'The Gaities' Leslie Henson's Concert Party WW1

Leslie Henson (1891 – 1957) – British actor, comedian and film producer and director


Leslie Henson was born in Notting Hill, London in 1891.   Henson joined the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War.  However, he was soon ordered to form a concert party – ‘The Gaities’ – to entertain the troops on the Western Front.   After the war, Henson published his account of his time on the Western Front in a book entitled   ‘My Concert Party at the Front – How the ‘Gaities’ cheered the troops’.



One person who attended, and was impressed by, one of those concert parties was a young Charles Laughton who joined the Army in WW1 and served on the Western Front in the 2/1^st Battalion the Huntingdonshire Cyclists and later the 7^th Battalion the Northamptonshire Regiment.

During WW2, following a successful tour of South Africa, Henson returned to Britain to form the Entertainments National Service Association, known as ENSA, with Basil Dean.  ENSA was sponsored by the British Government to entertain Allied troops the world over.


Sources: 

http://www.reocities.com/CollegePark/4825/henson.html http://www.reocities.com/CollegePark/4825/henson.html

David Bowie's Grandfather was killed on The Somme in November 1916

Perhaps I should have another section for Famous People whose Ancestors were involved in the First World War. David Bowie's paternal grandfather, Robert Haywood Jones, was killed in November 1916  at Beaumont-Hamel during the Battle of the Somme and is commemorated on the Thipeval Memorial.  He has no known grave. Source ‘Courier Picard’ newspaper via Stanley Kaye and No 56 Bed and Breakfast on the Somme.

David Bowie was the stage name of David Robert Jones.

http://www.courrier-picard.fr/region/thiepval-80-le-grand-pere-de-david-bowie-tue-au-combat-ia201b0n704344

https://www.facebook.com/Number56BedAndBreakfast/?fref=nf

Christmas in Britain during the First World War

A very interesting article in today's 'Times' newspaper tells us a lot about Christmas in Britain in 1915.  It was the second Christmastide of the conflict that most people had believed would have been 'all be over by Christmas 1914'.

Whilst Christmas 1915 was 'shorn of some of its old meanings' such as peace on earth and goodwill to all men, 'there are signs that to some extent, at any rate, its material associations will be preserved.'

The shops were full of British made toys, rather than the usual German ones - 'military and naval toys - soldiers, forts, warships, guns, and the rest' seem to have been the most popular.  However, for those who could not afford such luxuries, 'at the other end of the social scale is the penny toy, usually to be found in the trays of the kerbstone vendors of Ludgate Hill' (in London).  That year, both sellers and the goods on offer were fewer than in previous years.

Food, however, was apparently plentiful that year: 'Prices for turkeys, geese and beef are high, but both the supply and the demand are good.'  And for those with a sweet tooth, the Port of London Authority (for London was a premier port in those days) reported that 'vessels have come into the Thames with 80,000 to 100,000 packages of Greek currents.  Spain is keeping us well supplied with nuts.  France is sending us, among other things, mistletoe…'

From 'The Times' '1914 - 1918 The First World War, page 28, Saturday, December 19th, 2015.

Edmund Dulac (1882 - 1953) - French-born illustrator

Edmund Dulac was born in Toulouse in France in 1882. After studying art in Toulouse, Dulac moved first to Paris in 1904, then on to London, where he settled.  

During the First World War, Dulac helped to illustrate King Albert's Book which was published at Christmas 1914 by Hodder and Stoughton and sold in aid of the Daily Telegraph Belgian Fund.   He also worked on Princess Mary's Gift Book and the Queen of Roymania's "The Dreamer of Dreams (1915), as well as producing a book of his own in aid of the French Red Cross - "Edmund Dulac's Picture Book".

After WW1, Dulac designed theatre costumes and sets, bookplates, chocolate boxes and also drew caricatures for newspapers.  He contributed regularly to "The American Weekly" and 'Country Life".

