Gwendoline Clarke was born on 21st January 1923, in Rothwell, Northamptonshire. She served in the Women’s Land Army from 1940 to 1945. Living in Rothwell the Farm she worked on was near Braybrooke, which is between Desborough and Market Harborough, some 9 miles away. She had to bike there in the morning the help milk the cows and deliver the milk in a horse and cart to nearby Desborough. I know her horse was called Annie who she said was very stubborn.
One day she was on her way back to Braybrooke when an American convoy came down the road. They all started to wolf whistle, which made the horse bolt and she nearly ended up in the ditch. Her love for this horse knew no bounds especially when she caught Mario the Italian P.O.W., who worked on the farm, hitting her horse. She was so angry she ran after him with a pitchfork, he never did it again. At the end of each day she had to bike all the way home in all weathers with only the rare days off.
Her service in the Land Army was one of the happiest times of her life and her love of animals especially horses carried on through her life. In the picture she is wearing her Land Army broach.
After the war ended she learnt shorthand and typing and became a secretary to the local boot and shoe manufacturer. She met Monty in a local pub the Thornhill Arms in Rushton, which is halfway between Rothwell and Desborough. He said it was love at first sight she thought he was a bit of a show off in his RAF uniform and sports car. They married the following year on Whit Monday 1946 and lived in Rothwell until Monty joined the Peterborough Combined Police Force in 1954 when they moved to Peterborough.
They moved to Woodnewton when Monty retired from the police as they really loved the countryside. Gwen loved to take her little dog Benny for walks in the fields around Woodnewton. She also liked to give Mrs Compton a lift to Oundle every week to do her shopping and she also used to take Bill Sharpe into Nassington to get his pension.
Gwen and Monty lived in Orchard Lane Woodnewton for over 40 years and are both buried in the village cemetery in 2005.
2019