Tractor

This Fordson Model “N” Tractor, vehicle registration no. 235 VJO, was made by the Ford Motor Company of America, at their works in Dagenham near London. It was first registered in 1937/38, and was used on a farm at Gallowstree Common in South Oxfordshire.

During and after the First World War, thousands of Fordson tractors were imported from America. The tractor was made in sufficient numbers to be affordable for ordinary farmers, and so became a factor in the switch to mechanisation on farms.

The Women’s Land Army came into being in the First World War, 1914-1918, but re-formed for the Second World War. This uniform was standard issue to the young women, many of whom were teenagers, who enlisted during 1939-1945. Their uniform had to be very hard-wearing. The women worked long and arduous hours, keeping farms in production to feed the nation. They did all the farm and forestry work usually done by men, for minimal pay. Many women continued to work on the land after the war, until the men returned from the forces and reclaimed their jobs.