How to make £2,000
Title
How to make £2,000
Description
A review of the variety show 'Spotlight on Flannel' which toured and collected funds for Wings for Victory and RAF Benevolent Fund. The cast included Leading Aircraft Woman Diana Male, Flight Lieutenant Gottlieb, Flight Sergeant Jimmy Cummings and Leading Aircraftmen Harry Illingsworth, Conrad Vince and Wallie Buckland. Corporals Henry Howard and Wallie Okin performed their comedy act.
Coverage
Language
Format
One printed magazine cutting
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
MHowardHF1158144-210821-17
Transcription
The Halton Magazine
[cartoon]
HOW TO MAKE £2,000
EARLY this year a variety show, "Spotlight on Flannel," was presented at Halton by two instructors – Cpl. Wally Okin and Cpl. Henry Howard.
When "Wings for Victory" weeks were being arranged in Bucks soon afterwards, the cast of "Spotlight on Flannel" were invited to lend a hand. They did. Between April and July they visited towns and villages all over the county, putting on a variety entertainment which became better and better as time went on.
Over this period the sum of £1,700 was collected for the "Wings for Victory" campaign and £500 for the R.A.F. Benevolent Fund.
Audiences ranged from 4,000 in an open-air stadium at Chesham (where £360 was raked in) to about one hundred in a small village hall – proceeds £20.
The party which achieved this success – in their spare time – included LACW Diana Male, the station's popular soprano; (a first-rate tenor), F.Sgt. Jimmy Cummings (comedian), LAC Harry Illingsworth (ventriloquist), LAC Conrad Vince (compere), and LAC Wallie Buckland (accordionist).
Sgt. George Carter acted as accompanist, and provided a swing orchestra: and of course there were the producers of the original show, Cpls. Howard and Okin, in their now famous comedy act.
Members of this group still on the station, with others of the “old gang” of entertainers, are forming the nucleus of a station concert party. Having already done a good job of work outside, they are prepared to do an equally good job in camp this winter.
There is no doubt that this development will be welcomed. It may be the beginning of entertainment “by the people, for the people,” which should be the aim on a station of this kind.
[cartoon]
HOW TO MAKE £2,000
EARLY this year a variety show, "Spotlight on Flannel," was presented at Halton by two instructors – Cpl. Wally Okin and Cpl. Henry Howard.
When "Wings for Victory" weeks were being arranged in Bucks soon afterwards, the cast of "Spotlight on Flannel" were invited to lend a hand. They did. Between April and July they visited towns and villages all over the county, putting on a variety entertainment which became better and better as time went on.
Over this period the sum of £1,700 was collected for the "Wings for Victory" campaign and £500 for the R.A.F. Benevolent Fund.
Audiences ranged from 4,000 in an open-air stadium at Chesham (where £360 was raked in) to about one hundred in a small village hall – proceeds £20.
The party which achieved this success – in their spare time – included LACW Diana Male, the station's popular soprano; (a first-rate tenor), F.Sgt. Jimmy Cummings (comedian), LAC Harry Illingsworth (ventriloquist), LAC Conrad Vince (compere), and LAC Wallie Buckland (accordionist).
Sgt. George Carter acted as accompanist, and provided a swing orchestra: and of course there were the producers of the original show, Cpls. Howard and Okin, in their now famous comedy act.
Members of this group still on the station, with others of the “old gang” of entertainers, are forming the nucleus of a station concert party. Having already done a good job of work outside, they are prepared to do an equally good job in camp this winter.
There is no doubt that this development will be welcomed. It may be the beginning of entertainment “by the people, for the people,” which should be the aim on a station of this kind.
Collection
Citation
“How to make £2,000,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 11, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/42755.