The audience seemed most amused by Ethel Remey who played the part of the Medium. The cast played their parts broadly, which was the best way to do it before an audience of young men. The two ghosts had a more gruesome make up than they did in the New York production.

There were numerous inconveniences throughout the evening. The weather was wet and misty, the hangar was rather cold, and the benches had a tendency to collapse. The public address system did not work perfectly; those who had seen the play before or knew the story, could follow it much better than those who were new to it. The bomb load for a mission came in and some of the men had to leave. Nevertheless, the play was greatly appreciated and the applause at the end was mingled with loud whistles. When the ghost, at one point in the play, reclined on the couch and displayed a pleasing hip line, there were whistles of pleasure in true army style. With the possible exception of the dinner on Saturday evening, this play was the most successful part of the celebration.

The day of the party started wrong, with a mission to Merseburg, our most dreaded target. That afternoon, there was a program at Hangar #2, first a dance band and then a U.S.O. show. There were several slapstick comedy acts, with jokes out of Joe Miller, an accordion player, and a singer. The audience seemed to enjoy it. When the show was over, the planes began to come in and, of course, a lot of people were kept busy for some time.

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