Magic at War

As the festive season approaches, families around the world will be settling in to watch some classic Christmas movies. Among more modern selections, many will revisit It's a Wonderful Life . Routinely voted to be one of the greatest films of all time, this 1946 film stars American actor James Maitland Stewart (1908-1997).  James Stewart (c1948) (Source: Creative Commons Licence) When Stewart was growing up in Indiana (Pennsylvania, USA) he was good friends with Bill Neff. By his mid-teens, Neff was a budding magician and the pair developed a magic act. They built many of their own tricks and illusions, with help from Stewart's father who ran a hardware store. Stewart interned as Neff's assistant, later becoming a magician in his own right. The pair's magical career was helped, briefly, by magician Jack Gwynne. "He was my first director," Stewart later said. James Stewart (seated) with Bill Neff (Source: Public domain) Another photograph of James Stewart  (lef...

In Part 2 of this blog about Liverpool-based magician ‘Eric’ Ryder, we learn how he used his magic skills to boost morale in Stalag VIII-B prisoner-of-war camp. ‘In the bag’  All Halifax L9566’s crew members survived their forced landing in the early morning of 11 September 1941, but they were quickly captured by German forces.  Sergeant ‘Eric’ Ryder and  his colleagues were first sent to  Dulag Luft (Oberursel) , an interrogation and processing camp for captured air crew near Frankfurt.  One of the first individuals Ryder met in this camp was Lieutenant Commander John Casson from the Royal Navy ’ s Fleet Air Arm. While most prisoners only spent a few days or weeks in the Dulag Luft , Casson was a member of the permanent staff. Along with twenty others, he ran the camp inside the wire, helping new prisoners settle in, and liaising  with the German commandant and his staff. Casson was caught in Norway in June 1940. Coincidentally, Casson was a keen amat...