Magic at War

By the outbreak of the Second World War, Frederick Montague (1876–1966) was an experienced Labour MP and an accomplished amateur magician. He joined Winston Churchill’s coalition government in May 1940 as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport, before moving to the Ministry of Aircraft Production on 1 May 1941. There he served under John Moore-Brabazon, who replaced Lord Beaverbrook as minister in the same reshuffle. Montague’s work involved answering parliamentary questions on aircraft production, factory employment and the supply of spare parts—helping sustain the industrial effort on which Britain’s air war depended.   Under their control, the Ministry presided over an enormous increase in British aircraft production. Once up and running, the British production rate was two and a half times Germany's fighter production. Combat aircraft like Spitfires and Hurricanes were churned out of factories at an incredible pace, along with other fighters, bombers, patrol aircr...

Englishman Oswald Rae (1892-1967) made his first professional appearance as a magician in 1912. Three years later, d uring World War One, he joined the Royal Engineers. While on active service, Rae gave over 500 magic performances in France, boosting morale for thousands of worn-down troops. He was personally thanked and complimented by General Lord Plumer, commander of Britain’s Second Army on the Western Front. After the war, Rae served in Germany with the Army of Occupation until he was demobilised.    Oswald Rae (Source: Creative commons licence) On his return from Germany, Rae joined a concert party at Exmouth, England, and stayed with them until 1921 when he became manager of DeMond’s Concert Party Enterprises, Skegness. He continued with them in 1922, before going into variety theatre the next year. Often billed as  ‘ The Bewildering Humorist ’ his credits included performances before British and foreign royalty. Poster advertising Oswald  Rae (Source: Pu...