By the 1930s, wind generators for electricity were common on farms, mostly in the United States where distribution systems had not yet been installed. In this period, high-tensile steel was cheap, and the generators were placed atop prefabricated open steel lattice towers.
A forerunner of modern horizontal-axis wind generators was in service at Yalta, USSR in 1931. This was a 100 kW generator on a 30-meter (98 ft) tower, connected to the local 6.3 kV distribution system. It was reported to have an annual capacity factor of 32 percent, not much different from current wind machines.
In the autumn of 1941, the first megawatt-class wind turbine was synchronized to a utility grid in Vermont. The Smith-Putnam wind turbine only ran for 1,100 hours before suffering a critical failure. The unit was not repaired, because of shortage of materials during the war.
A windpump is a type of windmill which is used for pumping water. Windpumps were used to pump water since at least the 9th century in what is now Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. Windmills were later used extensively in Europe, particularly in the Netherlands and the East Anglia area of Great Britain, from the late Middle Ages onwards, to drain land for agricultural or building purposes.
Multi-bladed wind pumps can be found worldwide and are manufactured in the United States, Argentina, China, New Zealand, and South Africa. A 16 ft (4.8 m) diameter wind pump can lift up to 1600 US gallons (about 6.4 metric tons) of water per hour to an elevation of 100 ft with a 15 to 20 mph wind (24–32 km/h). However they take a strong wind to start so they turn over the crank of the piston pump. Wind pumps require little maintenance—usually only a change of gear box oil annually. An estimated 60,000 wind pumps are still in use in the United States. They are particularly attractive for use at remote sites where electric power is not available and maintenance is difficult to provide.
A common multi-bladed windpump usefully pumps with about 4%–8% of the annual windpower passing through the area it sweeps] This lower conversion is due to poor load matching between wind rotors and fixed-stroke piston pumps.
A solar-powered pump is a pump running on electricity generated by photovoltaic panels or the radiated thermal energy available from collected sunlight as opposed to grid electricity or diesel run water pumps. The operation of solar powered pumps is more economical mainly due to the lower operation and maintenance costs and has less environmental impact than pumps powered by an internal combustion engine (ICE). Solar pumps are useful where grid electricity is unavailable and alternative sources (in particular wind) do not provide sufficient energy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar-powered_pump
Women's Land Army June 1939 - 1950
The Women's Land Army (WLA) was established in World War One, but was re-founded shortly before the outbreak of World War Two, in June 1939, to provide extra agricultural labour. The government feared that if war broke out there would be food shortages. Britain, then as now, relied heavily on imported food, and it was thought that imports would be threatened by anticipated German blockades. In addition, many male farm workers were expected to join up, leaving a shortage of labour. The government was also keen to increase food production by reclaiming pasture and unused land for growing crops.
Women were initially asked to volunteer for the WLA. However, in December 1941 the government passed the National Service Act, which allowed the conscription of women into the armed forces or for vital war work. At first only single women between 20 and 30, and widows without children, were called up, but later the age limit was expanded to include women between 19 and 43. Women could choose whether to enter the armed forces or work in farming or industry. By 1943, more than 80,000 women were working in the Land Army. They were nicknamed Land Girls.
The Land Girls did a wide range of jobs, including milking cows, lambing, managing poultry, ploughing, gathering crops, digging ditches, catching rats and carrying out farm maintenance work. Some 6,000 women worked in the Timber Corps, chopping down trees and running sawmills.
All of these women worked long hours, especially during the summer, mostly outdoors and often in cold and rain. There was minimal training and most women were expected to learn about agricultural work while they were actually doing it. The Land Girls lived either on the farms where they worked, or in hostels.
They came from a wide variety of backgrounds, with more than one third from London and other large cities. Some were homesick, and many farmers were initially sceptical about employing young women on their farms, but people soon came to realise how useful most of them were.
Initially, Land Girls earned £1.85 for a minimum of 50 hours work a week. In 1944, wages were increased by £1 to £2.85. However, as the wages were paid by the farmer, rather than directly by the state, it was difficult to ensure that everyone was paid properly.
There was a Land Army uniform of green jumpers, brown breeches or dungarees, brown felt hats and khaki overcoats. As the Land Army was not a military force, however, uniform was not compulsory. The WLA badge depicted a wheat sheaf as a symbol of their agricultural work. There was also an official magazine The Land Girl, and a special song:
Back to the Land, we must all lend a hand,
To the farms and the fields we must go,
There's a job to be done,
Though we can't fire a gun,
We can still do our bit with the hoe.
