Fond recollections of the late Monica Hall of Ilmington who came from the city as a land army girl in 1941 and never went home
Tributes have been paid to Monica ‘Terry’ Hall of Ilmington who died peacefully aged 99 at Cedar Lawn Care Home, Stratford, on 3rd August.
She arrived in south Warwickshire from Birmingham as a land girl during the Second World War and fell in love with the countryside, eventually settling down to get married and have a family.
Monica Hall (nee Fowler) was born on 16th July 1923 in Saltley, one of three sisters, along with Kath and Eileen. Monica excelled in sports and became a champion runner with training from her father.
After school Monica worked in a munitions factory but soon joined the Women’s Land Army (WLA) in 1941 aged 19 to help with the war effort, one of over 200,000 women who worked for the WLA between June 1939 and November 1950. Once trained she was billeted to Ilmington to live with a Mrs Cooke and another land girl called Dorothy.
Together, at 6am every morning, they would attempt to cycle up the steep hill to a farm at Foxcote on land army-issued cycles where she spent the day working in dairy farming, milking, mucking out the cows and cleaning the dairy.
She later recalled that they were very well looked after by Mrs Cooke and at no point remembered “feeling the pinch of rationing”.
A particularly notable incident was being pinned to the side of the milking parlour between the horns of a less than docile Ayrshire. A near escape, she was thankfully rescued after repeated shouts for assistance. She remembered being given the rest of the day off.
Monica worked as a farm labourer in Ilmington until 1945, during which time she had grown increasingly fond of the rural Warwickshire landscape.
Before going into the WLA, she had never given much thought to the countryside but after five years of working in the fresh air, her mind had changed. She loved the openness and freedom of her life and couldn’t imagine going back to the city.
She also met her future husband Ron in the village when he returned home on leave after a three-and-a-half-year deployment to Burma in the Signals Corps. After corresponding, they eventually married on 1st January 1949 and went on to have four children – Maureen, Michael, Bernadette and Karen.
Throughout her life, Monica was involved in a lot of social and sporting activities, playing hockey until she was 45. She was a stalwart of the Women’s Institute, elected as vice-president and was well known for her cakes. Her family recall that she was always baking for one event or another.
She was a keen member of the local amateur dramatics society and involved in two local choirs, often to be found singing at weddings and other events.
She enjoyed several trips to Australia to visit daughter Maureen both on her own and with sister Eileen and always came back with wonderful stories about her visits.
Known as Terry to her Ilmington friends, she was always seen riding her bicycle way into her later years in all weathers, which many will remember fondly.
Aged 77, she proudly joined other land girl veterans when they were allowed to join the Remembrance Day parade to the Cenotaph, London for the first time in 2000. An occasion that was reported on by the Herald at the time along with a photo of Monica. She kept in touch with former land girls throughout her life.
She had many good friends who supported her over the years especially after the loss of her late husband Ron in 1976, two sisters and daughter Bernadette. She was a beloved grandmother to Scott, Anthony, Stephanie and Beth.
Granddaughter Beth Wilkinson said: “Monica packed a lot into her 99 years, she was a very caring, loving mum, grandmother, great grandmother and auntie. She was a loyal supportive friend and will be missed by many.”
The funeral took place on Friday, 26th August at Our Lady and St Michael Catholic Church, Shipston, with a wake at The Red Lion pub, Ilmington.