The extraordinary story of the young entertainers sent out to war to dance & sing. Once the Second World War had broken out it soon became clear that morale would be crucial in the military effectiveness of our armed forces. & so was born the Entertainment National Services Association or ENSA
- to send the nation's best singers dancers musicians & comedians from Noel Coward to Gracie Fields to entertain the troops however far away they might be. Over the course of the war ENSA gave their first break to such postwar stars as Tommy Cooper & Frankie Howerd as well as enshrining the young Vera Lynn forever as the forces' sweetheart. When Allied troops landed in Normandy in 1944 George Formby followed close behind while a distinguished troupe under Laurence Olivier was performing Shakespeare to British soldiers in Hamburg within weeks of the German surrender. Now Andrew Merriman has talked to surviving ENSA veterans from Vera Lynn to Dame Beryl Grey to piece together the extraordinary adventures of the ordinary men & women sent out across the world
- even to inhospitable dangerous Burma
- whose contribution to the war effort was song dance & laughter.