Perhaps his best-known work is in the field of stamp design.  He designed the stamp to commemorate King George VI's Coronation, issued on 13th May 1937, and stamps for the 1948 Olympic Games in 1948, the Festival of Britain in 1951 and for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

Dulac died in London on 25th May 1953.

https://archive.org/details/kingalbert00teleuoft

The League for the Marrying of Wounded Heroes

Today's "Times" newspaper in England carries a story reprinted from their edition of the same day one hundred years ago, during the First World War.   It deals with the creation of "The League for the Marrying of Wounded Heroes", which was set up by The Rev. Ernest Houghton, an Anglican clergyman who was Rector of St. Stephen's church in Bristol.

There may be speculation as to whether or not this would have been a good idea but it was not allowed to go ahead.  As reported in an American newspaper on 19th November 1915, the idea was short-lived because the Bishop soon scuppered the plan and forced the Rev. Houghton to resign from the League. The Rev. Houghton had received many letters from 'noble-minded, patriotic women' hoping to marry a wounded hero but those letters had to be returned to the, presumably very disappointed, senders.

Does anyone know whether the League continued without the Rev. Houghton and whether any such marriages took place?

Sources:  

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19151119&id=UqRRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HQoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4111,7836581&hl=en

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nDr0CAAAQBAJ&pg=PT58&lpg=PT58&dq=League+for+the+marrying+of+wounded+heroes&source=bl&ots=7Va-8bwpW0&sig=WDxEbsCYJAQ2uGvni8VniCmQO6A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAGoVChMI-uq0-ozCyAIVxtYUCh18HAFP#v=onepage&q=League%20for%20the%20marrying%20of%20wounded%20heroes&f=false

Searchlights in The First World War

While watching an ice hockey match yesterday between Coventry Blaze and Widnes Wild, the word 'Coventry-Climax' popped into my head.  Research threw up the fact that the firm had a connection with WW1.

The company was formed as Lee Stroyer in 1903 by Henry Pelham Lee from Putney, a former Coventry-based Daimler employee, and Jens Stroyer from Denmark.  By 1905, the company was called Coventry-Simplex and they manufactured engines. Ernest Shackleton chose their engines for the tractors used in his Antarctic Expedition from 1914 to 1917. 

During the First World War, Coventry-Simplex supplied the engines used to power the searchlights needed to spot enemy plans and Zeppelins, thus helping to keep the night skies safe over Britain.  The company's name was changed to Coventry-Climax in 1917.  

The concept of 'artificial moonlight' - using searchlights to light up the night sky - was invented by Major-General J.F.C. Fuller (1878 - 1966), A British soldier veteran of the Boer War who served in several regiments during the First World War.

Some of you may remember the name from motor racing as the engine was used to power sports cars first in the 1954 Le Mans.  Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham and Jim Clark also had successes with cars powered by Coventry-Climax engines.  The company was sold to Jaguar Cars in 1963.

Sources:  Wikipedia and Google Images

And the Ice Hockey match?  Well Widnes Wild won but Coventry Blaze put up a very, very good fight and were the first to score, holding Widnes to 1 : 0 throughout the first session.  They show great potential.

Book: 'Rough Riders The City of London Yeomanry during the First World War' by Stuart Latham

I have just discovered another fascinating book about the First World War.  Stuart Latham's Great-Grandfather, Fred Latham, served with the City of London Yeomanry during the conflict and Stuart has put together a detailed history of the Regiment.   

From my point of view, for the 'Fascinating Facts' section of my exhibition project, the first thing I learnt from the book is that the word 'chat' meaning an informal discussion, comes from when soldiers were together to perform the task of killing the lice in their uniforms - 'chat' being the sound made when a lice is popped.  With photographs, anecdotes written by the soldiers of the Regiment and more, this is definitely a 'couldn't put it down' book.

"Rough Riders The City of London Yeomanry during the First World War" by Stuart Latham, published by S and T Marketing Ltd, Swindon.  Further details from enquiries@sandtsales.co.uk