Entertainment Lands in Normandy D+6!

We left ENSA performing in the camps providing the troops with some much-needed distraction before they embarked on Operation Overlord last time.  Once those brave men had stormed the beaches or parachuted into who knows where, it didn’t take long for entertainment to catch up with the troops fighting in the beachhead.  Six days to be precise with the arrival of the British Army’s own ‘Stars in Battledress’ concert parties in Normandy.¹ The action was still too hot for civilians, and so ENSA would need to wait another month before they were allowed to travel over the Channel.  Under the direction of Captain George Black Jnr, son of the famous West End impresario, the Army Welfare Department’s Stars in Battledress (SIB) were professional performers already in uniform.  They were, in theory, trained to look after themselves.

The exact number of SIB units is unclear – Fawkes says five parties arrived on 14 June – the Union Jack service newspaper at the end of June suggested one arrived on this date and then four more joined them later.²  The Army Welfare Services progress report for July 1944 mentions 45 Other Ranks performed on behalf of SIBs in Normandy in June.³ Whatever the number, these service concert parties were providing shows to troops resting out of the line or convalescing in medical areas surprisingly quickly after D-Day. The SIB units boasted a cast that would make Michael Parkinson rub his hands with glee – Terry Thomas, John le Mesurier, Charlie Chester, Frankie Howerd, Benny Hill – to name a few.  Normandy was the first theatre where SIBs included ATS performers overseas too, with Janet Brown appearing in some of the shows.⁴

There is some incredible film footage surviving of at least two of these SIB shows in the Imperial War Museum (IWM).  Dance bands became increasingly popular as the war went on, and Sergeant Sid Millward and his Nitwits would have been very recognisable for troops at the time for their jazz music. 

Source: IWM (A70 58-7)

In this footage, according to the IWM, we see Millward’s SIB unit playing to Royal Army Medical Corps orderlies serving with 50th Field Dressing Station and convalescing servicemen at No 35 Casualty Clearing Station, Reviers on 24 June 1944.

The next day, 25 June 1944, another SIB unit played to about 200 men from the 6^th Airborne Division on the banks of the River Orne near Ranville, just outside of Ouistreham.  You can spot the distinctive parachute helmets worn by the audience.  Its 20km between Ranville and Reviers, so its clear these SIB units were not staying in one place in Normandy.

The nine-piece Happy Crazy Gang outfit included Eddie Le Roy, a dancing juggler (he’s in the IWM footage below), Louis Almaer on the mouth organ, and Peter Tuddenham, a voice artist.  Tuddenham went on to provide the voice of Orac and Zen in Blake’s 7 television series during the Seventies, as well as appearances on Doctor Who.    

Source: IWM A70 58-4

But it wasn’t all plain sailing for the SIB units during June 1944.  The Entertainment Officer of 2^nd Army at Arromanches was slightly uncomfortable about providing shows to the troops whilst bitter fighting was happening close by.

Charlie Chester was the star act in another SIB unit playing in Normandy.  Back in England, he had written a new song together with Ken Morris with the lyrics “Somewhere Within the Shores of Normandy”. But it bombed badly when it came to be played onstage to the troops:

The troops associated Normandy with bitter fighting and didn’t want to be reminded of it in a song.  Charlie and Ken rewrote the lyrics in the interval and replaced the reference to Normandy with “and saw the fairst flower on Primrose Hill.”  That went down much better – a reminder that entertainment acted primarily as a source of escapism for front-line troops.

The RAF Gang Shows were not far behind SIBs, but there were dangers performing in Normandy at this time.  An oft-cited anecdote linked to one of the cast members of the RAF Gang Show demonstrate how close the entertainers were to the front lines:⁷

I’ve heard the same story attached to George Formby and others, but whether this amusing anecdote actually happened is not relevant.  What’s more important for me is learning about the human, slightly surreal nature of the experience of war: the stories of heroism and terrible fighting juxtaposed against the image of men laughing and relaxing, showing their vulnerabilities and sharing the enjoyment of a show. This image makes their incredible wartime experiences all the more relatable today, and brings their bravery all the more into focus.