大象传媒

We lived in Salisbury and, as a ten year old, I remember 6 June 1944 vividly. I was awoken by my sister coming into the bedroom I shared with my mother and saying 鈥淭he sky is full of aeroplanes鈥� - and it was. As far as we could see in all directions there were DC3鈥檚 towing gliders all marked with the distinctive striped D-Day markings. I don鈥檛 know their height, but they were low enough for us to be able to make out the cockpits with the heads of the pilots in them. The flights continued all that day - a Tuesday I think- overnight and into the evening of the following day without a break. In school on those two days, as the weather was warm, we had to have the windows open, so work was difficult because of the sound of the planes passing overhead all the time.

At home, we watched late into the evening of 6 June. Because of Double Summer Time and being near mid-summer it didn鈥檛 get dark until well after 10.00 p.m. We didn鈥檛 go to bed; it was much too exciting to miss. This was the beginning of 鈥楾he Second Front鈥� about which we had been hearing for so long, and we could see it actually happening. Even as children we knew this was something special, and I am glad I was old enough to be able to realize the importance of what was going on.

Those memories were probably shared by many children of my age. However, I have one set of memories of those times which is unique. Concerts were given for the troops on Saturday evenings at 6.15 p.m. in Salisbury鈥檚 Guildhall. For three years from 1942 - 45 I was a member of the group of performers and sang regularly at these concerts. I started at the age of eight and because I was small for my age was introduced as 鈥楾he Mighty Atom鈥�. (I had no idea of the significance of the title.)

My memories? A smoke laden atmosphere, hundreds of people - it was always packed to the doors - who I could see in the light summer evenings; in winter I was only aware of the first few rows of faces. To begin with there were just British uniforms visible in the audience, but as D-Day approached many American uniforms appeared. To make them feel more at home I added 鈥楽winging on a Star鈥� to the songs like 鈥楾he Pipes of Pan鈥� and 鈥楴ymphs and Shepherds鈥� which I had sung previously. The concerts took the form of a groups of regular performers who did a 鈥榯urn鈥� every week. One man played the ukulele, a woman played all kinds of music on the xylophone, another man played a saw, a most beautiful sound. In this section there was usually a 鈥榞uest artist鈥� and that was my place on many occasions.

After this opening sequence there were appearances by many 鈥榬egulars鈥�, one of which was a group of dancing girls, who despite wartime difficulties managed glamorous changes of costume. Their well-drilled routines were much appreciated by the audience. Billy Hughes, the Salisbury Librarian, who organised the concerts, was a talented artist. With plenty of encouragement from the audience he drew pin-up pictures, threw a ping pong ball into the crowd, and the lucky winner took away the resulting work of art. It would be interesting to know where some of those pictures ended up!

Once, I made my appearance from a large painting of an Easter Egg, which Mr Hughes had prepared. I remember it was difficult to break through it before the introduction to my song had finished. On another memorable occasion I was handed two small boxes of chocolates across the footlights, a very rare treat at the time. There were visits from well known artists of the day, and I still have the book - Arthur Mee's 'Book of Everlasting Things' - which was given to me when I left in 1945, duly inscribed 鈥淭o Hilda, The Mighty Atom鈥�, signed by the whole company and that night鈥檚 guest artist Denis O鈥橬eill, a well known tenor at the that time. At that time too in the Spring of 1945, in the old theatre in Salisbury I sang some Deanna Durbin songs with a professional army group, all men, so there was quite a lot of cross-dressing needed, who put on a show called 鈥楥ommand Performance鈥� for a week.

I remember that the audiences were marvellous and in retrospect I wonder how much of the unforgettable reception I received was because I reminded them of children of their own who they had left behind at home. It was a unique experience for a schoolgirl, and these are events which I will always remember, and why, in particular, 6 June every year is so special for me.

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