Magic at War

*** Update: Blogs will continue in 2025 *** We ’ re taking a short break from posting Magic at War blogs while we research and prepare the next batch. Also, to give us time to  work on other magic-military history research and writing projects. You ’ ll hear about these here first, so check back soon! Since 2019, we ’ ve posted 90 articles. See the full index here .  Future articles will include: Rovi: The Welsh Wizard fights for his country Turn to that light!: Magicians in the A.R.P. The Magicians of Auschwitz Cyril Branson: Heroism beneath the sea WW2’s top 10 magic book Al Sharpe: entertaining the troops Paul Kerr: The Battle of the Bulge Stars in Battledress: magic on the frontline D-Day magicians Kalanag: The Nazi’s magician “Calling Doctor Magic!” The Great Carmo: A trouper entertaining the troops Carlton: Back to war The Eccentric Entrepreneur: Sir Julian Chan Emilie Clifton: A Tuskegee Airman The core theme over the last year-and-a-half has been magicians wh...

Even more examples of war-themed tricks invented by magicians to keep their acts topical for audiences and capture the national mood during World War Two.  Electro and The Victory Stand Electro was a popular magician ’s trick during World War Two. The effect  involving swallowing and reproducing small lit electric light bulbs. It was invented by a magician called Cyro, and first published in Eric C. Lewis’  Studies in Mystery  (1941) with the title ‘Lighted Bulbs From Mouth’. Later, the effect was marketed by London-based magic dealer Lewis Davenports & Co. using the name Electro. It received rave reviews from their   customers: “Your Electro is the best effect for a good many years,”  wrote Danilla in The Demon Telegraph magazine.  While Ravelle reported, “I used ‘Electro’ for the first time (publicly) at a troop show last Friday. It was a SMASH HIT, they wouldn’t stop applauding” .  The Victory Stand ( Source:  Author, courtesy of The ...

Will Ayling was known as The Genie. This was apt, for he was both a magician and rather short in stature. He discovered magic in his late teens, learned his craft as war clouds loomed across Europe, and deployed his organisational skills to produce entertainments for war-weary troops throughout India and Burma. Post-war, he made a significant contribution to the advancement of the art, as a performer, author, collector and leading member of the magic community.     Promotional image for Will Ayling - The Genie (1954) (Source:Will Ayling) Learning magic   William Richard Ayling was born on 2 March 1914 in the port city of Portsmouth on England’s south coast.    As a youngster, Will was both ‘arty’ and a Christian. These two interests combined when he joined the drama group of a local church. He got involved in acting, writing and producing a range of entertainments. When the group put on a variety show, Ayling volunteered to find a magician to join the cast....

Part 2 of a two-part blog about amateur magician and Holocaust survivor Werner Reich. In this remarkable story, we learn how Reich survived the Holocaust and developed a lifelong interest in magic... Read Part 1 of this blog here . Camp D labour camp, Auschwitz I and the death march   From Auschwitz II-Birkenau’s  Camp B, the Nazis moved Reich to Camp D in July 1944. In Camp D, Reich was set to work in the nearby turnip fields until late 1944. From there he was moved to Auschwitz I and employed as a stable boy looking after horses for the German officers. Auschwitz concentration camp entrance (Source: Creative Commons) On 21 January 1945, just six days before the liberation of Auschwitz by the advancing Soviet Red Army, German officials evacuated the camp, ordering some 58,000 prisoners to march west towards Germany. The march, in the middle of winter, was  brutal. After one brief stop, Reich recalls: “Some people couldn ’t  get up and just sat there. Some had died, ...