Friday, 27th November, 1953 ….. another story from Tony Goulding

This unprepossessing fragment of an old newspaper, most likely The Manchester Evening News, of Friday the 27th November, 1953 does not suggest that it has a lot to interest the historian. 

However, on closer scrutiny it revealed various noteworthy items. A miscellaneous section records the death that day of a pillar of the German theatre of the first quarter of the 20th century, Rudolf Bernauer.  

He is most known in the United Kingdom for writing the libretto for the German operetta “The Chocolate Soldier”.

Also in this column is a report that the Conservative M.P. for East Renfrewshire, Major Sir Guy Lloyd, had tabled a question for the following Tuesday’s, Prime Minister’s questions. 

He was due to ask the Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, to confirm that any agreement reached with the Egyptian government vis-à-vis the Suez Canal Zone (1) would be debated in the House of Commons prior to ratification. 

 Juxtaposed with these news items were reports of threatened strike by Northern Ireland’s butchers, fears that an outbreak of tuberculosis among Albania’s I million population had reached Greece and the team news for Southport and Chester City for their Third Division (North) games the next day against Accrington Stanley and Grimsby Town respectively.(2)

On the reverse side of the shred of paper are some entertainment listings which included a show at Chorlton-cum-Hardy's own Chorlton Theatre Club which was based in the upper floor of the old Conservative Club on the Manchester Road / Wilbraham Road corner. They were staging a performance by The Parklands Players (3) of “Two Dozen Red Roses” a popular romantic comedy recently adapted, by Kenneth Horne, from the original Italian of Aldo de Benedetti.

Meanwhile at the Albert Hall on Peter Street, Manchester, the Manchester Philharmonic Society were presenting the seasonal favourite Handel’s “Messiah” and at the Free Trade Hall there was a concert by the accomplished Polish pianist, Stanislas Niedzielski of a selection of pieces by Frédéric Chopin.

Pictures: - Newspaper fragments and and the former Chorton Conservative club from the collection of Tony Goulding; Rudolf Bernauer plaque, Berlin, - photo taken by Doris Antony, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4412524

Notes: -

1) This refers to an attempt to reach an agreement to bring to an end The Suez Emergency which began in October, 1951 when the Egyptian government unilaterally repudiated the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936. After Britain refused to withdraw its garrison tensions mounted and escalated to a point where, up to 70,000 British troops were deployed in the Canal Zone.  the “Emergency” lasted until on the 19th October, 1954 a further treaty between the two countries was signed, with Britain agreeing to a phased withdrawal of all its occupying forces. The last British soldiers, the 2nd battalion of The Grenadier Guards, left from Port Said on the 24th March, 1956. Just over 4 months later on the 26th July the new Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, nationalised the Canal. This resulted in the Suez Crisis of October/ November, 1956 in which a joint British, French and Israeli invasion attempted to reassert their control of the Canal.  Opposition to this military intervention was widespread both internationally (including crucially from the United States) and at home. There was a rapid ceasefire but the affair became something of a diplomatic disaster.

2)  These matches resulted in a 5- 3 win for Southport at home to Accrington Stanley and a 1-1 draw between Chester City and Grimsby Town.

3) The Parklands Players were an Amateur Dramatic Society which formed shortly before World War Two in Crumpsall, North Manchester. They continued producing plays regularly until at least November, 1992.  During the 1950s decade they produced many which they would tour around the Greater Manchester area. An example was their 1954 production of “Asmodee” a drama by, the French Nobel Prize winner. François Mauriac which they performed in five separate venues including once again The Chorlton Theatre Club (Wednesday the 10th – Saturday the 13th, February). This meant that they would have acted in upwards of twenty performances, a feat indicative of both their commitment and quality. The society donated the proceeds from these shows to charity; the money being split between the Red Cross, the Boy Scouts, and the Lifeboat Institute. Not content with these endeavours the Parklands Players then entered “Asmodee” as their offering at the Manchester Drama Festival at the C.W.S. Hall. Undaunted by having to open the week-long festival on the 10th May, 1954, Parklands Players finished as runners-up and were awarded the Lowry Trophy by the adjudicators.

Acknowledgements: - As well as Find My Past’s Newspaper Archive the National Army Museum was very useful. https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/suez-crisis