, meeting customers and dealing with calves. There are points of humour and even enjoyment in a job which allows slightly more freedom of movement, even if the work is still hard.
I enjoyed this vivid account of life as a Land Girl at a significant point in history. It is a truthful account of the hard work involved in farming with the minimum of machinery. This is a lively, vivid story of life written with some affection for the people and even the work which must be done. As with other books in the series, this account gives a real voice to people who were there, in all the ups and downs, especially the women. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a first hand account of life on the Home Front, especially women’s experiences, and this is a fascinating book for anyone.
This is an account of the experience of a Land Girl over a year as she battles with weather, hard back breaking work and uncomfortable lodgings. It also shows her attempting a tricky job and discovering the different tasks connected with harvest. Written with the authentic voice of someone who actually experienced all of the small details of life on the farms as well as the wide range of treatment, Whitton explains how the young women were actually treated as untrained workers and only barely tolerated by some farmers. Indeed two of the girls are greeted by a farmer with the words “Well’, he says in a sort of doleful chant, ‘how do you think you are going to like the land? I doubt if you will last long.” There were eighty thousand women working on the land officially in 1943 after conscription took place, and they were probably subjected to some antagonism as well as gratitude for their efforts. I was really pleased to have the opportunity to read and review this fascinating book.
The book begins with an account of Barbara (called ‘Bee’)and her friend Anne arriving at a Scottish farm called Spital Tongues with a lot of luggage. Asked to share a double and uncomfortable bed is one thing, only having one drawer between them, and depending on candle light is another. Beginning work at six in the morning, they are expected to work until nine without breakfast. It is back breaking work lifting mangolds from the field in freezing sleet, and Anne utters her catch phrase “Any minute now I shall do a roaring pass out”. It is seriously heavy work, and that combined with bad weather and little food makes life difficult. Another girl, Pauline arrives, and the three young women have some adventures together, especially as the son of the house Walter has some designs on Pauline.
Bee and Pauline are then sent to a farm in Northumberland where the work is less challenging but still hard at harvest time. Bee is especially challenged and charmed by her job delivering milk, meeting customers and dealing with calves. There are points of humour and even enjoyment in a job which allows slightly more freedom of movement, even if the work is still hard.
I enjoyed this vivid account of life as a Land Girl at a significant point in history. It is a truthful account of the hard work involved in farming with the minimum of machinery. This is a lively, vivid story of life written with some affection for the people and even the work which must be done. As with other books in the series, this account gives a real voice to people who were there, in all the ups and downs, especially the women. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a first hand account of life on the Home Front, especially women’s experiences, and this is a fascinating book for anyone.
October 20, 2024
Review to come!
ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL, stellar writing, full chortle belly-laugh passages and all true!
ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL, stellar writing, full chortle belly-laugh passages and all true!
September 24, 2020
The latest of the IWM Wartime Classics series, Barbara Whitton's charming Green Hands opens in 1943 and follows protagonist Bee as she and her pals work the farmlands of Britain, stepping into jobs previously fulfilled by the menfolk now away fighting for King and country. The Women’s Land Army provided a crucial role during the war, the work gruelling, the hours long, the Land Girls completing their essential tasks largely without thanks, only to have to give up their positions when the war ended and the male workforce returned home expecting to walk back into their jobs. Here, Whitton presents the realities of life as a Land Girl with authenticity, yes, but also with more than a little grace and humour.
This is a lovely book, the pace steady, measured – very different, certainly, to the first books published in this series which were accounts largely of the brutality of life on the Front, of the toll of war. While Green Hands shows the daily hardships imposed on an exhausted domestic population, dealing with a long, difficult and violent global conflict, it is predominantly a book about friendship, loyalty and endurance. Whitton’s account is, in turn, extremely funny, moving and heart-rending, her descriptions of the countryside, farm life, the people compelling. The picture she paints is of a world and society long gone, and for that Green Lands is important, allowing us a snapshot into an important part of our history.
We’re huge fans of the IWM Wartime Classics series and this is a welcome addition to it. So, read Green Hands – and then when you’ve finished, if you haven’t already done so, read the other novels that precede it. Collectively, they provide great insight into the Second World War. But more than that, they’re just damned fine books.
See: https://www.theliteraryshed.co.uk/rea...
This review is based on one published as part of the publisher book tour. Many thanks to the IWM for supplying a review copy. All opinions are our own. All rights reserved.
