Tea Party for Lumber Jills

From Mail Online

They were part of the Women's Land Army that kept Britain in business while their menfolk were away at war. But few are likely to have heard of the Lumber Jills and their vital contribution to the country's war effort.

The Women's Timber Corps (WTC), which was set up in the First World War but not formalised in 1942 by the Ministry of Supply (Home Grown Timber Department), worked in the forests to provide wood for the war effort, felling trees, sawing logs and sharpening saws.

It was gruelling, backbreaking work - often carried out in harsh conditions - but 6,000 young women, some only in their mid teens, tackled it without a peep of protest.

Girls were officially recruited from the age of 17 - although some who joined were as young as 14 - and came from all kinds of backgrounds and all walks of life.

Those who needed training were sent to and billeted at training camps such as Shandford Lodge, near Brechin, and then posted to wherever they were needed. -
predominantly in Scotland.

Yet despite their remarkable contribution there was no official recognition of the WTC's efforts during the war - in fact many refer to them as the ‘Forgotten Corps'.