Library Reference Number: 061
Hogmanay
Recently viewing "Last Night of the Proms" and listening to the stirring rendering of "Land of Hope and Glory" reminded me of Hogmanay, 1944, at Stalag Luft 7, Bankau, on the old German-Polish border. At one end of the cook-house we had constructed what became known as "The Little Theatre." The Hogmanay Show was to be our most ambitious production. There were individual and group acts, and humorous sketches. The YMCA had provided instruments, and a dance band had been formed. The star of the show was "Geraldine" a female impersonator. Supporting him were four of the other boys dressed as chorus girls. Their costumes and songs were of the Carmen Miranda era.
The German Commandant, Colonel Behr, and his staff officers were invited, and were given the front row of seats. The second row was reserved for the Senior German NCOs. It had been the custom to finish off any gatherings with the National Anthem, principally because we discovered it annoyed the Germans a great deal. So much so, that the Commandant informed us before the show started, that the singing of the National Anthem was strictly "Verbotten." At the end of the last act, the Germans were about to leave, when Pete Thomson the Camp Leader went on stage and said "Open all the doors and windows, lets give them 'Land of Hope and Glory' and sing it so that you can be heard in Blighty." Never was the song sung with such gusto. It swept through the entire camp. The Commandant and his entire entourage, stormed out of the hall in a rage.
It was a fitting Swan Song for the Little Theatre. Very soon, the Russians were on our doorstep and we were being marched back into Germany. A very memorable Hogmany.!