September 24, 2023
This was a strange one for me. I loved the beginning and the dynamics between Barbara and Anne. The descriptions of the work and how they did it were fascinating. But there is no plot. It is a slice of life book, which i don't mind usually, here it just felt odd. Especially how it just ended abruptly. That's the second world war 2 novel in this collection (by the imperial war museum) that has ended like that. I'm serious to see if that's a regular occurance with books from this time.
November 23, 2024
⭐️ 3,5/5
November 7, 2025
It’s the picture on the cover that attracted me to this book. It suits the story perfectly. Charming, quirky and lovely to read - but perhaps just a little bit bland, even dare I say lightweight.
It’s everything you knew about land girls and the Second World War from films and popular culture, served up as an enjoyable dollop of nostalgia. But it’s slightly unsatisfying insofar as:
- The characters come across as rather two-dimensional. We have semi-jocular descriptions of the land girls’ size and shape (“Anne is short in stature and very round. I am tall and broad” p14) but we never really get into their psychology. I’d have liked, for example, to get to know more about the real Sally behind the devil-may-care vamp with her roguish beret and passion for films and dancing the tango (p48).
- The language tends towards Girls’ Own Story: bright and breezy and slightly reductive. The jaunty tone is sometimes rather tiring - for example, the backbreaking labour of harvesting mangolds at dawn is shrugged off with a jokey comparison to “playing golf” (p20) and school-girl fainting is “a roaring pass out” (p40).
- The structure is slightly formulaic with sixteen bite-size chapters each the same length and each with its own quirky name (“Giltless Gingerbread” is a bit of a mystery, though, as that chapter’s primarily about shovelling pig manure!)
- The narrative sometimes seems just a little bit random - a series of anecdotes, observations and memories that flow without any particular development or analysis.
But perhaps I’m being a bit unfair. This is a semi-autobiographical story written by a 22-year old about her own time as a land girl. Like her, the girls in the story are pretty much fresh out of education, inexperienced teenagers who gave up the comfort and security of the world they knew, and volunteered for a primitive life of hard agricultural labour.
The weather’s extreme, conditions are grim and the locals are dour. Yet the land girls are good humoured, hard working, enthusiastic and tenacious - even when every muscle in their body’s aching and their hands and feet are covered in blisters.
And there are funny moments - quirky observations and moments of merriment - such as:
- Anne and Barbara rolling into each other on the worn-out mattress of the bed they have to share on the farm (p15).
- The farm worker whose brightly patched tweeds make Barbara “wonder fleetingly whether his wife is colour blind or simply of a gay disposition” (p20).
- The loo at the primitive farmhouse that has a “demoniacal” flush and a faulty lock that traps you inside (p51).
- Listening to Norwegian radio which unsurprisingly they can’t understand (“Funny way these chaps talk,” says Mr Smith, the farmer, “wonderingly” p96).
- Innocent Pauline thinking the vet coming to castrate the young bulls has “something to do with castor sugar … feeding the bullocks on sugar beet to keep them small” (p113).
There are also some fascinating period touches:
- Anne calls her Ukulele “George” after national treasure, cheeky-chappie uke-playing comedian, George Formby (p31).
- Glamour for a working girl is a “bright green scarf with an impudent bow” and a “slash of violent lipstick” (p37).
- Anne’s very envious of her best/worst friend Pauline’s signed photo of Hollywood heartthrob, Gary Cooper (p45).
- Every window has to be “blacked out” at night time - to make it more difficult for German bombers to navigate their targets - with the “black-out” enforced by jobs-worth volunteer Air Raid Wardens (p93).
- The hot and heaving harvest dance for the locals in the farm granary, organised by the army boys on their last night before being shipped out, destination unknown.
- Farmer Smith, the land girls’ boss, playfully wrestling with Pauline and calling her “fatty” - one of many revelations about how attitudes have changed on matters of safeguarding, employee rights and what constitutes appropriate behaviour in the workplace!
Finally, as befits a book about the land, I learned some fascinating new rural words:
- Manure is stored in a “hemmel”.
- Cutting the leaves off turnips is called “shawing”.
- A “baigie” is a turnip.
And I especially enjoyed the descriptions of nature - hard frosts and fiery-skied dawns, pungent hedgerows and hay making in the summer - where the endless cycle of the seasons reminds us that even in the depths of war, life regenerates and goes on.
