大象传媒

John Gillies, was born on a small farm in the small village of Longniddry in Scotland in 1923. At the age of 15 he joined the army as a boy soldier, joining the Royal Scots Fusiliers. At the age of 20 he was sent to India to prepare for the re-newed attack on Burma. He went through the Bay of Biscay on a boat that was unable to cope with the journey, and all the men with him were confined to bed with sea sickness as the boat rolled its way through the Bay. The next port of call was Durban in South Africa, where the whole compliment of men got some shore leave. John was having a particulary good time, and almost missed the boat back - he had to make his way to East London to meet the ship.

As the time for the attack on Burma approached, the regiment were trained to go into Burma on Ship. However when the time came they had to march in from Indian territory.

After only six weeks John was wounded, and never returned to the front. As he recovered he was offered the opportunity to serve with ENSA, the forces entertainment arm. He worked as a Stage Manager for the rest of the war

The men serving had two names for the unit
EVERY NITE SOMETHING APPENS or
ENTERTAINMENT NEVER SEEN ANYWHERE

His commanding Officer was Jack Hawkins, and John was assigned his duties by him.

The first assignment he had was to take a Ballet Company round India. He also worked with such famous names as Elsie and Doris Waters, Rex Rashley (Howdy), and Dumart and Denzer. He liked the Waters Sisters, since they required few props and little help with their act. In fact John recalls that when asked what was required, they said. 'Just get the curtain up, and go and enjoy the show.'

He also worked in Vietnam, Malaya, and Singapore. Doing 1 week in theatre across the road from Raffles Hotel. When his was in Singapore. He had the opportunity to see a show put on by George Formby. He must have seen it from back stage since he has a clear memory of George's wife shaking her fist at George everytime he told a joke that was a little risque. John said the show was really funny.

During some of the tours he and the other stage hands were to play small parts in the show. He doesn't remember who it was, or what the show was, but he and the stage hands were set up with a game of cards round a table, and the star of the show wanted them to do something for him. He then pulled a cord and the back drop went up to reveal the tableaux. Apparently it raised a laugh at the time.

John returned home via Germany, and has not strayed from the UK since. He is 81 now, and has a wealth of memories to share. This is just a taster of his experience.

I would just add, that he has never spoken of the horrors he experienced at the front, in 60 years none of us know exactly what happened when he fought. However he has a wealth of anecdotes to share about his travels with the stars of his day.

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