Received this yesterday. Any help is greatly appreciate. Thanks M1
Hello Marion,
I recently came across the 6th Corps Music website. I am hoping you can help me.
I am trying to track down a copy of a USO Christmas Album from World War II... or at least a burned (CD) version.
Unfortunately I don't have much to go on. As far as I know my grandfather was stationed in France during World War II and came back to Brooklyn with a Christmas Album from the USO - I unfortunately don't know what year the album was released or any of the songs/artists who contributed...
As a child my father accidentally destroyed the album. Shortly after, my grandfather passed away. It is one of the few anecdotes my father talks about from his childhood. At the end of May my father will be turning 60 and I thought it would be really special if I could somehow track this down.
Have you perhaps come across this album or any information related to it? Is there any way you can help me or leads/thoughts you might have? I have tried to reach out to the USO directly, but they sent me to the New York Public Library Archives online and I didn't see anything that would lead me in the right direction.
I am of course willing to pay (or donate to the website) for the album or a copy, etc.
In the far east in 1945 were many British & Commonwealth and allied servicemen awaiting repatriation and still serving. There were few R&R facilities and Winston Churchill came up with an idea for Amenity Ships to fill this gap. He tasked the British Admiralty with this and two ex Blue Funnel ships, the Agamemnon and Menestheus were sent to Canada for conversion. The Agamemnon went to the Esquimalt shipyard on Vancouver Island, but was never used due to the end of the war. The Menestheus went to the False Creek shipyard in Vancouver and was converted.
An extra funnel was fitted and the ship gutted ready for installation of the following. A 400 seat theatre, a dance floor, a swimming pool, a hospital with operating theatre, a cafeteria, a corner drug store, shopping centre, tailors shop, dry cleaning plant and laundromat, a 5000 volume library and a non-denominational chapel.
Finally (and perhaps most importantly?) a complete brewery was installed producing 9000 gallons of beer a week from de-salinated seawater! Some for use onboard and some for other ships of the line met en-route.
The theatre produced a show called PACIFIC SHOW BOAT with an all male cast but including as it says in a copy of the programme I have: BOGUS GIRLS OF THE FLEET! The Royal Marine 'Seafarers' dance band under the direction of Bandmaster Charles Hotham RMB LRAM, provided the music for the show and dancing.
The Menestheus sailed west in February 1946 visiting Japan, Shanghai, Hong Kong and various other bases en-route for the UK via the Suez Canal.
The three photos show the Menestheus before and after conversion and the old theatre in Vancouver where the show was put on for local people before the ships departure.
I am indebted to Carrie Schmidt, Librarian/Archivist of the Vancouver Maritime Museum for help with my research for this article.
Posted by: Mike Hinkle - 04-21-2011, 10:41 AM - Forum: Korean War
- Replies (2)
I am going to post this topic, since there are alot of highly knowledgeable people here its Korean and Vietnam. I am coming up short trying to find miltary records/info online for my great uncle. He was CMSgt Wayne H. Hinkle US Air Force, Birth 21 Nov 1931
Death 14 Sep 2006. I did find him listed on a Air Force memorial page. If anybody can point me in the right direction.
A man is driving along a highway and sees a rabbit jump out across the middle of the road.
He swerves to avoid hitting it, but unfortunately the rabbit jumps right in front of the car.
The driver, a sensitive man as well as an animal lover, pulls over and gets out to see what has become of the rabbit.
Much to his dismay, the rabbit is the Easter Bunny, and he is DEAD .
The driver feels so awful that he begins to cry. A beautiful blonde woman driving down the highway sees a man crying on the side of the road and pulls over.
She steps out of the car and asks the man what's wrong.
"I feel terrible," ! he explains, "I accidentally hit the Easter Bunny with my car and KILLED HIM."
The blonde says, “Don’t worry."
She runs to her car and pulls out a spray can. She walks over to the limp, dead Easter Bunny, bends down, and sprays the contents onto him.
The Easter Bunny jumps up, waves its paw at the two of them and hops off down the road.
Ten feet away he stops, turns around and waves again, he hops down the road another 10 feet, turns and waves, hops another ten feet, turns and waves, and repeats this again and again and again and again, until he hops out of sight.
The man is astonished. He runs over to the woman and demands,
"What is in that can?
What did you spray on the Easter Bunny ?"
The woman turns the can around so that the man can read the label.
It says..
(Are you ready for this?)
(Are you sure?)
(You know you're gonna be sorry)
(Last chance)
(OK, here it is)
It says,
"Hair Spray
Restores life to dead hair, and adds permanent wave."