It’s everything you knew about land girls and the Second World War from films and popular culture, served up as an enjoyable dollop of nostalgia. But it’s slightly unsatisfying insofar as:
- The characters come across as rather two-dimensional. We have semi-jocular descriptions of the land girls’ size and shape (“Anne is short in stature and very round. I am tall and broad” p14) but we never really get into their psychology. I’d have liked, for example, to get to know more about the real Sally behind the devil-may-care vamp with her roguish beret and passion for films and dancing the tango (p48).
- The language tends towards Girls’ Own Story: bright and breezy and slightly reductive. The jaunty tone is sometimes rather tiring - for example, the backbreaking labour of harvesting mangolds at dawn is shrugged off with a jokey comparison to “playing golf” (p20) and school-girl fainting is “a roaring pass out” (p40).
- The structure is slightly formulaic with sixteen bite-size chapters each the same length and each with its own quirky name (“Giltless Gingerbread” is a bit of a mystery, though, as that chapter’s primarily about shovelling pig manure!)
- The narrative sometimes seems just a little bit random - a series of anecdotes, observations and memories that flow without any particular development or analysis.
But perhaps I’m being a bit unfair. This is a semi-autobiographical story written by a 22-year old about her own time as a land girl. Like her, the girls in the story are pretty much fresh out of education, inexperienced teenagers who gave up the comfort and security of the world they knew, and volunteered for a primitive life of hard agricultural labour.
The weather’s extreme, conditions are grim and the locals are dour. Yet the land girls are good humoured, hard working, enthusiastic and tenacious - even when every muscle in their body’s aching and their hands and feet are covered in blisters.
And there are funny moments - quirky observations and moments of merriment - such as:
- Anne and Barbara rolling into each other on the worn-out mattress of the bed they have to share on the farm (p15).
- The farm worker whose brightly patched tweeds make Barbara “wonder fleetingly whether his wife is colour blind or simply of a gay disposition” (p20).
- The loo at the primitive farmhouse that has a “demoniacal” flush and a faulty lock that traps you inside (p51).
- Listening to Norwegian radio which unsurprisingly they can’t understand (“Funny way these chaps talk,” says Mr Smith, the farmer, “wonderingly” p96).
- Innocent Pauline thinking the vet coming to castrate the young bulls has “something to do with castor sugar … feeding the bullocks on sugar beet to keep them small” (p113).
There are also some fascinating period touches:
- Anne calls her Ukulele “George” after national treasure, cheeky-chappie uke-playing comedian, George Formby (p31).
- Glamour for a working girl is a “bright green scarf with an impudent bow” and a “slash of violent lipstick” (p37).
- Anne’s very envious of her best/worst friend Pauline’s signed photo of Hollywood heartthrob, Gary Cooper (p45).
- Every window has to be “blacked out” at night time - to make it more difficult for German bombers to navigate their targets - with the “black-out” enforced by jobs-worth volunteer Air Raid Wardens (p93).
- The hot and heaving harvest dance for the locals in the farm granary, organised by the army boys on their last night before being shipped out, destination unknown.
- Farmer Smith, the land girls’ boss, playfully wrestling with Pauline and calling her “fatty” - one of many revelations about how attitudes have changed on matters of safeguarding, employee rights and what constitutes appropriate behaviour in the workplace!
Finally, as befits a book about the land, I learned some fascinating new rural words:
- Manure is stored in a “hemmel”.
- Cutting the leaves off turnips is called “shawing”.
- A “baigie” is a turnip.
And I especially enjoyed the descriptions of nature - hard frosts and fiery-skied dawns, pungent hedgerows and hay making in the summer - where the endless cycle of the seasons reminds us that even in the depths of war, life regenerates and goes on.
December 19, 2025
General Overview
Another great addition to the IWM collection. Green Hands by Barbara Whitton is a charming tale of the Home Front, and the determined young women who did so much. Lighthearted, funny, and moving, its the perfect wholesome story.
Style
Ms Whitton uses her fiction to write about her experiences as a Land Girl. With this as a foundation, our author delivers delightful fiction. Full of character, and deeply descriptive scenes we are given vivid scenes of British agricultural life.
Written in the 2nd person, and with colourful dialogue, we are fully drawn into our protagonist story. It is lighthearted when it needs to be, but honest to the trials of such a life. All of this, tied in with the introduction, covering the purpose of the series, and considered in todays world, sets us up for a great read.
