Formed in 1939, the Women's Land Army (WLA) made a significant contribution to boosting Britain's food production during WW2. With many male agricultural workers joining the armed forces, women were needed to provide a replacement rural workforce. At its peak in 1944, there were more than 80,000 'Land Girls' in the WLA.Land girls did a wide variety of jobs on the land including a specialist forestry branch called the Timber Corps. Fondly known as ‘Lumber Jills’ they helped prepare timber urgently needed pit props, telegraph poles and other construction purposes. Around 6,000 women worked in the Timber Corps.