Real life Land Army girl (101) returns to work at Melton 1940s event

Memories came flooding back for Annie Duplok at the Melton weekend event as she forked hay into a baler and performed the tasks she did for the war effort more than 80 years ago.

Annie now lives with family near Lutterworth but she did live in Old Dalby and Melton Mowbray earlier in her life.

Her daughter, Sandra, told the Melton Times: “She felt it the next day after the Melton show, she was tired.

“But once she puts that uniform on she sees it all again, it’s like being back as a teenager and the memories come back.”

Annie has been at the Melton event before and she has also been part of the Land Army re-enactments at other shows in the county.

Sandra said: “Mum really loves the Melton one. It’s brilliant what they put on with all the re-enactments and people walking around with the forties clothes on.

"People come up to her at these shows and they are amazed how old she is and they ask her about her time as a Land Army girl.”

Annie was based at a farm in Kirby Muxloe for four years working on the land after being deployed by the Land Army.

“Mum was 17 when she started and they all had to milk the cows, get the crops in and work on the threshing machine, it was hard work for them,” added Sandra.