Story
In the autumn of 1943, Bee, as part of the Women's Land Army, heads to rural Scotland with her friend, Anne, to help on the homefront. The 'Land Girls' as they are known, work the land, filling in for the farm boys and labours who have gone off to fight.
They face the gruelling hardships of such manual labour, along with the cultural challenges of city girls in the country, and a 'mans' (mostly) world.
Our heroines get to it with good will, and brace themselves for the hardships of such work. It is truly insightful, once again helped by the experiences of our author. I learnt a great deal about farming, and the flow of the seasons that goes with the work.
With light touches and look at the wider life on the homefront, Green Hands is a story of the wider war effort, and a good one for it.
Final Thoughts
A great read.
Another great addition to the IWM collection. Green Hands by Barbara Whitton is a charming tale of the Home Front, and the determined young women who did so much. Lighthearted, funny, and moving, its the perfect wholesome story.
Style
Ms Whitton uses her fiction to write about her experiences as a Land Girl. With this as a foundation, our author delivers delightful fiction. Full of character, and deeply descriptive scenes we are given vivid scenes of British agricultural life.
Written in the 2nd person, and with colourful dialogue, we are fully drawn into our protagonist story. It is lighthearted when it needs to be, but honest to the trials of such a life. All of this, tied in with the introduction, covering the purpose of the series, and considered in todays world, sets us up for a great read.
Story
In the autumn of 1943, Bee, as part of the Women's Land Army, heads to rural Scotland with her friend, Anne, to help on the homefront. The 'Land Girls' as they are known, work the land, filling in for the farm boys and labours who have gone off to fight.
They face the gruelling hardships of such manual labour, along with the cultural challenges of city girls in the country, and a 'mans' (mostly) world.
Our heroines get to it with good will, and brace themselves for the hardships of such work. It is truly insightful, once again helped by the experiences of our author. I learnt a great deal about farming, and the flow of the seasons that goes with the work.
With light touches and look at the wider life on the homefront, Green Hands is a story of the wider war effort, and a good one for it.
Final Thoughts
A great read.
July 28, 2024
1943, newly-trained Land Girls Bee, Anne and Pauline are posted to a remote farm in rural Scotland where they must quickly adapt to the realities of the job…
I went into this without any particular expectations - my mother-in-law lent it to me and by the time I picked it up, I couldn’t really remember what she’d told me about it - and honestly, what a delight.
There isn’t really a plot, we just follow the life of Bee living and working as a Land Girl during the war, much of which is apparently based on Whitton’s own experiences. I didn’t really know much about the Land Girls, they’re not usually the focus of WWII historical fiction (digging up potatoes is not as glamorous as parachuting into France and joining the Resistance, weirdly), so it was interesting to learn about their (oft over-looked) contribution to the war effort, particularly from an author who experienced it herself.
What made this so enjoyable to read was the writing. It’s thoroughly British: told in that very British “we’re on a jolly great adventure” style and unexpectedly full of self-deprecating humour. Of course the girls are unused to the intensity of physical toil required at their first farm in particular, and also some of the…living conditions, but our narrator presents it all in good-humour and happily laughs at herself and the situations she finds herself in, without glossing over the tough parts. It’s also a lovely story of friendship.
A delightful and unexpectedly amusing story of working as Land Girls during WWII and the bonds of friendship formed.
September 22, 2020
This story is an authentic representation of what life in the Women's Land Army (WLA) was like for many. The land girls worked on the land and maintain the food supply chain for Britain at War. They endured relentless work and ridicule until their vital contribution to the war effort was recognised.
This story prefaced by an introduction from the Imperial War museum which provides salient historical, and social details. Historical details of farming in the war years provides the backdrop for a lovely story of acceptance, friendship, romance, and humour.
Told from Bee's point of view, the story shows how three young girls coped or didn't with life in the land army. The author employs sensual imagery allowing the reader to imagine the characters, events and setting.
There are some important social differences in this book, compared to contemporary society. Women were doing men's work and seen as filling in. After the war, many women didn't remain in the workforce especially in the farming industry.
The book highlights the importance of working as a community and the hardships faced by the land girls and the country as a whole from rationing. It shows another often overlooked contribution to women in the workforce in the 1940s. It provides a dramatic representation of historical facts through relatable characters and events.
I received a copy of this book from The Imperial War Museum in return for an honest review.
