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Wilfred Pickles was doing his programme at the Chelsea Barracks and there was a Sergeant’s dance at the same time. The dance band was fantastic and when Wilfred’s programme had finished his crew came and joined us. This was nothing new for me. Having a permanent seat at the Chiswick Empire meant meeting and seeing all the performers. I played cricket on Turnham Green with Jack Jackson and his band, and Troise and his Bandoliers/Mandoliers used to go to the Robin Hood pub which was on Chiswick High Road just along from Acton Lane. They would sit in a row, glass in hand, looking really miserable. Mind you, they were no spring chickens but they played well.

When the V2s were still coming over people were nervous about going to the theatre. One week the circus arrived with elephants, tigers etc. and I was the only one sitting in the circle. There were only 6 or 7 people in the stalls, so I clapped and clapped until my hands were sore to make it seem like the audience was larger. I was allowed to wander around backstage and spent happy hours peering into the trunks with all the wonderful costumes. At least, they seemed wonderful until you got close up when you could see all the makeup that had rubbed off round the neck. Thick pan-stick makeup was used by all the performers. When they were on stage, under the lights, they looked beautiful with flawless skin but when you met them afterwards and they had removed the pan-stick, many of them were really spotty which was a bit of a let down.

A group of friends and I went to an all night dance in London. The venue was a theatre no longer used for that purpose so the dance floor sloped up at one end. In the circle and the boxes at the side were lots of ‘Spivs’ selling various goods on the black market. One girl in our group bought a packet of tights that supposedly came from America. When she got home she had three ‘pairs’ with one leg on each.

We found out there was going to be a dance at the Wigmore Hall starring the American Army and Air Force Band which featured a lot of the great musicians from the USA. My friend Kath and I went along and it was fantastic. An American asked me to dance the Jitterbug and he pushed me through his legs. Unfortunately he didn’t catch me on the other side so I went sliding along the floor like an idiot. Still, it was great fun and we went to dances whenever we could.

We usually had a good time and met lots of interesting people but I remember one dance at the Hammersmith Palais which was rather strange. An Air Force lad asked me for a dance but kept treading on my feet. Finally he confessed that he couldn’t dance so I said I would teach him to waltz and after about half an hour, he had managed to grasp the basics and was very pleased. At which point, he walked over to a very pretty girl, asked her to dance and that was the last I saw of him!

However, there was a little Chinese soldier at the side of the room and he kept asking girls for a dance but they either said no or hurried away. He looked really crestfallen so being a soft touch, I asked him to dance. He had tiny little feet and we shuffled around the floor for what seemed like hours. Still, it made the poor chap’s day.

Go to Hazel's War - Part 1 Evacuation.

Go to Hazel's War - Part 2 Under Attack in London.

Go to Hazel's War - Part 3 The War Effort.

Go to Hazel's War - Part 5 Great Uncle Charlie.

Go to Hazel's War - Part 6 The Human Cost.

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