Women ' s Timber Corps The Women ' s Timber Corps ( WTC ) was a British civilian organisation created during the Second World War to work in forestry replacing men who had left to join the armed forces . Women who joined the WTC were commonly known as Lumber Jills . Formation . Formed in 1942 , the origins of the WTC go back to the First World War when the Women ' s Timber Service had been formed to help with the war effort . In 1940 to solve a labour shortage and an increased demand for timber the Forestry Commission started recruiting women both as forestry workers but also to work in sawmills . In 1942 responsibility passed from the Forestry Commission to the Home Timber Production Department of the Ministry of Supply and the women became part of the new corps . Organisation . As many of the women who had joined the Forestry Commission came from the Women ' s Land Army ( WLA ) , the WLA took over the administration and recruitment for the WTC and although the WTC was officially part of the WLA it retained a separate identity . The uniforms were identical except that the WTC replaced the WLA felt hat for a beret and wore the WTC badge . A full set of kit consisted of : - The corps was divided into nine geographic areas responsible for the work and welfare of the women in that area . Accommodation ranged from purpose built hutted camps , through small hotels and hostel s to private billet s . Never as large as the WLA , the WLC did have a maximum strength of over 6 , 000 working throughout the United Kingdom . The corps was a mobile organisation so the workers could be posted anywhere . Duties . The work of the WTC included all the jobs involved with forestry including felling , snedding , loading , crosscutting , driving tractors , trucks , working with horses and operating sawmills . A more specialist skill was measuring which was the job of assessing the amount of timber in a tree , measuring the amount of timber felled , surveying new woodlands and identifying trees for felling . Initial training consisted of a four to six week course at one of the Corps depots before being posted to a billet elsewhere . The work was heavy and arduous but there was a grudging acceptance from farmers and foresters that the women of the WTC were as good as the men they had replaced . Pay ranged from 35 to 46 shillings per week . Towards the end of the war some of the women were considered skilled enough to be posted to Germany to help salvage the sawmills there . Disbandment and subsequent recognition . The WTC was disbanded in 1946 when each member was awarded a personal letter signed by Queen Elizabeth . Other than this no recognition of the WTC ( or the WLA ) was made and it was not until 2000 that former members of the WTC were allowed to take part in the annual Remembrance Sunday parade in London . In 2007 , the Department for Environment , Food and Rural Affairs announced that all surviving members of the WTC would be entitled to wear a new badge to commemorate their service in the Corps . In 2012 , the Forestry Commission marked the 70th anniversary of the WTC . On Remembrance Day 2012 , BBC Countryfile broadcast a tribute to the work of the WTC with veteran members , filmed in the Forest of Dean . National memorial . On 10 October 2007 Forestry Commission Scotland unveilled a national memorial to the women of the WTC in the form of a life size bronze sculpture by Malcolm Robertson . The statue is in the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park near Aberfoyle , Stirling .