Magic at War

‘Warship Weeks’ were national campaigns to raise money to buy extra ships for the British Royal Navy. Other government-sponsored fundraising campaigns included 'Wings for Victory' weeks to buy bombers, 'Spitfire Week', 'War Weapons Week' and a 'Tanks for Attack' week. Similar campaigns were ran by other nations. The aim of ‘Warship Week’ was for individual cities, or collections of towns and villages, to raise money to pay for battleships, cruisers or destroyers. Once enough money had been raised to build the ship, the local community would adopt it.  Warship Week poster (Source: The National Museum of the Royal Navy, © Trustees of the NMRN) Women’s institutes, churches and schools would provide additional comforts for the crews of the ship they had adopted. This was usually in the form of woollen socks, gloves and balaclavas. Children would often write letters and send cards to the crew. When possible, officers and men from the adopted ship would visit ...

With war looming, one of the most popular books was Adolf Hitler’s auto-biographical manifesto,  Mein Kampf  (1925). Readers across the Channel and across the Atlantic wanted to understand what made the madman in Germany tick.  English translations of   Mein Kampf   were available, but they had been mired in complications and controversy since the early 1930s. One translation, known as the Stackpole edition, came out in America in February 1939.  It was translated, anonymously, by journalist and part-time magician, June Burrows Mussey (1910-1985). American publisher Stackpole Sons, promised to handover profits from sales of the book to refugee charities. But, a copyright claim by a rival American publisher, which ended up in the United States Supreme Court, stopping publication of this edition after only four months. Mussey’s translation sold 12,000 copies in its short run.   Mussey (who performed as Henry Hay) went on to serve in an air intellige...

Dutchman, Louis Lam (1903-1943) was a first-rate magician, specialising in card tricks and mental effects. Born and raised in Amsterdam, his primary job was as a trade correspondent. But, by the late 1930s he was making a name for himself as a writer of magic. His trilogy of English language books,  Would You Believe It  (1935),  Watch Me Closely  (1937) and   Be Deceived  (1939), were published in the U.K. and sold well. Lam also contributed to other books, including Fast Ones (1940) by   Joseph Ovette . He was a member of  London's Institute of Magicians and was increasingly well-connected with magicians around the world. Lam, Louis.  Be Deceived  (1939) Lam's magic writings may have been prompted by the situation in his homeland. In the late 1930s, anti-Semitism was on the rise in Europe. As a Jew, Lam would have found it increasingly difficult to get work. His books were, perhaps, an effort to generate an income to look aft...

In wartime Britain, radio was the chief form of news and entertainment. The B.B.C. had launched a television service in 1936, but t ransmissions were halted throughout the war. Returning home after a hard day’s work, exhausted and often depressed about wartime events, the British population would turn to the radio for light relief and a sense of normality.  The wireless brought the news vividly to life for people far from the action, but it was also a source of comfort too. In their sitting rooms, couples swayed to dance music played live, families gathered to listen to radio comedy shows such as  It’s That Man Again , listen to singers like Vera Lynn, and occasionally to be mystified by magic – performed over the radio.  Home radio in World War Two (Source: Creative Commons Licence) A host of magicians achieved considerable success from their appearances on radio during World War Two, but not all actually performed any tricks. Here's a few of them: J. B. Priestley P...

By the time war was declared, Frederick Montague (1876-1966) was an experienced Member of Parliament. Prime Minister Winston Churchill appointed him as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport, before moving him to the newly created Ministry of Aircraft Production in 1941. The Ministry of Aircraft Production was formed by Churchill in response to the need to produce large numbers of aircraft to fight the Battle of Britain. The first minister was Lord Beaverbrook and Montague was his de facto deputy.    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 aircraft and more. A colourised image of a WW2 aircraft factory in England (Source: Imperial War Museum) ...

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...

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...