KHAKI CELEBRITIES

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 February 1940, Page 11

KHAKI CELEBRITIES

PRIVATES WITH CHAFFEURS. LONDON, January 18. It must be rather amusing nowadays to be a battalion C.O. You can never be sure what khaki-camouflagec celebrities may not be masquerading as full privates in your unit. London s newest West End comedy, “The Bare Idea,” for instance, is produced by Mr David Erskine, the late Lord Rosslyn’s extremely good-looking 22-year-old son. Mr David Erskine was at the Comedy Theatre for the firstnight show in battle uniform. He is a full private in a well-known corps, and had to be on parade next morning at 8 ack emma. There are dozens and scores of somewhat similar cases of soldiering notabilities. Brass Hats of the old Aidershot type are constantly being shocked by them. But it was even worse in the last war. Many much-gilded youths served with the Liverpool Pal battalions, for instance, who did their war training on Lord Derby’s estate at Knowsley. One oi the best jokes of that time was a Saturday noon pay-out to the Pal battalions. Nobody could absent himself from that concluding ritual of the strenuous week’s work.

So the comic result was a queue of khaki, duly taking turn to step forward, salute, draw 3/6, and salute before stepping back. Meanwhile, just outside Knowsley gates, with their engines running, and smartly . uniformed chauffeurs waiting patiently at the wheel, would be another queue of expensive’private limousines, belonging to the aforementioned full privates. How much it cost them ini petrol to wait for their respective week’s three and sixpences the lord only knows. But the best comedy of all perhaps was at the front, when a front-line sector became badly flooded, and a C.R.E. actually came up to direct operations- Now a C.R.E. is a really tremendous Army big noise Imagine his sensations when a full private in a kilted Glasgow battalion, breaking in on his august professional meditations, brusquely pointed out that the deflooding operations were “all wrong”! When the C.R.E. recovered from near-apoplexy he roared tor blood. But the private’s O.C. soothed him down. “I should overlook the thing, sir,” said he quietly, “that private of mine occupied the chair ot engineering at Glasgow University. I recall with amusement still another little Army pay-day episode of 1914. The officer who was paying the battalion was a conscientious middleaged captain. He spoke to one of his men, again a full private, when he took his nay. This man was drawing the full amount he could without making any allowance towards his wife. Instead' of 3/6, therefore, he was entitled to, and duly received, the sumptuous sum of 5/-. “Look here, » said the pay-captain quite kindly, “it is really no business of mine, but I’m sure you are a decent fellow and don’t you think you should deny yourself a little in order to make up your wife’s allowance to the

full 22/6 a week?” To which the full private, with a respectful salute, replied: “Well, sir, I am allowing my wife £1,500 a year while I’m serving. But if you think another half-crown a week would be useful to her, I'm quite agreeable!’ In those times, and even nowadays, it behoved the wearer of a Sam Browne to walk delicately where full privates are concerned.