Thursday, 17 January 2013
Diary Entry - 17th January, 1918
Rise at six a.m. and take early morning stables. We could hold no inspection parade as it was raining very heavily and continued all morning. After lunch Siggers and self walked over to Villers au Flos to draw money from the field cashiers. In the evening go to Barrastre and hear the Dudds (17th div troop). They were simply splendid and quite the best I have seen in France. The man dressed as a flapper was perfect and she and another very good man took off Clarice Mayne and That [see fascinating explanation from dne 1 in comments below].
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The show does indeed seem to be a take off of the variety theatre act called "Clarice Mayne and That". Mayne was "This", and her husband James Tate, accompanying on the piano, was "That" ("This sings, That Plays!"). .. known also for her 1912 hit “I was a Good little girl, ‘till I met You”.
ReplyDeleteLike many other army concert parties, the line-up changed during the war, but the man dressed as a flapper could well be Pte Jack Henderson, as Dolly.
ReplyDeleteThe correct spelling is The Duds, and Edward pays them a great compliment in saying they are the best he has seen, as the divisional parties seem to set high standards.
That's great - it's a really interesting area; I reckon there could be a good and poignant play to be made out of a story of being in an army concert party. Thank you very much.
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