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Putting on a show for troops who marched under the ‘stars and bars’.
Concert parties performing for soldiers on campaign were unknown before the First World War, but British entertainment troupes, after much opposition from military authorities, eventually began performing for ‘the boys over there’ on the Western Front. By the time the American Army arrived in Europe in 1917 the volunteer services which supported troops in the field with everything from canteens to medical care were an established feature on the field of conflict. These invaluable people, often women, carried out their duties in very difficult circumstances with great courage and sometimes with great sacrifice. If the American Army was new to the battlefields of France then American performers needed no lessons in how to put on a show and fewer still in patriotism when it came to supporting their nation’s servicemen. Here are two fascinating accounts, published together in this good value edition, about how ‘showbusiness’ went to war to entertain the troops for the first time. These great troupers gave birth to the tradition of brave men and women from the United States that has been kept alive through the conflicts fought during the 20th century in European theatres, in deserts and steaming jungles right to the present day.
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