The Truth Behind They Fought In the Fields:
When war broke out, farming which had been a rather depressed industry suddenly became really vital. Farmers actually benefited from the war. On the outbreak of war County War Agricultural Executive committees were set up throughout the country. Local farmers on the committee were given the power to issue 'ploughing up' orders to neighbouring farmers. This could lead to bitter arguments and the flaring up of ancient grudges.
Just as Foyle discovers at the Land Army hostel, meat was more plentiful in farming communities and many stories abounded over the dubious means farmers must have gone to provide this.
Of all the volunteers who came to help the British farmer during the war the most numerous and the most useful were the members of the Women's Land Army. This came into existence in June 1939 when a register began to be compiled of women willing to give up their day jobs for farm work if war came.
The aim was not to recruit country girls, but to attract girls from factories, offices and shops who had always longed for an open-air life. "Many military reservists were far from eager to go when the call came. Not so the land girls. One, asked by telephone on 1 September how soon she could be ready, replied, quite seriously, 'can you give me twenty minutes?'"
By 1943 there were nearly 90,000 land girls, aged from 18 to 40. The girls worked hard for very little pay often in appalling conditions. In many respects a land girl was even worse off than a service-woman, with less leave, fewer free travel warrants, extremely low pay (only 28 shillings a week in 1941) and always at the end of the queue for uniforms.
When gumboots became scarce it was the Land Army who needed them most who went without. One land girl tells how gumboots were patched with cycle puncture outfits, but they always leaked. Work in all seasons was gruelling and in winter girls would turn purple with cold.
For those like They Fought In The Fields' Barbara who cherished their independence, the Timber Corps was a good option. Members toured the country selecting growing trees as poles for telegraph poles and roadblocks, loaded down with paint-pot, callipers, billhooks and other tools of the trade.
Behind the scenes with Production Designer, Martyn John
They Fought in the Fields focuses on a farm where members of the Women's Land Army are billeted.
"We had to plough and furrow a 10-acre farm for the girls to film in. I only had two days to get a farm ready, with various paddocks and fields taken back to 1941. These are massive areas of set dressing and the scale was quite daunting.
"It was the wrong time of year to plant potatoes so we had to find a farm supplier who would grow chittings, potatoes that have sprouted. We had ploughing machinery and had to get a woman to plough with two horses. The logistics were huge, but we got there in the end.
"We needed cows to milk, but because of the foot and mouth crisis it's difficult to move cattle around the country. They have to stay on pastures for a week before they can be moved. A cow is £50 a day and we needed 12, and then you have to pay for them for the week. So we had to find a farm that had cows that were about to give birth, so we could milk them. We were very lucky to find the right farm in Ware.
"In comparison, the period tractor was easy to find. Motor House Cars are a company I use and they can get me any vehicle. We repainted it to make it look like a new tractor, as that's in the script."
The episode also sees Foyle investigating a crashed German plane.
"This time we needed a Dornier to crash and that was made up from bits of the crashed Spitfire from Enemy Fire, so that saw another life. One airman lands in a tree, so we had to get a parachute into the branches with the man hanging below. We couldn't get the right machinery into the field but we solved it by hiring a tree surgeon - he draped the parachute in the tree under our direction.
Land Girl's Hostel - Braughing, Hertfordshire
Photos generously supplied by the Braughing Community Website
When war broke out, farming which had been a rather depressed industry suddenly became really vital. Farmers actually benefited from the war. On the outbreak of war County War Agricultural Executive committees were set up throughout the country. Local farmers on the committee were given the power to issue 'ploughing up' orders to neighbouring farmers. This could lead to bitter arguments and the flaring up of ancient grudges.Just as Foyle discovers at the Land Army hostel, meat was more plentiful in farming communities and many stories abounded over the dubious means farmers must have gone to provide this.
Of all the volunteers who came to help the British farmer during the war the most numerous and the most useful were the members of the Women's Land Army. This came into existence in June 1939 when a register began to be compiled of women willing to give up their day jobs for farm work if war came.
The aim was not to recruit country girls, but to attract girls from factories, offices and shops who had always longed for an open-air life. "Many military reservists were far from eager to go when the call came. Not so the land girls. One, asked by telephone on 1 September how soon she could be ready, replied, quite seriously, 'can you give me twenty minutes?'"
By 1943 there were nearly 90,000 land girls, aged from 18 to 40. The girls worked hard for very little pay often in appalling conditions. In many respects a land girl was even worse off than a service-woman, with less leave, fewer free travel warrants, extremely low pay (only 28 shillings a week in 1941) and always at the end of the queue for uniforms.
When gumboots became scarce it was the Land Army who needed them most who went without. One land girl tells how gumboots were patched with cycle puncture outfits, but they always leaked. Work in all seasons was gruelling and in winter girls would turn purple with cold.For those like They Fought In The Fields' Barbara who cherished their independence, the Timber Corps was a good option. Members toured the country selecting growing trees as poles for telegraph poles and roadblocks, loaded down with paint-pot, callipers, billhooks and other tools of the trade.
Behind the scenes with Production Designer, Martyn John
They Fought in the Fields focuses on a farm where members of the Women's Land Army are billeted.
"We had to plough and furrow a 10-acre farm for the girls to film in. I only had two days to get a farm ready, with various paddocks and fields taken back to 1941. These are massive areas of set dressing and the scale was quite daunting.
"It was the wrong time of year to plant potatoes so we had to find a farm supplier who would grow chittings, potatoes that have sprouted. We had ploughing machinery and had to get a woman to plough with two horses. The logistics were huge, but we got there in the end.
"We needed cows to milk, but because of the foot and mouth crisis it's difficult to move cattle around the country. They have to stay on pastures for a week before they can be moved. A cow is £50 a day and we needed 12, and then you have to pay for them for the week. So we had to find a farm that had cows that were about to give birth, so we could milk them. We were very lucky to find the right farm in Ware.
"In comparison, the period tractor was easy to find. Motor House Cars are a company I use and they can get me any vehicle. We repainted it to make it look like a new tractor, as that's in the script."
The episode also sees Foyle investigating a crashed German plane.
"This time we needed a Dornier to crash and that was made up from bits of the crashed Spitfire from Enemy Fire, so that saw another life. One airman lands in a tree, so we had to get a parachute into the branches with the man hanging below. We couldn't get the right machinery into the field but we solved it by hiring a tree surgeon - he draped the parachute in the tree under our direction.
Land Girl's Hostel - Braughing, Hertfordshire
Photos generously supplied by the Braughing Community Website