This story prefaced by an introduction from the Imperial War museum which provides salient historical, and social details. Historical details of farming in the war years provides the backdrop for a lovely story of acceptance, friendship, romance, and humour.
Told from Bee's point of view, the story shows how three young girls coped or didn't with life in the land army. The author employs sensual imagery allowing the reader to imagine the characters, events and setting.
There are some important social differences in this book, compared to contemporary society. Women were doing men's work and seen as filling in. After the war, many women didn't remain in the workforce especially in the farming industry.
The book highlights the importance of working as a community and the hardships faced by the land girls and the country as a whole from rationing. It shows another often overlooked contribution to women in the workforce in the 1940s. It provides a dramatic representation of historical facts through relatable characters and events.
I received a copy of this book from The Imperial War Museum in return for an honest review.
September 30, 2020
In Green Hands we follow the fortunes of the Land Girls, Bee, Anne and Pauline, and from their awful back breaking challenge of picking mangold wurzels on a truly inhospitable farm in rural Scotland, to their more pleasant experience of working on a Northumberland dairy farm, there was never a dull moment. That the work was physically challenging was never in doubt but I think what truly comes across is the sheer bravado and solid determination of the land girls to succeed in a world which was very different. Keeping their femininity intact, whilst knee deep in muck, was a real challenge but the added touch of a bright scarf or a dash of red lipstick helped to keep their morale high, and good food, especially cake, lifted their spirits.
Based on the author's own experiences of being in the Women's Land Army, reading Green Hands has been like stepping back in time, and the experiences of Bee, Anne and Pauline are brought to life in a way that modern writers of historical fiction don't always succeed. There's nothing like writing about what you know, and Green Hands was written by Barbara Whitton in 1943. In the introduction to the book, we are told that she wrote the first draft of the story in a week, it would seem that the author's Land Army experiences were so vivid that she couldn't wait to put pen to paper!
I'm so glad that the author wrote this fictional account her time in the Women's Land Army, I've enjoyed every well written word.
September 24, 2020
This novel takes a look at life on The Home Front, in rural Britain and follows the lives of three inexperienced recruits to The Land Army. Although the reason for this is sombre, the novel is far from that and the story sparkles with humour and down to earth characters. Bee, Anne and Pauline are sent to parts of the country and out of their comfort zone, set about making the best of things. The farmers they meet are idiosyncratic, with their own dollop of humour and plain speaking. Attempts at romance seem naive, but above all, you feel they depict the flavour of the times.
Another interesting aspect of the story is the attitudes which the girls encounter when some doubt whether women and girls are capable of carrying out the heavy, physical tasks which farm work entails. I am not surprised that the novel has an authentic feel, as the author was herself a member of The Land Army and lived the life she depicts. This must add to the slightly affectionate air you feel towards the subject matter.
In short: Life on the land
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the book
Another interesting aspect of the story is the attitudes which the girls encounter when some doubt whether women and girls are capable of carrying out the heavy, physical tasks which farm work entails. I am not surprised that the novel has an authentic feel, as the author was herself a member of The Land Army and lived the life she depicts. This must add to the slightly affectionate air you feel towards the subject matter.
In short: Life on the land
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the book
January 9, 2021
Green Hands is the epitome of a pass time, of a different way of life and society. It filled me with joy. I smiled and laughed at Auntie Bee, Pauline and Anne ( especially roaring pass out). The characters are beautifully written ( take the referrals to Pauline being called Tubby in the time it was written) and the general let’s just get on with life and put up with the hardships.
One of the best social history books of the Home Front in WW2 I have read.
Absolutely recommend. It is an absolute joy.
One of the best social history books of the Home Front in WW2 I have read.
Absolutely recommend. It is an absolute joy.
May 10, 2024
Green Hands starts in November 1943. A young Bee (Barbara) and her friend Anne who have volunteered for the Land Army have just arrived at Spital Tongues, the Thompson's Farm in Scotland and are settling into their shared room, bemoaning the rather primitive conditions, not to mention the extreme cold, the blackouts and meagre food portions. They meet Walter Thompson the son of the family, who becomes an increasing menace over the course of their stay, and the next morning they start work on the farm. From mangold topping to potato picking to muck spreading, it is back breaking, manual work in wet and icy cold temperatures. The saving grace is a sitting room of their own to relax, read, write letters home and knit. Later, Pauline a girl they knew once at school and disliked, arrives. Walter at least leaves them alone and pursues Pauline instead. After a few days, Anne who is very unhappy and extremely worn out, decides to leave, and Barbara becomes a mother figure to Pauline, looking after her and helping her fight off Walter.
