Being the only girl in a family of seven boys, Elizabeth is a bit of a "tomboy" when it comes to physical activities and dressing up. She spends most of her time in slacks with blouses and sweaters. When she does wear a dress, it is usually green or pink with short sleeves.

She has brown hair that hangs about halfway down her back and is very thick and wavy. Her favorite way to wear it is curled, hanging loose with a simple clip or ribbon, or pulled back in a net. When she is working, she usually pulls it into a French Knot with a scarf on top.

One of her favorite things to do is dancing with her brothers, which they did almost every day before the war. Her brother, Jeff, danced all the new athletic dances with her. He would go to the movies and remember dances that he saw, and they would learn new steps that way. She also likes the old-fashioned waltz. She enjoys reading, writing letters and knitting lace.

In November 1939, just after war is declared, Elizabeth joins the Women's Land Army (WLA). After months of long hard days in field, she realizes that the storybook life portrayed on the recruiting posters is nothing close to reality.

Six months later, just before Dunkirk, a new girl arrives at the hostel: Tamsin York. In no time at all, she and Elizabeth become best friends, staying together, even through transfers, for the rest of the war.

Every week, Elizabeth writes to her brothers. She is especially close to her brother, Jack, who is only eighteen months older. In early June 1940, he writes that his RAF squadron has been stationed at a town only a couple miles from the Land Army hostel where she is billetted.

Enter Harry. Shortly after Harry's first meeting with Elizabeth, he asks her to request a transfer to a hostel in Kent. For some months, they stay at their new hostel and work by day at Everley. Anne puts in a request for several Land Girls to be permanantly assigned to the farm. Elizabeth and Tamsin are part of this group.