Magic at War

Born into a family of traveling fairground performers specialising in magic,  Louis Van Dyck (1897-1959)  appeared on stage from an early age. After his father died suddenly at the age of 44, Louis' mother Elisabeth took on the act. To appear less Flemish, she changed the family's stage name to Vanda (and later Wanda). Newly billed as Les Vanda Illusionnistes , Elisabeth, Louis, and his sister Jeanne, toured Belgium and France with their trio magic act until the onset of World War One. Louis Van Dyck - child magician (Source:  Suzy Wandas: The Lady with the Fairy Fingers , 2019) Les Vanda Illusionnistes - Elisabeth, Jeanne and Louis Vanda (Source: Public domain) After Louis turned eighteen, he volunteered for the Belgium Army. He completed two months of basic training in France, before being sent to the front in 1916. He served with the 3rd Regiment of the Line in Belgium's 1st Army Division, experiencing the horrors of trench warfare first hand. In the end, the hars...

Gogia Pasha (1910-1976) fooled the world by pretending to be an Egyptian for most of his career. In fact, he was born Danpat Rai Gogia in British India.  Gogia originally trained as a doctor and had studied medicine in Cairo and Edinburgh. But, he abandoned medicine to turn to the stage. Donning a turban and a set of brightly coloured robes, Gogia adopted the persona of a 'gilly-gilly' (or ‘gali-gali’) man, after the Egyptian slang for magic.    He became an established act, touring internationally with a large troupe, mostly his family; and even appearing in several movies.   According to historian John Zubrzycki: “ Gogia’s shows combined comedy, comment and humorous patter with tricks, and incorporated dancers between sets. His signature acts included cups and balls, producing live chickens from his mouth and a levitation feat where his assistant was placed upon the points of three swords, two of which were removed, leaving only one under her neck to supp...