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September 15th Journal Entry- Entertainment



Sept-15- G.I. show at Landerneau-

Barron Elliot & Band
Dave Shriner
Camel Caravan
Mouth Organ



Baron Elliot


Uncle Sam Drafts the Baron

Charles Craft, aka the Baron, continued to be a band leader in the U.S. Army.  He was assigned to the the 35th Special Services Company in Europe and became a staff Sargent.   He organized an orchestra and produced camp show titled "Broadway in Khaki" that was performed throughout the European theater.  Before the Normandy invasion his show was staged for troops in England, Wales, and Scotland.  Four weeks after the Normandy landing his musical troop was sent to France to entertain GIs at hospitals and in the R&R areas near the front lines.  They followed fighting forced  into Belgium, Luxemburg, and Germany.

Elliot's army troop was performing in the Belguin town of Malmedy in December 1944 when the Germans launched the Battle of the Bulge. Elliott and his band were were given weapons and fought to defend the town. Elliott's daughter said in an interview "During the Battle of the Bulge he slept with his saxophone on one side and his gun on the other side," Elliott was awarded a Bronze star for his combat action.

Battalion History: 15 September Offensive open all along Crozon Peninsula. German attacks and counterattacks on Brest front repulsed. (And Again from the record: "Friendly sappers, on a mission of demolishing mines and booby traps, encountered one of the microphones of the sound base. Believing it to be a mine, they decided to dynamite the microphone. Fortunately, they were intercepted by members of this battalion before any damage was done.")

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