SHE did her bit as a teenager in the Second World War.

Now a Crosland Moor Moor woman is to receive a new badge of recognition being given to women who served in the Land Army.

From today, Hilda Gibson and other surviving members of the Women’s Land Army and Women’s Timber Corps can apply to the Government for the badge to recognise their efforts during World Wars I and II.

Mrs Gibson, 83, from Blackmoorfoot Road, was one of the women who helped provide food and timber to keep the nation going during the Second World War.

She joined the Women’s Land Army in 1944, when she was just 18.

Mrs Gibson had been working in a dress shop and helping out at her parents’ fish and chip shop in Crosland Moor.

But she swapped that for trapping rodents and poisoning pests on a farm in Caiser in Lincolnshire.

Pest control was the only branch of the Land Army which required women to sit an exam, because they were dealing with poisons and traps which could be a danger to people and farm livestock.

Mrs Gibson, who was top of her class, said: “We were all volunteers. You could join the Waaf, Wrens or ATS or the Land Army. I wanted to go into pest destruction. While the men folk were fighting the enemy, I was battling with the rodents.

“I was sent on a course to learn how to control farm pests like rabbits and rats, which damaged crops needed for the war effort. Every time I killed a rodent, I thought that I had saved a bit of food that the Merchant Navy men would not have to fetch. The Merchant Navy men were ‘also nots’ because their efforts were also not recognised for a long time.

“But they had a terrible, dangerous job, fetching food for us. About 60,000 of them died during the war.”

However, Mrs Gibson’s career in pest control was short-lived. Her post at Caister came to an end and there were no other vacancies in England.

So, she was transferred to a poultry farm in Norfolk, caring for free range hens. In total, she served two years in the Land Army.

“Norfolk was very good as well. I did enjoy the experience, even though we had to work very hard. I made good friends with the Land Army and local girls and the family I was billeted with were like my Norfolk ‘mam and pop’. The whole experience has stuck with me ever since.”

When she left the Land Army, Mrs Gibson returned to Crosland Moor to help with her parents’ business and worked at Greenwood’s tailor’s in Huddersfield.

She was reunited with her childhood sweetheart, Kenneth, who lived on Blackmoorfoot Road.

The pair had met as children, when he was nine and she was eight. They had promised to marry each other then, but had drifted apart. He went into the Navy while she was in the Land Army.

However, when they met once again, they got engaged for real and were married in 1948.

The couple had three children – Stella, who lives in Worthing, and Laurence and Edward, who live locally.

Stella is a strong supporter of the new recognition badges and will be applying on her mother’s behalf, as Mrs Gibson is registered blind.

Mrs Gibson said she feels it is time the efforts of women in wartime were recognised.

“I think it’s a really good idea to create these awards. Everyone had to do their bit during the war and serving my country in its hour of need was a privilege.

“We thought it was an important job. I am sad that only 20,000 of us 80,000 Land Girls are left, so some won’t be recognised. But we have to thank those that are doing it for us now.”

Announcing the new badges, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said: “It is absolutely right that we at last recognise the selfless efforts these women made to support the nation through the dark days of World War I and II.

“This badge is a fitting way to pay tribute to their determination, courage and spirit in the face of adversity. I hope that as many eligible women as possible will apply for one.”

Badges can be given to surviving Land Army or Timber Corps women as of December 6 last year. Badges cannot be given posthumously, unless death occurred after this date.

Anyone applying will need to give their date of birth, dates of service and location where they were stationed.

Application forms are now available for anyone who believes that they may be eligible for a badge.

You can download it from the Defra website at http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/working/wla or request one by phone from 08459 33 55 77 or in writing to Mr Dermot McInerney, Defra5E, Millbank c/o 17 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JR.