This week I was fortunate enough to share my passion for history on Woody’s excellent https://www.youtube.com/@WW2TV show. Doing a live recording is a bit nerve-racking but Woody makes it easy for his guests to focus on the content and really go to town on the topic. I talked mostly about the biography I’ve co-written with Adam Fairclough about ENSA’s Chief Welfare Officer, Madam V, but there are some important themes that stretch across the whole of my research into troop morale and the Second World War. Virginia Vernon’s biography tells the story of an emotional and physical journey of a remarkable woman across seven years of war, but it also provides a fresh look at the military from a civilian’s point of view.
I’ve been reading Jonathan Fennell’s Collapse this week and he talks a lot about the importance of personal accounts and the ‘X-Factor’ that morale provided to help the Allies win the war. He also writes that general’s win battles but societies win wars. This rewording of the Clausewitzian concept of total war fits nicely with the story of Virginia Vernon’s War as it touches on the following themes:
The mobilisation of all areas of society in a Total War – even entertainment
Personal as resource for historians and the importance of informal networks and personal friendships or social connections in order to get things done
And how far the British Army reflected British society by the end of the war, with the growing importance of entertainment officers, like Jack Hawkins.
You can watch my talk about these themes in context with Virginia’s war here:
During the show, there were a number of questions from the audience and I’ve provided fuller answers below:
How big was the ENSA troupe?
ENSA employed around 4/5ths of the British entertainment industry during the course of the war and in 1944 was paying around 4000 performers at home and abroad. The individual troupes varied in size from a full West End show involving dozens of performers / artistes (like Barbirolli’s Orchestra) to individuals or duets (like Joyce Grenfell and her pianist, Viola Tunnard). In Italy, the British Army preferred the smaller troupes as they were easier to accommodate, move around, and get right up to the front lines.Did the ENSA gang make it back or were some stranded in France in 1940?
All of the 207 civilian performers who were touring in France in May 1940 made it back to the UK safely. However, a lot of their equipment, scenery trucks, and cinema vans had to be abandoned and left in France. This was part of a much larger loss of NAAFI provisions, material, and equipment in the retreat from Norway and France.
Were Virginia and fellow entertainers paid for there morale duties by UK govt. Plus whether looked out for after war?
Although ENSA had ‘national service’ in the title, it was a professional organisation, voluntary, and paid their staff. They paid a maximum of £10 a week at the beginning of the war - this was raised slightly later in the war in order to compete with the American entertainers. This was more than some of the chorus girls could expect in a show, but very low for leading performers, who at the time could earn up to £600 for a 3 month engagement in the West End. The people who worked for ENSA were not provided a pension after the war by the UK government.
Did ENSA shows end up on the BBC at any point?
Yes. The BBC broadcast Gracie Field’s concert to the BEF in November 1939 live from Douai and Arras to provide a link between the troops and their families. “ENSA Half Hour” was first broadcast on the BBC in March 1940 and became a regular weekly feature through the war. The BBC’s ‘Music While You Work’ often featured ENSA shows to the factory workers as did their ‘Overseas Service’ to the troops fighting abroad. ENSA recorded programming made up around 1/3rd of all output for overseas radio services according to a report in 1941, where they recorded BBC programmes to be sent to Middle East to increase entertainment to the troops. ENSA had an Advisory Recording Council to manage their radio output. One programme ENSA organised was ‘Cairo Calling’, which allowed troops abroad to record messages to loved ones at home and it featured on the BBC from Aug 1940 until Aug 1945. Relations between the BBC and ENSA were always strained - but that’s another story.
Were all the concerts restricted to troops as oppossed to general public?
It depended on the location and time of the show. Certainly shows provided for free to troops were not open to the public, because that would have provided competition to commercial cinemas and theatres.
Assume Virginia eventually also had a whole team of managers for the various fronts?
Yes. She started with three welfare supervisors when she returned to Drury Lane in July 1940 and this team grew to several dozen by the end of the war. Each campaign theatre had its own welfare supervisor, with a team of welfare officers underneath.
Were troops allowed to send fan mail to the likes of Virginia?
As Virginia was not a performer, she did not receive fan mail from troops, but she received letters of support and admiration from the top brass - Tedder, Lord Louis Mountbatten, etc. Troops often sent fan mail to ENSA performers and they tended to be very complementary - not all the performances were ‘Every Night Something Awful’!
What about Canadian entertainment troupes?
ENSA performed to all Commonwealth / DUKE forces during the war, but Canada had a particularly innovative approach to entertainment, by effectively recruiting professional civilian performers in to the Army. You can read about it here: https://newsletter.mattheweaton.co.uk/p/keeping-it-clean-and-avoiding-ensas
Looking forward to my next talk at We Have Ways Festival Fringe on Thursday 10th September - better get rehearsing!