Barbara returns home for Christmas in London and then receives new orders to go to the Stoney Hall Dairy Farm in Wallburgh run by the Smith family. Here she does a milk round (amongst other things), there is a lot to learn but she enjoys the driving and getting to know the local people. She delivers milk to an American service base and meets Dicky, a Sergeant. The book finishes with a dance Bee organises at Mr Smith's barn with all the American servicemen, but it is a last hurrah, as Dicky announces that they are moving on.
This is an autobiographical novel. Maybe some of the names have changed? but otherwise it feels very real and I think it would have worked better as a memoir, and by the end of the book it felt like one anyway. Barbara writes very positively and she comes across as a strong, independent woman. I really enjoyed this and found the detail of the work undertaken by the Land Army and the conditions they lived in, extremely interesting.
Barbara returns home for Christmas in London and then receives new orders to go to the Stoney Hall Dairy Farm in Wallburgh run by the Smith family. Here she does a milk round (amongst other things), there is a lot to learn but she enjoys the driving and getting to know the local people. She delivers milk to an American service base and meets Dicky, a Sergeant. The book finishes with a dance Bee organises at Mr Smith's barn with all the American servicemen, but it is a last hurrah, as Dicky announces that they are moving on.
This is an autobiographical novel. Maybe some of the names have changed? but otherwise it feels very real and I think it would have worked better as a memoir, and by the end of the book it felt like one anyway. Barbara writes very positively and she comes across as a strong, independent woman. I really enjoyed this and found the detail of the work undertaken by the Land Army and the conditions they lived in, extremely interesting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 28, 2025
3.5 rounded up.
Delightful character study based on first-hand experiences of life within the Women's Land Army during the start of WW2. Loved reading about the friendships and farm life that these chums went through, and was surprised at how humourous it was. Although admittedly, some of the descriptions regarding the harvest lost me in parts. Reading it though a contemporary lens, there is a lot of fatphobia to note, however.
Delightful character study based on first-hand experiences of life within the Women's Land Army during the start of WW2. Loved reading about the friendships and farm life that these chums went through, and was surprised at how humourous it was. Although admittedly, some of the descriptions regarding the harvest lost me in parts. Reading it though a contemporary lens, there is a lot of fatphobia to note, however.
April 1, 2025
Loved this, very vivid, gritty and fun too! Also, who knew there was so much involved with harvesting - sheaves and all. Loved the milk deliveries too- yes living in a village is just like this, I covered a paper round for someone once and it was just as bad, indecipherable notes, little quirks at each place etc. A great read really adding some colour to the land girl posters we are familiar with.
January 22, 2023
Reading the first few pages I wasn't sure whether I was going to like this book but then I got into the swing of it and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a valuable, slightly fictionalised account of the author's life in the Women's Land Army, written in a rather idiosyncratic style but with a great deal of good humour - highly recommended.
August 22, 2023
Perfection. Warm, funny and fascinating, this is such a beautiful portrayal of life as a land girl. Whitton writes so playfully while bringing such richness to all of the demands of working on a farm in 1939 and it was an absolute delight to read. I've read that she wrote more, and I'd love to track it down, as a lil search hasn't been super revealing (pseudonym excepted!!)
August 1, 2025
I can see why this didn’t become a classic the way other wartime books have, but it was fun to read something of the time about the time. Because the author wrote it shortly after her time doing the actual work, it was a good look at how things were, and it was nice to see how many feelings and experiences hold true all these years later. It was also quite funny in bits!
February 19, 2021
Nothing groundbreaking and nothing much really happens but at no point was I bored and I actually learned a few things (not hard considering I'd never heard of the Women's Land Army before).
December 7, 2024
A fascinating first-hand account of being a land girl during World War II.
May 1, 2025
Interesting and quite funny!
October 30, 2025
Reminiscences of experiences serving in the Woman's Land Army during WWII, written under a pseudonym. One of the Imperial War Museum's reprints of 1940s novels, Green Hands provides a record of women who were conscripted/volunteered to help farmers harvest crops and make England self-sufficient in food production.
The account is a generally upbeat account of the women's experiences harvesting wheat, beets, and delivering milk.
The account is a generally upbeat account of the women's experiences harvesting wheat, beets, and delivering milk.
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