 |
| Mom during the War |
 |
| Sandgate Air Force Base |
This is part of one of my Mom's WWII letters to Dad where she describes singing at Sandgate Air Force Base North of Brisbane.
Oct 26, 1943 – This is Tuesday & last night, Monday, we went to an Air Force camp. Remember the one we saw from the bus as we went down to the beach, just before crossing the bridge? Well, that was it.
They have a lovely recreation hall. I think the nicest I have seen anywhere. They have a full sized screen for film showing & all the proper apparatus, which would make it as good as a theatre. The walls & ceiling are done in cream with brown venetian blinds let in along the sides.
On the stage, in front of the screen, for concerts, very pretty scenery, with a broad stage in front, & a garden of flowers on the sides, paintings of course, but very nice ones at that.
Headlights above, & a coloured spotlight, making a very pretty affect by throwing the reflections of the dancers & artists on to the background of flowers & trees.
The hall was very large, & had a lovely dance floor. After the show, they piled the seats up & the Air Force, the WAAFS and our girls had a dance. They were such a nice audience too, you felt somehow, that they were with you all the way.
Afterwards we had supper with the officers both of the WAAFS & the Air Force. The girls were very nice, I don’t care what you say about the Women’s Air Force. Incidentally, I met a girl I went to school with. She came up to me afterwards & I discovered she was one of the girls who used to be in the same form as I was. By the way, remember Roslind, the WAAF you met at the luncheon where I sang? Well, she was singing last night & wishes to be remembered to you. She thinks you’re very nice & she’s not the only one.
Anyway, to get back to the concert, we travelled from here to Sandgate in the “Bird Cage”, but it really was a comfortable trip. The seats all had “Dunlop pillow” cushions & there were hardly any jars. We sang all the way home & it sounded pretty good, even if I say it myself, with all the crowd harmonizing the different parts. Quite a full party too (now don’t take me the wrong way, for we don’t drink) about fifteen of us. But we had to stop when we got to town as Mrs. Allen said everyone would think we were intoxicated. After we dropped her in town though, Johnnie & I sang all the way to the Valley. Dreadfull huh? But we felt like singing & didn’t care whether people thought we were drunk or not. They probably did anyway, seeing that we were in the bird cage
Mom described the relatively luxurious transport with cushions. Usually they traveled in the back of trucks with plain wood benches. The roads were so bumpy that sometimes they landed on the floor of the truck, but "it was all in good fun"
Below she described singing at Groverly Camp
Oct 19, 1943 – Darling Frankie,
This is just your wife again, one of those terrible letters,
but still you’re tough so I guess you can take it. This is Tuesday, so it is just a fortnight
since you left, so I guess you should have arrived by this time. There I go saying, “I guess”. I’m getting quite Americanized, I don’t think
I ever used that expression before I met you, if I deep on this way I’ll have a
regular Southern drawl before I know it.
Last night as I told you in my last, I went to Groverly
Camp. I don’t know if that will be cut
out, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s
a very large camp. I think there must
have been about 1,000 in the audience. A
little different to the one I took you to.
We had a “mike” & a couple of
AMPS, which Mrs. Allen had hired & what had to happen but halfway through
the programme they gave out. Still, we
managed somehow. I sang “Jeanie” &
“When April sings” & halfway through the second one the “mike”started
kicking & splattering & during the next item gave out. The boys seemed to enjoy it just the same
though, so that was the main thing.
