My step-father Albert Edward Pearce b.1889 was a member of a concert party for Troops in the WW1. He took the part of girls as he sang and danced well, wearing the wigs and flowing gowns to complete the effect.
I have been unable to find any mention of him in any records, he worked in the pay office dealing with the army pay. He told me he was commissioned. (His left arm was deformed how did he enter the army with this problem? He said it didn't matter they needed men to do a job. )
There seems very little anywhere about the troop entertainment, apart from Talbot House Popperinge Belgium, which I visited a few months ago. Any Suggestions Rosie6
Rosie
I know it is a very long time since you posted onto my Concert Parties thread on Rootschat. I am an administrator of the Great War Discussion Forum
http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php which takes up most of my time, so I got out of the habit of visiting Rootschat. In the meantime, several of the queries here have appeared on the GWF, and I have responded to them there.
However I was summoned to Rootschat today to help with an enquiry about a Northampton man who appeared in an Army Pay Corps concert party in Warwick. Now, soldiers belonging to corps (e.g artillery, pay, medical, engineers etc) are notoriously hard to research, and I couldn't help much. At present, I only have one Army Pay Corps concert party on my list, which operated in Cairo in 1916. Did Albert ever mention Egypt? Do you have any pictures of him in uniform?
I have added Albert's name to my list of performers. I would be very interested in learning more about him. Do you have a photo of him? I have quite a few photos of unidentified groups and individuals, so he may already be lurking in my collection somewhere without me knowing.
Best wishes for your reseach
Kate Wills