Wartime uniform badge for the Entertainments National Services Association
Badge
ca.1940 (made)
ca.1940 (made)
| Place of origin |
The Entertainments National Service Association, or ENSA, was set up in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson as part of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes, to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. It was superseded by Combined Services Entertainment, or CSE, originally called the Central Pool of Artists
ENSA's first big wartime variety concert was broadcast by the BBC to the Empire and local networks from RAF Hendon in north London on 17 October 1939. Adelaide Hall, The Western Brothers and Mantovani were on the bill, with Adelaide Hall singing We're Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line accompanied by Mantovani and His Orchestra.
This badge, with other ENSA and CSA badges, was given to the museum by Rae Hammond (1926-1995), manager of Cheltenham Everyman Theatre and author of the book The Magic of Edward Victor's Hands. As an authority on magic in later life, magic may have been one of his specialities serving with ENSA and later CSE.
ENSA's first big wartime variety concert was broadcast by the BBC to the Empire and local networks from RAF Hendon in north London on 17 October 1939. Adelaide Hall, The Western Brothers and Mantovani were on the bill, with Adelaide Hall singing We're Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line accompanied by Mantovani and His Orchestra.
This badge, with other ENSA and CSA badges, was given to the museum by Rae Hammond (1926-1995), manager of Cheltenham Everyman Theatre and author of the book The Magic of Edward Victor's Hands. As an authority on magic in later life, magic may have been one of his specialities serving with ENSA and later CSE.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Wartime uniform badge for the Entertainments National Services Association (generic title) |
| Brief description | Cloth badge, trefoil shaped, 'E.N.S.A.', Given by Rae Hammond Esq. |
| Physical description | Trefoil-shaped cloth badge in red, blue, black, white and gold made to be sewn to a uniform, with the letters ENSA embroidered in gold in the central roundel and the three 'leaves' respectively. |
| Credit line | Given by Rae Hammond |
| Summary | The Entertainments National Service Association, or ENSA, was set up in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson as part of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes, to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. It was superseded by Combined Services Entertainment, or CSE, originally called the Central Pool of Artists ENSA's first big wartime variety concert was broadcast by the BBC to the Empire and local networks from RAF Hendon in north London on 17 October 1939. Adelaide Hall, The Western Brothers and Mantovani were on the bill, with Adelaide Hall singing We're Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line accompanied by Mantovani and His Orchestra. This badge, with other ENSA and CSA badges, was given to the museum by Rae Hammond (1926-1995), manager of Cheltenham Everyman Theatre and author of the book The Magic of Edward Victor's Hands. As an authority on magic in later life, magic may have been one of his specialities serving with ENSA and later CSE. |
| Associated objects |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.354-1989 |
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| Record created | July 1, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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