Soldiering on: 'There's no way that farm could have run without her'

Rhoda McWhannell ran her Waikato farm almost single-handedly when her husband went to war during WWII. She wrote a journal of her daily struggles, weaving in her wry observations about war and love of the natural world. Rhoda McWhannell farmed the Waikato property Rozel almost single-handedly when her husband went to war during WWII. She wrote a journal of her daily struggles and successes, weaving in her wry observations of global and local happenings. Her great-niece has been combing through these diaries, which are brought to life by actor Amy Tarleton for Country Life.Listen to extracts from Rhoda McWhannell's diariesRhoda McWhannell is in a paddock, kneeling over a writhing, bloated ewe, carving knife in hand.She has the grim task of relieving it of the gas which has built up in its stomach after eating too much fresh green grass."With grim determination," McWhannell writes, she plunges the knife into the sheep's side. "Well, I expected gas to come whistling out, but it didn't. It came bubbling slowly in some blood, like a little pool of boiling mud at Rotorua."She holds the puncture open for at least an hour until the ewe's breath eases and it can totter away. She wonders if the animal will be alive in the morning.With no vet nearby, McWhannell's' medical training might have come in handy for some of her jobs on Rozel, the Waikato property she farmed - almost single-handedly - during World War II, after her husband Mac was called away to war.But her own war effort - like that of many women - might have gone unsung if it weren't for the vivid journals she kept over the war period. She began writing aged 40 in 1938, in large notebooks, and continued for 50 years.She donated her journals to the Alexander Turnbull Library in the 1980s.McWhannell's great-niece Alex Shepard has been combing through the diaries and became entranced by McWhannell's wit, her writerly style, vivid tales of farming life and her painterly descriptions of the natural world.As professor of gender history at the University of Glasgow, Shepard has a professional interest as well as a familial one."Rhoda at the time would have been classified as a housewife and, as a dependent, as a married woman, and her work wouldn't have counted or wouldn't have been seen to count."But wartime saw growing confidence and independence among women as they learned new skills and gained a greater sense of autonomy, Shepard said."I think what's interesting is her writing shows just how vital her work was, not just to the war, but Mac depended heavily on her. There's no way that farm could have run without her."…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details