.During the couple of years after my demob in 1946, I had been literally scraping a living in the tough world of professional music, so when I was offered the opportunity to join a stage band for a CSE show which was to tour Europe, I jumped at the chance. I was required to play accordion, vibraphone and piano. CSE (Combined Services Entertainment) was the successor to ENSA. Having passed an audition, we prepared for the tour, which was to encompass British bases in Germany, Austria, and Italy. The group consisted of 5 assorted musicians including several who were to make their name in subsequent years. Teddy Taylor was one who later became Musical Advisor to the Benny Hill shows.
In the warm up period, we played a week at Collins Music Hall, one of the few remaining Victorian venues. It was like the clocks had been turned back a hundred years, it really was a run down dump. The idea was that agents came along to view acts, but we never met anyone who was interested in us, in fact audiences were tiny to say the least.
So, in April 48 we set sail for fresh adventures in war torn Europe, as opposed to war torn England. Our base for this tour was one of the few remaining hotels in Hamburg, staffed by very old men. This was near the main station, which was just as well, because the City was still in ruins, just rows of frontages, with nothing behind, it was a very eerie place and easy to get lost, as there didn’t seem to be any signposts. There were a very few desolate shops, the majority seemed to be selling jewellery, and I purchased a silver ring, which I wear to this day. It was years later that I came to the unwelcome conclusion that the rings etc. on sale probably came from air raid victims! The currency was cigarettes or chocolates, not money, and one could obtain pretty well anything with a few cigarettes. We had a weekly free ration of 50 cigarettes, and as I didn’t smoke, I paid my way with cigs.
I had an elderly German craftsman make me a portable chess set, paid for by a packet of cigarettes, and yes, I still have it.
A bar of chocolate would buy the services of practically anything, and I mean anything!
We were playing about four nights per week, and other major centres we visited included Minden, Essen, Dortmund, Iserlohn, and Hanover.
During the next few weeks we played concerts for the British troops in many parts of the British zone of occupied Germany. We travelled around in an old coach, and inflicted ourselves on the unsuspecting troops at a number of beautiful, and luckily undamaged venues, including the Düsseldorf Opera House.
We would occasionally cross paths with another concert party, which consisted mainly of girls, and on the rare nights when this happened and neither group were working, we put on our own entertainment!
After four years in the Army, this period was like absolute bliss to me, I was doing what I wanted to do, and being treated like human beings. (We were given officer status). Still, after around six weeks of this paradise, we had to move on, our contract included a trip to Austria. We travelled by train, oohing and aahing at the picturesque Austrian countryside and picture postcard villages, and eventually arrived at our destination, Villach, which was quite close to the borders of Yugoslavia and Italy. We were accommodated in a hotel near the Worthersee Lake, the whole environment was like a Disney film.
We played a few engagements in this area, including the State Theatre, Klagenfurt. It was in this hotel that we met Borra the Austrian pick-pocket, who became quite famous in England, travelling with the Bertram Mill’s Circus. He used to boast that his father was a professional pick-pocket, but Borra himself used to confine his talents to show business, although I believe he used to advise the police. He was an absolute master of his craft, I watched him remove a wrist watch in about 5 seconds, with the victim being completely unaware.
Our last port of call on this tour was Trieste, and while there we were taken to the Yugoslavia border. Our guide then explained that although there was no-one in sight, if we wandered over the border, we would stand a very good chance of being shot without warning.
It was here in Trieste that I was able to visit the retail premises of the great Italian accordion manufacturers Scandalli. When we arrived at the shop, my eyes must have been like organ stops, I had never seen such an array of magnificent instruments. They had just introduced their new multi-coupler model. I think the price was around the equivalent of £100 which, of course was completely out of the question for me. (I was earning £8 per week on this tour). My plight must have touched the heart of the manager, lovely man that he was, and he insisted that I took not one, but two of these accordians insisting that I could pay as and when currency restricitions allowed...
I must explain that there were very tight constraints on the movement of currency at the time. When we arrived home, I tried my best to repay his kindness, but these restrictions prevented this for some time. When I finally managed to find an acceptable route for the money, the lire had been devalued so much I got both instruments for a song. This was a rare stroke of good fortune
And so the European tour came to an end, much to everyone’s regret.
We really enjoyed a fabulous time, and it was just the pick up I needed, after four years in uniform.
Bernard Chinn(1937) 2006
