BLUEBOTTLE GOES TO WAR

'Peter Sellers and the RAF Gang Shows' is the sub-title of a story now told for the first time. The book reveals previously unknown film footage, photos, performances, broadcasts and recordings like two reels of 35mm film catalogued as 'RAF Gang Show, Akyab Island, Burma.' The footage of excellent quality shows a group of men in khaki Air Force uniforms. Among them is a rather skinny young man with a confident air who takes the lead in some staged high-jinks for the camera and later he is playing drums as part of a jazz quintet and acting in a two-handed sketch. That instantly recognisable face was Aircraftman 2223033 Richard Henry Sellers, better known as Peter Sellers, whose family came from the world of variety and vaudeville. Sellers was one of the biggest stars of the 1960s and 70s and his career began with characters such as Bluebottle on BBC Radio's The Goon Show. He achieved global fame as Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther series but what is less well known is he served in the Royal Air Force Entertainment Unit, known as Gang Shows, for over three years. This is a tale of the formation and education of his remarkable talent as well as a small corner of WW2 history that is uniquely British. Groups of servicemen and women were sent all around the world with hampers full of theatrical props and costumes to rally the troops in distant outposts of Empire. 128pp, illus.