Press Releases

Dig for Victory with the Museum of Welsh Life

Royal Welsh Agricultural Show 18–21 July 2005

When war broke in 1939, the government launched its "Grow More Food" campaign that famously became known as “Dig for Victory”. Every spare piece of scrub land or garden was turned into a vegetable or fruit plot to feed the nation and the forces with over 87,000 women becoming members of the Women's Land Army. The Land Girls performed hard, physical work on the land, on farms and forests, nurseries and market gardens and provided Britain with vital supplies.

To remember the vital role played by the Land Girls in Wales and the Dig for Victory campaign, the Museum of Welsh Life will transport visitors at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show back to life in Wales during the Second World War with an Austerity Garden, complete with Anderson Shelter and period fruit, herbs and vegetables.

“With increasing numbers of farm workers being called up, and more land being turned over to produce food, Land Girls provided the essential extra labour needed on farms and in gardens” says Juliet Hodgkiss, Head Garden Conservator at St Fagans. ”St Fagans Castle lost most of its staff as they were called to arms and the Land Girls looked after the grounds and gardens, turning many of the borders and manicured gardens that you see at the Museum today into much needed fruit and vegetable plots.”

At the RWAS, the garden conservators at St Fagans will be on hand to advise and demonstrate how to tend and grow fresh produce, often in aluminium buckets or baths. Dressed as Land Girls or civilians in Wales during the war, the Museum will continue its year-long examination and celebration of the contribution made by the Welsh nation to the war effort, collecting memories and stories from visitors, tending the garden and explaining the vital role of fresh produce to the nation's diet as most other foods were strictly rationed. There will be a chance to see the rations provided for each adult during the war, try on gas masks and step back in time to a vital but turbulent time in our recent history.

“It is so important that we remember the contribution made by gardeners and the Land Girls to the war effort” continues Juliet. “The WLA were not given the same rights as women in the armed services, and they became known as the 'Cinderella Service', yet their sheer hard work and contribution to the war effort was immeasurable. We also know from the letters and oral history collection at the Museum that they had an awful lot of fun and their undoubted independence must certainly have played a part in the further emancipation of women in Britain.”

Other NMGW sites are the National Museum & Gallery, Cardiff, Big Pit: National Mining Museum — winner of this year's prestigious Gulbenkian Prize — Roman Legionary Museum, Caerleon, National Woollen Museum, Dref fach Felindre and the Welsh Slate Museum, Llanberis. Opening later this year is the National Waterfront Museum Swansea, telling the stories of the people, industry and innovation of Wales.

Entry to all NMGW sites is free, thanks to the support of the Welsh Assembly Government.