Soon after retiring and joining U3A I was asked to prepare something to show people how to use computers to research their family tree. Well, that really sparked an interest. I started researching my grandfather, George Henry Davies (Harry). He was a colliery farrier from Blaenllechau in the Rhondda Valley. I was two years old when he died. Sadly, I have no memories of him.
As a younger man, he joined the army in 1915. After a very short period in France, he was shipped to Salonika in Greece. These days, not many people remember that any fighting went on there. Harry stayed in Salonika until early 1918.
During 2020 the whole world changed beyond all measure as countries around the globe suffered the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic. For many, including myself, had to endure many months in lockdown with limited opportunity to go out and socialise. My music making with my recorder group, Morris dancers and folk sessions all came to a grinding halt. For many months I simply didn't feel like playing any music at all. Then a friend introduced me to the idea of making Acapella videos .
Around the same time I learned that the Imperial War Museum had a set of pantomimes from the First World War Salonika front. These pantomimes were performed by a party of travelling ambulance men, the 85th Field Hospital. With the help of the Salonika Campaign Society, I’ve managed to get scanned images of the three pantomimes, Dick Whittington, Bluebeard, and Aladdin in Macedonia. They provide a strange and unique insight into the lives of soldiers posted to this long-forgotten battlefront.
At the moment, I’m trying to put together some of those Acapella videos, trying to breathe new life into those old tunes. I’m keying in each note of the tunes into Musescore software. This must be a bit like following a knitting pattern stitch by stitch with no idea what the finished item will ever look like. I’ve created some musical videos with the help of Apple iMovie and Acapella :- Pitch Perfect.
Initially, I thought I'd try to learn one or two of the tunes. I couldn't be certain that my grandfather Harry had ever attended any of these pantomimes but after a short period of study, I feel that he probably did.
The Macedonia front was quite unlike the experience of the Western Front in France. During Summer, it was fiercely hot but Winter brought freezing conditions and snow. For most of the time, the battle lines were fairly static. There was little chance of any entertainment. Only lucky soldiers managed to visit the town of Salonika. Curiously, soldiers developed a strange form of entertainment:- Racing tortoises. Well, that was impossible during Winter as the tortoises would be in hibernation.
Also, it appears that these pantomimes were incredibly popular, frequently out-performing pantomime productions staged at Drury Lane.
Let's imagine then that grandfather Harry did manage to get a ticket for the pantomime. Imagine him trudging through the snow to a small barn, nicknamed The Kopriva Palace Theatre. We'll take a seat beside him and enjoy some of the tunes that he would have enjoyed all those years ago.
I’ve finished three videos of songs from Music of Macedonia. You can see them here.
The Greek Village dance.
https://youtu.be/cmfLTDMmafA
I experienced a strange coincidence when I was looking through the music from Aladdin in Macedonia. Look at the name of the composer. Not my grandfather, G.H. Davies but a strange coincidence, another G.H. Davies.
The Greek Canteen.
https://youtu.be/jtOUe9kGt10
Farewell from Dick Whittington.
