From the West End to the Western Front

Send us Fan MailOur latest episode begins in Couin military cemetery where a top hat and white gloves marks the final resting place of Edwardian theatre's greatest dandy, Basil Radford, or as he was more commonly known Gilbert the Filbert.  Before his untimely death on the Somme, Radford was one of a huge number of entertainers and theatre stars who served in the Great War and used their talents to entertain the men when not in the lines.How did men entertain themselves when not in the trenches? The birth of the concert party was largely down to the work of one remarkable woman, who used her influence and theatrical skills to manage over 25 travelling entertainment parties who provided amusement to hundreds of troops.We hear the story of an aviation-loving actor who stole an entire Red Cross building to create a theatre behind the lines.  Hear about how the King of Spain's intervention led to the release of one of France's greatest crooners from a German prison camp, Ivor Novello's unique approach to being discharged from the air force, and why you should never play cards for money when someone's fiddling with a hand grenade nearby.This episode is dedicated to the memory of Stephen Runnacles. Support the podcast: www.buymeacoffee.com/footstepsblog or www.patreon.com/footstepsofthefallen