Front Line Musicians

The Front Line Musicians were members of the Union Defence Force's Permament Force (PF) band led by Lieutenant Edward Kealy, ARAM. They staged shows for the benefit of the soldiers of the Fifth and Eighth Armies serving in Italy in 1944. During one two-week period, just before the "Big Push," they gave 68 performances at Anzio, three by the full band and three by the dance band each day. There were no casualties amongst the musicians during their entire tour.

Many of the soldiers in the audience came directly from their front line positions and returned directly to the fighting after the shows. The musician's best moment was while entertaining Canadians who had been helping the South African engineers. The first half of the programme was to be music and the second half was to be a film show. The band "brought the house down" and the sophisticated Canadians booed the announcement that a film was to follow as they wanted more music.

Source

Springbok newspaper, July 27, 1944.