Duty and Recognition in the Australian Women’s Land Army

Were the Australian Women’s Land Army really the Fourth Service? Many women who joined the Australian Women’s Land Army, saw their war work as members of Australia’s women’s auxiliary services – they had the uniforms, the rules and regulations to follow, they would go wherever in the country they were sent, they would not unionise. Yet, by the time the war ended, it was made abundantly clear that they were not officially an auxiliary service, and they would not be granted any of the privileges of the services. In this presentation, Jessie Matheson explores the conditions under which AWLA workers lived and served, and what happened to them once the war was over.