Magic at War

On 31 October 1926, Harry Houdini died in Detroit, aged 52. A century later, he remains one of magic's most recognisable figures. To mark the centenary of his death, Magic at War is stepping briefly beyond its usual Second World War focus to explore his connections with the First. In this two-part article, we examine Houdini's encounters with the military, his efforts to prepare American soldiers for war, and the ways he put his remarkable talents and celebrity to work for the Allied cause. His story even has a Second World War postscript. Harry Houdini, 1913 (Source: Campbell-Gray Ltd, ChatGPT colourised) The escapologist and the soldiers In February 1918, American soldiers preparing for war in Europe were offered an unusual form of military instruction. At the New York Hippodrome, a room had been set aside where Harry Houdini, the world's most famous escapologist, would teach men in uniform how to free themselves from handcuffs, ropes and other restraints. Officers could ...

Sir Julien Cahn made a fortune from furniture, fielded one of the most successful private cricket teams of the inter-war years and gave generously to medicine, agriculture and public causes. He was also a serious amateur illusionist who built one of Britain’s finest private theatres. Then war transformed Stanford Hall: an Army unit moved onto the estate, wounded soldiers recuperated beside his stage and Cahn’s magic found a military audience. More than eighty years later, Stanford Hall is again devoted to the rehabilitation of servicemen and women. Sir Julien Cahn Bt. (1882-1944) (Source: Unidentified and AI enhanced) In December 1938, a newspaper described an extraordinary new addition to Sir Julien Cahn’s country estate at Stanford Hall, near Loughborough. The theatre seated hundreds and was equipped for cinema, elaborate lighting and the owner’s increasingly ambitious magical illusions. Then came a less theatrical detail. Beneath it was a “bomb-proof dug-out”. Nine months later Brit...

In 1945, Major Douglas Kelley was sent to examine Hermann Göring and the other leading Nazis awaiting trial at Nuremberg. Kelley was an American Army psychiatrist experienced in treating combat casualties. He was also an accomplished magician and prominent figure in American amateur magic, a prize-winning performer who became a national officer of the Society of American Magicians. Doctor and magician Douglas McGlashan Kelley was born at Truckee, California, on 11 August 1912 and grew up in San Francisco. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, qualified in medicine at the University of California School of Medicine in 1937, and later undertook postgraduate work at Columbia University, receiving a Doctor of Medical Science degree in 1941. Magic had been part of his life long before then. As a student Kelley performed escapes, card magic and public stunts. Contemporary newspaper reports record Houdini-style feats, including freeing himself while restrained inside a mail s...