Assistant Curator Chad will be showcasing some artifacts and photos as he talks about famed Prince George dancer Inga Andersen.

During WWII, Inga served officially as an entertainer with the British Army, but unlike many fellow entertainers, she performed for the troops at the front lines. She often used bombed-out buildings as her stage, and a line of soldiers with their backs to her was her changing room. The locations she performed at were under blackout precautions, earning her the nickname “The Blackout Girl”. Inga even performed at the infamous Monte Cassino, where 80,000 soldiers were battling for control. It was here that Inga and accompanying officers got lost on their way to a safer location behind Allied lines. Instead of safety, they had essentially entered the battlefield and had to navigate their way through German troops. Inga stated that the sweetest words ever spoken to her were those of an American soldier on outpost duty who asked, “What in the name of blankety-blank are you doing here!?”

Find Chad upstairs in the Ted Williams History Centre.