We mark International Women’s Day with tribute to centenarian pair

We celebrated International Women’s Day by paying tribute to two residents who have both reached the age of 100 in recent months

We honoured centenarians Ann Melrose and Dorothy Hodson, both veterans of the Women’s Land Army, by presenting flowers and certificates of appreciation to them at a special afternoon party.

The occasion was an opportunity for both Ann and Dorothy to reflect on how their lives were shaped by wartime service in their teens and early 20s.

Founded during World War One to support agricultural production, the Women’s Land Army was revived at the outbreak of the Second World War so that it could again organise women to replace workers called up to the military. Women who served in it were known as land girls.

Ann said: “I was too young to join the regular army, so I joined the Land Army instead. I worked on farms in Kent. Sometimes land girls would live in a cottage near the farm, and sometimes we would live in at the farm.”

After the war Ann went on to marry, raise a family and work in the hotel industry.

Recalling her time as a land girl, Dorothy said: “It was hard work, with long hours and little pay, but I enjoyed it.”

As well as being in the Women’s Land Army, Dorothy worked in a wartime factory where Wellington bomber airplanes were made.

She said: “It was my job to rivet the wing tips of the plane and I could only do it by crawling across the wing.”

After the war Dorothy met her husband and raised her family while working.

Andrea Rixon of the Court Lodge Companionship Team said: “I’m sure I speak for everyone at the home when I say it is an honour and a privilege to be caring for Ann and Dorothy.

“They really are very special ladies. We thank them for their service all those years ago in helping to keep the nation fed and secure. Subsequent generations owe them an everlasting debt.”