The WLA came under the control of the Ministry of Agriculture, but its head was the formidable Lady Denman. Married to the former Governor General of Australia, Lady Denman was a leading figure in the Women's Institute movement, and also had a close interest in rural affairs. Her home, Balcombe Place in Sussex, became the WLA headquarters. Each district had its own WLA representative, who was expected to ensure the Land Girls were being treated well and were working effectively.
The Land Army was disbanded in 1950. Although the work was hard, conditions were often bad and the pay was low, many women enjoyed the experience, and formed lifelong friendships with fellow Land Girls.
Women joining the Women's Land Army were issues a simple uniform consisting of 2 green sweaters, 2 pairs of brown breeches (either twill or corduroy), 1 pair of brown overalls, 6 pairs of brown long woolen socks, 3 shirts, a green tie, a pair of shoes, a pair of ankle boots, a pair of tall boots, 2 overcoats, 1 raincoat, and a brown floppy hat or beret. http://raleighvintage.blogspot.ca/2012/03/1940s-land-girls-uniform.html
The general opinion held that land girls wore too much in the winter and too little in the summer! My uniform consisted of cordrouy breeched, strong brown leather shoes, long woollen socks, fawn cotton aertex T shirts, fine cotton long sleeved fawn shirts and a tap tie band at the waist, fawn felt hat with a Women's Land Army Badge, dark green tie with WLA letters and a dark green woollen jumper. One pair gumboots, two overall coats in light khaki and one long dark green oilskin. The servicemens requirements came first without a question.
Reality hit me the first morning when we were told to meet a lorry at 6.30am in the village. it was dark, very dark. I felt cold and tired. I was convinced the village clocks had been tampered with. I had to break the ice in the water jug before washing. My oilskin crackled. It smelled of disinfectant. I wore umpteen layers of everything I could lay my hands on. I could hardly walk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/55/a2891955.shtml
This quotation from Lady Denman, the Director of the Women’s Land Army, sums up the importance of the Land Girls during World War Two. For many girls, the ‘phoney war’ was all too soon becoming a reality as they had the opportunity to do ‘their bit’ and enrol for the Women’s Land Army. Please see below a timeline of key events for the WW2 Women’s Land Army.
1938: Lady Denman is approached by the Ministry of Agriculture to re-form the Women’s Land Army. She begins go make plans in terms of national organisation and recruitment, but there are delays in taking these proposals forward.
25th January 1939: A National Service handbook lists the ‘Women’s Land Army’ as one of the civilian organisations which women could volunteer to join in the event of war.
1st June 1939: The Women’s Land Army is re-formed, with Lady Gertrude Denman as Honorary Director. Recruitment begins for Land Girls in earnest. Wages were set as follows: 28 shillings (£1.40) weekly pay (10 shillings less than the average farm wage at that time) for a 50 hour week (48 in winter). Half of that (70p) to pay for food and accommodation.
29th August 1939: Lady Denman sets up the Women’s Land Army headquarters at her home, Balcombe Place, Hayward Heath, West Sussex.
1st September 1939: Germany invades Poland.
3rd September 1939: War is declared on Germany by Britain, the British Empire and France.
December 1939: 4,500 Land Girls working on the land.
January 1940: Food rationing begins in Britain.
April 1940: The Land Girl, a monthly magazine, is published by the Women’s Land Army, with Margaret Pyke as its editor.
June 1940: 6,000 Land Girls working on the land.
March 1941: ‘The Land Girl’ launches a national appeal for members to recruit other new volunteers. New minimum wage from 1st March 1941: 32 shillings (£1.60) (for up to 48 hours a week) for a Land Girl billeted off the form, 16 shillings (80p) for a Land Girl billeted on the farm (plus free board and lodging), plus overtime pay.
May 1941: All British women aged between 19-40 have to register at labour exchanges for war work.
June 1941: 14,000 Land Girls working on the land.
July 1941: HM Queen Elizabeth agreed to become Patron of the Women’s Land Army.
September 1941: ‘In the Event of Invasion’, Land Girls are encouraged to stick to their jobs, but ‘The Land Girl’ issues advice on how to disable tractors if in real danger of capture by the enemy.
December 1941: Churchill’s wartime government passes National Service Act (No.2), allowing for the conscription of women.
29th December 1941: Minimum wages increased to 38 shillings for 48 hour week (or 18 shillings with free bed and board).
