New Book: The Colditz Conjurer

-
*** COMING SOON - FROM THE MAGIC AT WAR TEAM ***


The Colditz Conjurer tells the amazing true story of Flight Lieutenant Vincent ‘Bush’ Parker.

A school-boy magician from the Australian outback, ‘Bush’ left home to become an assistant to a master illusionist. With World War Two looming, he gave up this promising career to train as a Spitfire pilot. 

One of Churchill’s ‘Few,’ he fought in the Battle of Britain until he was shot down in a dramatic dogfight. As a prisoner-of-war in Germany, Vince Parker earned a reputation as a persistent escaper. He ended up in the infamous Colditz Castle, a high-security fortress from which the Germans thought escape was impossible.

In the footlights of the castle’s theatre, this charismatic officer used his magic skills to boost the morale of his fellow prisoners. But, behind locked doors, he applied the secrets of stage magic and escapology to the real-life challenge of getting back home.

A remarkable tale of perseverance, courage and cunning in the face of adversity, The Colditz Conjurer features over 55 original photographs and maps. 126 pages.

“He was an outstanding hero among his fellow prisoners.” 
- Don Donaldson, British POW in Colditz



For a sneak preview, check out these blogs:

Related article: 'Never in the field of human conflict...: a magician is one of the few!', a blog about magician-Spitfire pilot, Pilot Officer Vincent 'Bush' Parker and his role in the Battle of Britain. Blog link

Related article: 'Bush' Parker: The Escapist' (Part 1) tells the story of Vincent 'Bush' Parker's capture by the Germans and his early escape attempts before he arrives at Oflag IVC Colditz. Blog link

Related article: 'Bush' Parker: The Escapist' (Part 2) tells the story of Vincent 'Bush' Parker's captivity in Oflag IVC Colditz, his attempts to escape and how he used magic to boost morale and help escapes. Blog link

Research supported by The Good Magic Award 2021 from The Good Thinking Society 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Magic at the movies

-
Image
During wartime, cinema remained an extremely popular pastime. In Britain alone, between 25 and 30 million cinema tickets were sold each week.  Movies provided war-weary audiences an escape from the turbulence and sacrifice of war, while also providing an opportunity for nations to boost morale, through government-funded propaganda films.  The epic American film  Gone With The Wind  (1940) was the smash hit of the war, but British films such as  In Which We Serve  (1942) and  Millions Like Us  (1943) were also highly successful.     Magic-related plots, scenes, or magician characters were a steady feature in films released during World War Two. Here's a selection : The Magician's Daughter (1938). Playing in British cinemas in the summer of 1939, as war was breaking out across Europe, The Magician's Daughter is a 'movie short' made by MGM Pictures.  Billed as a "miniatu re musical" the title character falls in love with a magaz...
Read more

Entertaining Hitler: Gogia Pasha, the gilly-gilly man (and war worker)

-
Image
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...
Read more

Miss Blanche: 'The Lady Magician' uses magic to survive Nazi experiments

-
Image
This is the amazing survival story of Miss Blanche (aka Ruth Iris Wachsmann) who was one of the leading female magicians in pre-war Europe. An expert manipulator, she headlined in venues across the continent, until war intervened... Ruth Iris Wachsmann was a German Jew. Born in Berlin in 1910, she first trained as a ballerina. In her mid-teens, after seeing a performance by Austro-Hungarian magician Larette (Cornelius Hauer), she switched from dancing to magic. Wachsmann became Larette's student and she learned the art of manipulation. She could manipulate billiard balls and playing cards, but showed special aptitude for cigarette manipulation. Miss Blanche, performing cigarette manipulation, 1936 (Source: Artefake) Inspired by a brand of cigarettes designed to appeal to female smokers by the Rotterdam-based Vittoria Egyptian Cigarette Company, she adopted the stage name Miss Blanche. Larette was sponsored by Miss Blanche cigarettes and helped promote Wachsmann as another act to ma...
Read more

The Magician of Stalag Luft III (Part 3)

-
Image
Part 3 of a three-part blog telling the compelling story of John Casson, magician, navy pilot, and Stalag Luft III prisoner-of-war. His part in The Great Escape and how magic and performing helped him and others survive captivity. In this part, Casson's arrives at Stalag Luft III, where he becomes a leading producer of camp entertainment, continues sending coded messages to M.I.9 and supports The Great Escape. The Stalag Luft III commandant provides an additional introduction to this blog, with this quote: “The [POWs] were always pitting their brains against our camp systems, more or less on the lines of each man being an individual magician working out a trick to escape. This meant that in the camps we were faced with a lot of brainy young conjurors who had plenty of time in which to work out their various tricks against us…”  Showtime   In early April 1942, Lieutenant Commander John Casson was transferred to Stalag Luft III, a newly built  Luftwaffe -sponsore...
Read more

"Don't be fright!": radio magician's catchphrase helps reassure the nation

-
Image
Sirdani was the most popular magician to entertain on British radio during World War Two.  Over the airwaves, he entertained millions of people, bringing  light   relief  to dark times. Although he played the role of an Egyptian gilly-gilly man, Sirdani's real name was Sid Daniels. He was born in Mile End, London in 1899. World War One broke out when Daniels was 16 years old.  Like many others, he enlisted by falsifying his age. He went on to serve in three campaigns, in West Africa, German East Africa and France.  A keen amateur magician, Daniels used to mystify his fellow soldiers in the trenches with his tricks. It was when shells came whining over just as he was in the middle of a particularly interesting bit of magic that he originated his famous phrase, "Don't be fright" . After his discharge from the army, Daniels took up magic full-time. He adopted the name Sirdani and the persona of an Egyptian gilly-gilly man.   Early in his career he perform...
Read more