大象传媒

Keith鈥檚 Wartime Diaries

Keith Hodgkin, a surgeon Lieutenant aged 25, joined the Navy in January 1944, but only started keeping a diary after D Day. The following chapters are based on extracts from personal letters and diaries typed up for Keith鈥檚 grandchildren to read. The family have been kind enough to give consent for extracts from the material to be reproduced.

Chapter Three

H.M.S. Atherstone鈥檚 Ships Concert.
Malta - January 1945.

31st. December 1944.
Rehearsals started. Programme decided. Petty Officer Tel, who is Welsh, is in charge of all the solos. The O.R. to act as stage manager. Self look after outside matters, theatre, permits, lighting, wigs, also to write 3 sketches. We fix a date for 4 days time, as the ship will be leaving after that.

Osborne, who is a professional ballet dancer, (Sadler鈥檚 Wells) was very useful in working out the Burlesque ballet. Also, Russell is an amazing Scotsman who would do anything from prize fighting to ballet dancing and be good at both; a born buffoon and actor who can keep a deadly serious, rather innocent expression under all circumstances. Just ideal for the chorus as he is very good and keen, entirely unselfconscious and managed to make everyone else interesting as well as making it even funnier.

I managed to get Grenadier Tunnel Theatre. A minute theatre, which does for us and a piano from HMS Orion. I had got a piano accordion at Trieste, where I swapped it for a tin of margarine, as the locals were very short of fat. Got Guns to play the accordion after supper in the wardroom and had a pleasant singsong.

The New Year arrived and everyone went on the bridge where Guns played 鈥淎uld Lang Syne鈥� and the crew and officers danced on the bridge dressed in anything from pyjamas, evening dress, overalls, etc. While the air rocked with hooters, sirens, ship鈥檚 bells, rockets, yells and somewhat drunken songs. Very lights, rockets and searchlights going off all over the Grand Harbour.

Jan 1st. 鈥� 3rd.
Getting ship鈥檚 concert together. Those taking part were amazingly keen, talented and full of ideas of all kinds.
Programme consisted of;
1. All cast on stage singing 鈥淗appy Days Are Here Again.鈥�
2. 鈥淕ruppo鈥� Newsome doing the excellent bit of monologue of a parson giving out notices 鈥� really very funny.
3. A.B. Horn singing 鈥淪ilent Night鈥� 鈥� He has a very good voice indeed.
4. 鈥淏uffer鈥� McNamee giving a Max Millar monologue.
5. Chorus scene entitled, 鈥淭urkish Delight鈥� rehearsed by Osborne and gradually evolved from rehearsals. The scene opened with one of the tough sailors with a beard, dressed up as a Turkish emperor, with eastern music playing, smoking a hookah. (The sickbay inhaler.) On clapping his hands the music stops and after the command 鈥淏ring on the dancing girls,鈥� a troop of five ratings came across to dance the Palais Glide. This was a howling success. They were wonderful. They were dressed in rope skirts made by themselves, white socks and assorted brassieres borrowed by me from some of the local WRNS, with some black wigs I鈥檇 managed to get hold of from a club on the waterfront. They were made up extremely professionally by Osborne. So much so that one good looking rating, aged about 18, completely devastated the ship鈥檚 company.

A gunner gave a description of how he came into the dressing room and said,鈥� Have you seen鈥�..? To which S replied in a gasping kind of way, 鈥淵es, I know.鈥�

After this dance, Sammy Russell and Carter danced around distributing flowers from 2 cabbages with the insides cut out. (Russell鈥檚 ideas) to the tune of a sloppy waltz. Russell made this look extremely funny and eventually threw his cabbage at the Captain in the audience. Who promptly threw it back to everyone鈥檚 delight.

Then Onslow did an excellent 鈥淗ula Hula鈥� dance and then a ballet with Knocker.
6. A stoker sand 鈥淪moke gets in your eyes.鈥�
7. Ross with a mandolin, also Merrit singing.
8. Shaw did a cockney monologue, which I never heard before but which went down very well.

Between 6 and 7 was a gangster sketch, in which one crook, 鈥淭he Rat鈥� Custer was counting money over some whiskey when in walks another gangster with his hand in his pocket which is bulging with what looks like a gun. The Rat cringes and screams, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 do it Lefty, I didn鈥檛 do it!鈥� eventually the gunman takes his hand of his pocket and produces a minute bow and arrow and takes careful air shooting The Rat.
A stoker from HMS Orion got some community singing going in the interval. Also one unasked drunk did a turn, which no one could understand.

The second act began with Osborne doing a proper ballet solo. It was this sort of thing, which managed to give such a surprisingly finished air to the whole production.
Newman did another excellent cockney monologue
O鈥機onnor, a stoker sang 鈥淎ve Maria.鈥� He has a good voice.
Then, a Victorian melodrama with a chair representing a spiral staircase. P.O Tel and a pansy hero. The Buffer as a very bosomy precocious milkmaid and self playing the villain. A lot of play over door and keyhole.
Highland sword dance by Davies, who is apparently a senior professional at this and very good.
P.O. Tel 鈥� various sketches in a very good Welsh voice.
Defaulters sketch; P.O. Suggins as Captain, OA as Number 1 and Knocker White as Coxswain, No 1 as one of the defaulters, up for wearing a WRNS hat on the quarter deck. This made everyone laugh.
It finished up with Buffer piping 鈥渙ut fenders lines ready to sea.鈥� At which the Captain looked surprised, 鈥淎re we going out to see No1.鈥� No1. replied, 鈥淔irst I鈥檝e heard of it Sir, I鈥檒l ask the Canteen manager, He鈥檒l know.鈥�
The defaulters sketch was an opportunity for airing a lot of minor grievances.

We鈥檇 rattled through the programme and there was still a little time, so the 4 solo singers did a good piece of harmony singing. As a makeweight, I told the old ghost story, before the mouth organ band came in and we finished up with sing song and a grand finale of 鈥淧ack up your troubles in your old kit bag.鈥� At the end it was good to feel the whole cast and audience were so completely at one and had enjoyed it.

I felt that limiting it to the ship鈥檚 company had really produced an outstandingly good result. There was no question about it. Not only had it been far better than I had expected, especially considering there was only 4 days to get it together, but the ship鈥檚 company had enjoyed it very much. From the letters censored, they were obviously proud tat the ship could produce so good a concert in so short a time.

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