A biography of Virginia Vernon (1893-1971), ENSA’S Chief Welfare Officer is begging to be written (watch this space). Anyone reading through her papers in the Imperial War Museum, will appreciate what a force of nature she was during her time with ENSA in the Second World War. Her work rate, ability to influence people to get things done, and her international outlook made Madame Vernon (or Madame V as she became known) ENSA's secret weapon!
She was not a performer with ENSA, but where muddle and confusion reigned either at home or abroad (and this was quite common within the organisation), Madame V would be flown in, heads would be knocked together and improvements would be made. Naomi Jacob (see my previous post) described Madam V as follows:
"She is highly intelligent, completely tireless, palpitating with energy, and, as I have often told her, utterly ruthless. She begins her day about 5 am and is still going strong at midnight.” and "I have seen her giving an interview, answering two telephones, signing letters, speaking at intervals to her secretary all at one and the same time and scarcely allowing the threads to get twisted or ravelled.” (Jacob, Me and the Med, p.25)
Daughter of an American theatre impresario, Joseph Brooks, Virginia was an actress, writer, and translator of plays. Before the war she lived in Paris with her husband, Frank Vernon, a theatre producer and retired Major. She volunteered to help ENSA in October 1939 and was a natural choice with her French connections to be liaison officer to the Theatre aux Armees. She was soon promoted to become the Superintendent of Welfare in November 1939. Her job was to arrange entertainments for the B.E.F. in France, book theatres, make sure ENSA artistes visiting from the UK were looked after and in the right place at the right time. I can only imagine her job was akin to herding cats with up to 150 artistes touring across 300 square miles at any one time!
Virgina’s husband gave her invaluable coaching during the first months of the war in how to handle the military hierarchy and red tape and included advice in his private correspondence, including a 17 point list of dos and donts to get ahead in the army! Tragically, Frank died of pneumonia on March 18th 1940 in a BEF hospital in Dieppe. Not missing a beat with so much work to do, Virginia ploughed on arranging hotels, transport, etc for all the ENSA artistes. Basil Dean, the Director General of ENSA, commented on her ability to take care of the details as well as the big picture, “Madame Vernon was as considerate towards the elderly actresses as she was fussy over the young girls touring for the first time.”[1] This attention to detail came into its own when arranging the evacuation of all ENSA artistes from France when the Germans invaded. Virginia Vernon, along with Major Haygarth managed to escape remarkably with all the artistes scattered across France and their precious cinematic equipment on one of the last troopships to depart.[2] This was in no small part thanks to Virginia’s administrative prowess.
On her return to ENSA HQ in Drury Lane, London, Virgina was appointed Chief Welfare Officer reporting directly to Basil Dean. She was also Secretary of Advisory International Council and Executive Head of ENSA's International Section and soon managing a growing team of Welfare Officers both on the home front and abroad. In her role in ENSA’s international section, Virginia organised entertainment for Polish, French, Czech, and Belgian troops using artistes from their home countries who were seeking refuge in Britain. As the Allied forces made progress in North Africa and Italy, in late 1943 Virginia was sent out to troubleshoot the rapidly expanding ENSA operations. In addition to arranging impromptu royal command performances to King George IV in Bougie, Algiers[3], she had to deal with drunken artistes and cheeky young dancers who were offending everyone apart from the servicemen they were entertaining! The challenge of finding accommodation and negotiating billeting with local hoteliers for artists in a war zone should not be underestimated. A roof over the artiste’s heads was one thing, but Vernon often had to source blankets, pillows, and mattresses as well.
Middle ranking Army Welfare Officers were often the biggest challenges facing Vernon on her crusade to ensure the safety and comfort of ENSA artistes. One of her diary entries for 22nd December 1943 whilst visiting Italy is typical of many of the exchanges she had. On requesting beds, mattresses and blankets for a new ENSA hostel, she writes that Captain Green (Army Welfare Officer) replied that he “could not authorise them until he knew what I was going to do with them!!”. She reported back to ENSA HQ in London on several occasions how Army Welfare Officers were often drunk and lazy. On the other hand, Virginia Vernon had a knack of getting senior officers to acquiesce to her requests for help; the Mountbatten’s became close friends when she was out in India and Burma later in the war.
Without Virginia Vernon’s efforts, ENSA’s overseas operations would have descended into chaos very quickly. She made sure that the performers who volunteered to entertain the troops were kept safe and looked after in areas close to the front line and recently liberated war zones. For her services during the war, Madame V was awarded an MBE and 5 campaign medals.
[1] Basil Dean, The Theatre at War (George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd, 1956), p. 199.
[2] ‘Narrow Escape in France’, Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 2 September 1940, Page 9 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NEM19400902.2.90
[3] John Graven Hughes, The Greasepaint War: Show Business 1939-45 (New English Library, 1976), p. 170.