Roll Call of Bedfordshire Land Girls
Mary Beatrice Pakes
Bedfordshire Women's Land Army > Roll Call > P
| Name | Pakes, Mary Beatrice |
| Date of birth | 27 September 1918 |
| Born | Luton, Bedfordshire |
| Joined WLA | 15 December 1941 |
| Left WLA | 28 February 1946 |
| WLA No. | 58931 |
| Trained | On the job. |
| Employed | Employed by Beds War Ag. at Milton Ernest hostel. |
| Married name | Smith |
| Further information | Former shorthand/typist clerk, aged 23. Demobilised. Was the first Forewoman at Milton Ernest hostel (qualified January 1944). After the war, Mary married Eric Smith. |
Mary Pakes, 1942 
Mary was injured one day when ploughing around a potato clamp using two workhorses and was dragged under the ploughshare. The resultant injury meant that, for the rest of her life, she could never play tennis, because of cartilage damage. 
After becoming the Forewoman at Milton Ernest WLA hostel in January 1944, she drove the hostel lorry to take out up to 40 land girls and drop them off at outlying farms each day. She worked in the fields with those she dropped off last and then collected them all to return to the hostel in the evening. 
After a hard morning's field work, Mary has decided to give her feet a rest, while she sits at the side of the field to have her packed lunch. 
Mary Pakes, 2002 
(left to right) Ann Haynes née Brodrick, Kathleen Cox née
Hopkins, Dawn Filby née Skeggs, Mary Smith née Pakes (cutting cake)
Trixie Schreiner née Saunders, Irene Saunders née Cook,
Peggy Albertson née Davis,
Hilda Hicks née Bright. |
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Stuart Antrobus Historian/Author
Page last updated: 3rd August 2015