April 1942: The Women’s Timber Corps is formed in Britain. More than 4,000 Lumber Jill’s are employed in forestry throughout the war. They were employed by the Home Timber Production Department of the Ministry of Supply.
20th April 1942: Miss Clemence Dane, in a BBC radio broadcast, refers to the Women’s Land Army as the ‘Cinderella Service’, in the notion that it is taken for granted and its importance being overlooked. This is the first time the Women’s Land Army is referred to as the ‘Cinderella Service’.
June 1942: 40,000 Land Girls working on the land. The Land Army Benevolent Fund is started by Lady Denman to provide financial assistance to Land Girls who suffered illness or accident as a result of their work.
3rd July 1942: Queen Elizabeth hosts a 3rd birthday party for the Women’s Land Army.
February 1943: 53,500 Land Girls working on the land.
June 1943: 65,000 Land Girls working on the land – producing 70% of Britain’s food.
August 1943: Recruitment to the Women’s Land Army is stopped by a decision of the War Cabinet (more workers were needed in the aircraft production industry).
29th August 1943: BBC Women’s Land Army broadcast referred to the uniform rationing clothing coupon arrangements, Women’s Land Army correspondence courses in agriculture and horticulture and Proficiency Tests begin.
December 1943: 80,000 Land Girls working on the land.
3rd January 1944: Recruitment to the Women’s Land Army re-opens.
May 1944: Women’s Land Army headquarters moves back to London, but returns to Sussex after doodlebug attacks begin.
July 1944: First complete series of Proficiency Tests had been completed.
January 1945: Special consideration given to Land Girls who had been in the Land Army for 3 or more years who want to transfer to their home counties.
16th February 1945: Lady Denman resigns as director of the Women’s Land Army over the decision to exclude members of the Land Girls from post-war financial benefits.
1930s
Agriculture was still deep in depression, and with few private landowners having money to invest in forestry there was comparatively little planting. But the Commission's estates continued to increase, reaching 909,000 acres by 1934. Of these 316,000 were under plantation. The main market for timber was as pit props, with fast-developing heavy industries almost completely dependent on coal. This emphasis was to be maintained throughout the war years.
In 1937 the Commission began working with the Board of Trade to draw up detailed plans for felling in the event of war. To maintain a home timber supply, three categories were identified:
woods which could be felled immediately (mature stands);
woods which could be felled if necessary (slightly younger or slightly older trees);
and woods to be felled only in extreme need.
The Home Grown Timber Advisory Committee was established in 1939 as part of these preparations. On the day war broke out, the Commission was divided in two: the Forest Management Department, to carry on its normal activities, and the Timber Supply Department to deal with war demands. The Commission remained in charge of the home timber supply until 1941, when the responsibility was given to the Timber Production Department of the Ministry of Supply.
Research was confined almost exclusively to species selection, establishment and nursery work, with experiments in peatland research in northern Scotland.
As for so many things, the Second World War and its aftermath had a major impact on forestry in Britain.
During the War, Commission forests produced more than 51 million cubic feet of wood. Even so, 90 per cent of timber used in the war effort came from private estates, supplying pit props for mines producing the coal on which so many of the armaments and other industries depended.
1940s
Because they were the most mature the Forest of Dean and the New Forest bore the brunt of wartime felling, with almost all conifers aged 20-35 in the New Forest cut. In all, 29,530 acres of Commission forest were clearfelled between 1940 and 1946, with 53,000 acres heavily thinned. The number of people employed rose from 14,000 in August 1939 to 44,300 in February 1941 - including several thousand members of the Women’s Timber Corps, affectionately christened ‘the Lumberjills’. But it wasn’t all felling. Over 100,000 acres were planted during the war years, and 133,000 acres acquired for forestry. Licences for timber felling were introduced during the war and retained afterwards as a conservation measure.
Once the War was over restoring the forest estate became a priority for the Commission, and there was a marked increase in the acquisition of felled or derelict woodlands. Many of these were planted with broadleaves, especially in south east England. But forestry was repeatedly to clash with agriculture interests as the need to produce home grown food increased, and planting was gradually moved out to land which was unsuitable for other crops.
The Forties saw the beginning of the expansion of the Commissions research work, which in the next few years was to grow out of all recognition. The Engineering Branch was founded virtually from scratch, under Chief Engineer Major-General H P W Hutson, with the twin function of building forest roads and maintaining machinery.
