The importance of first class light entertainment in time of war
Can’t be overstated. Historians say blandly,
As if it went without saying, that Churchill saw
Us through the last lot, but it was really Tommy Handley.
It’s That Man Again, which everyone called ITMA,
Sustained morale on the home front more
Effectively than Churchill and his gimmicky cigar -
A pipe would have been much less of a bore.
“I don’t mind if I do” - Jack Train’s squiffy Colonel Chinstrap
Made us smile as the bombs dropped all around us.
“I go, I come back” - immortalised by Horace Percival as Ali Oop -
Is yet another catchphrase that continues to astound us.
Ali, though shouldst be living at this hour!
Where are you now, Mrs. Mopp? Wo bist du, Funf?
We won’t forget the diver, though storm-clouds lour,
Or that man who was always “up to his ears in bumf”.
Bruce Forsyth forges memorable catchphrases. Who could forget
His “Nice to see you; to see you, nice”, or his “Just for a lark”?
And his “Give us a twirl!”- as lovely Anthea ignites the set -
Has brought solace and inspiration to men serving in Iraq.
