Magic at War

Robert Harbin was o ne of the most influential magicians of the Twentieth Century. Not only was he a superb performer, he was an inventive genius, and one of the most prodigious inventors of magical effects. During World War Two, he was tasked with bringing entertainment to thousands of war-weary troops in the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East. Robert Harbin - a master magician (Source: whirligig-tv.co.uk) The Boy Magician from Sunny South Africa   Robert Harbin (Edward ‘Ned’ Richard Charles Williams) was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in early 1909.     He first got interested in magic after an ex-serviceman appeared at his school with a magic show, which Harbin later described as   “rather poor.”  But, with his interest sparked, young Ned started learning magic. After watching British magician Clive Maskelyne perform in Durban,   he travelled to England in 1928 – aged 19 –   “to try his luck in the ‘old country’”.   ...

A shorter article this time, retelling a few stories from Vic Taylor's wartime experiences as a magician and showman... When World War Two came, thousands of magicians and other performers across the United Kingdom and other nations joined the armed forces. Some did so voluntarily. Others were conscripted, or else were forced to sign-up due to reduced levels of theatrical work during the war years. Vic Taylor, an Englishman born in 1900, had experienced this before. As a youngster, he'd learned magic from his father, a travelling magician. Young Vic suffered for the sake of art, cramped into a little box as the working parts of 'Zeedah, the Mysterious Talking Hindu Head,' (a fake automata) until he progressed to learning tricks and developing his own act. With his father, Vic spent m ost of his teenage years touring the south of England, working at fairs and seafronts. A natural showman, Vic's act  embraced magic, hypnotism, ventriloquism and Punch and Judy.  Vic Ta...

A major base for the Royal Navy, Portsmouth was an obvious target for bombing raids by the German Luftwaffe. Between July 1940 and May 1944, the city endured 67 air raids. The raids killed 930 people, injuring many more. Over 6,500 houses were destroyed (nearly ten percent of the total) and a further 6,500 were severely damaged.  Bomb damage on Portsmouth Road in the Southsea area of Portsmouth (Source: Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery)  In one of the three major raids, on 10th March 1941, Ray Wickens was on duty with the city’s Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Casualty Service. Wickens was 32 years old and had served in the Casualty Service for one-and-a-half years. By day, he was an electrical salesman. By night, and at the weekends, he was normally a semi-professional magician. Wickens was a founding member of the Portsmouth & District Magic Circle, when it started in 1938.   Ray Wickens (Source: Portsmouth Evening News) On that night, German high-explosive and incendia...