Re-enacting as a hobby, no matter what era you are interested in, may seem like an odd way to spend your time but if you’re into ‘vintage’ it’s a perfect way to wear fashions of old & mix with like minded people. The people you meet along the way make it all the more interesting. The elderly often visit these events to reminisce ‘the good times’ & their stories are heart warming & often courageous.

This is the story of Iris the Land Army Girl.

Iris

Iris was from a large family.
When the war broke out she wanted to do what she could for the war effort. She joined the Women’s Land Army and was signed up as part of the Timber Corps.  She soon found herself miles from home, alone in a strange rural place.  No other girls were placed nearby.

She worked as part of a workforce.  There were older men, who were past the age of being able to serve as a soldier, and young men that were waiting to be old enough to sign up.

At first she was daunted by the thought of being surrounded by males.  She had only ever really spent time in the company of her sisters and mother.  Her fears were thankfully unfounded.  As time went by, the men treated her with respect and began to look out for her.

She grew to love the corduroy trousers, airtex shirt and little green beret that she was given as a uniform and she wore her badges with pride.

Her jobs were varied and she always worked hard during the day.  She occasionally had to help cut the trees down with large saws.  It required skill in order to saw through and fell the thick trees.  She then had to measure the trees that had been felled and document their size as each man was paid on a piece work system.

Iris also worked in the office, calculating the men’s pay at the end of each week.  She had to work long hours and at the end of each day, retired to her lodgings in a house in the village.

The Dress

Iris remembered  being told by her landlady that there was a dance in the village hall that weekend.  She asked if she’d like to go, Iris said she would love to but unfortunately had nothing suitable to wear.

The landlady, who became her good friend, got out a box of sewing patterns that her Aunt had sent her from America.  She offered to lend Iris one so that she could make her own dress along with some pink floral rayon fabric that she had left over.

The dress making pattern that she chose was based on something that a Hollywood starlet might have worn.  It had a sweetheart neckline and a cute heart shaped pocket.

Iris did a bit of sewing each night as soon as she got home from work.  She used an old hand turning sewing machine.  Like many other girls in the 1940s, she’d learnt her sewing skills from her mother.

The Dance

By the time Saturday night had arrived her dress was done. They set off for the dance and decided to go to the pub first, all eyes were on them and one particular pair of eyes were staring at her.
They belonged to a good looking soldier who eventually came over and asked her if she would like another drink.  She declined, explaining that she was about to leave in order to go to the dance next door.  He asked her if she minded him tagging along with them. She didn’t.

Tom

She danced the night away with her friend and Tom the soldier, she remembers feeling very special in her new dress and Tom complimented her on it. Tom went back on duty two days later, he promised to write to her and he kept his promise.

Every time he had some leave, Tom would visit Iris and she would make sure she wore her pretty dress when he took her dancing.

A few years passed and the war came to an end, as did Iris’ job, she returned home to her family. When Tom left the army he proposed to Iris and they married two years later. They had three children, and a happy life together.

Iris has told her story to her daughter many times and although Iris is very forgetful these days, her daughter is able to fill in the missing parts of her life story for her and loves sharing it with others, she is very proud of her mother.

Her daughter said that still hung in her mother’s wardrobe is that very same pink dress that she made all those years ago, the dress that her mother wore when she met her father.

A very special dress.