BING TOURS GERMANY

Here is a great article from the New York Sun of October 12, 1944...

Bing, Back, Tells of Exciting Eight-week Tour.

A two-man invasion of German-held territory in France and a two-minute capture of a town in the Metz area was accomplished by Bing Crosby, who is used to capturing top honors in crooning, and an Army lieutenant, while Der Bingle was on a U. S. O. Camp Shows tour in France. The singer recalled the experience today at the Waldorf-Astoria as he discussed his eight-week tour in which he sang for G. I. audiences numbering anywhere from a dozen to 15,000 soldiers.

Bing’s misadventure occurred early one morning when, after he attended Mass by himself, a lieutenant offered to drive him to a point near the front lines a few miles from where he was scheduled to sing.

“After we had traveled for ten or fifteen minutes,” the singer stated, “I became concerned because the telephone lines had run out and when you don’t see them, you know you’ve gone too far. Then we got to this town and I was surprised because I had looked at the war map earlier and it was still in German hands. I asked the lieutenant and he said that he was lost, and I said, ‘let's get out of here fast.’” Talking to a commanding officer that night Bing mentioned that he had been in the town.

“You couldn’t have been.”
“I sure as hell was,” Crosby replied.
“It was in German hands,” the officer protested.
“Well, we had it for two minutes.”
Lost 10 Pounds on Trip.

Crosby, who lost ten pounds during the trip, put on his show while under German gunfire on numerous occasions and was in London while buzz bombs, which he described as “frightening and devastating,” were falling. Though he had lunch with Gen. Eisenhower and visited Gen. Bradley and other high officers, he played only for enlisted men.

Praising the morale of the troops as “terrific,” Bing said: “The boys want to get home, but there is no whining. They want to know that the people at home are staying behind them and there is no weakening, and the needed supplies will be gotten to them. They are somewhat concerned about a complacent attitude. They’ve read about postwar planning discussions, and they don't want to hear about post-war plans. They want to get the war won first.

Crosby, who was dressed in a tan and blue sports combination, puffed occasionally on a big briar pipe while being interviewed. Asked if the report that he was a member of the Hollywood for Dewey Committee was true, he answered: “I don’t know anything about that.” He said that the men asked him mostly about Bob Hope (whom Crosby claimed the G. I.'s like most of all the entertainers), his children, his horses and Brooklyn. He mentioned that “a lot of pictures” have their premieres overseas.

In discussing the soldiers’ preference in songs, Crosby said that the ones they most requested him to sing were “White Christmas,” “Swinging on a Star” and “San Fernando Valley.” He declared that he had made recordings of songs for propaganda broadcasts to Germany, singing in German from words written out phonetically. “They told me I was adequate,” he said.

Although a great many German prisoners watched the shows and smiled, they probably didn’t know what was going on, Bing said. When asked if he had converted any of them, he answered with a grin: “I probably widened the breach.”

He lauded the Red Cross workers and members of his troupe which included Joe de Rita, Jean Darrell, singer; Darlene Garner, dancer; Buck Harris, guitarist, and Earl Baxter, accordionist. He said that he would leave for the coast tomorrow night and resume his radio program late this month...

SOURCE

BING: SECRET WWII WEAPON

Bing Crosby Goes to Work on Wehrmacht With Assistance of Phonetic German
By ROBERT MUSEL

LONDON, Sept. 3, 1944 (UP)—While Hitler is fooling around with buzzbombs and pick-a-back planes we're hurling a real secret weapon at Germany—der Bingle.
Der Bingle is what the Germans call it. Back home it's Bing Crosby.

From a position dangerously near its launching platform (a grand piano in the studio of the American Broadcasting system in Europe) I watched der Bingle go to work on the Wehrmacht. It was beautiful to see and hear and experts of psychological warfare said its effect would be beautiful too.

Der Bingle took off first in a snappy chat to the Wehrmacht which, the most powerful transmitters in Europe will smash right at the quivering ears of Hitler's "Herrenvolk." He astounded frontline observers by using reasonably good German. Since he doesn't speak German, der Bingle was later asked how come.

"I don't do it with mirrors," he said. "I do it with phonetics."

Der Bingle is a great favorite with the Germans and the gents from psychological warfare conceived the idea of having him do a little something direct, for the staggering Wehrmacht which probably doesn't appreciate what Generals Bradley and Patton are doing to it.

Thus, as Bing stepped to the microphone to make a recording, there was a mental image in my mind of a harried Hun, gasping and breathless and resting by the roadside ready to listen to anything as a change from the shell spitting tanks of his pursuers.

Bing, consulting his phonetic chart, began:
"Hello, German soldiers. Here speaks Bing Crosby. I've just arrived from America—the country where nobody is afraid of the gestapo and where everybody has a right to say and write what he thinks."

Der Bingle, rippling through the Teutonic gutturals with complete ease, told the Germans about constitutional rights, adding, "I sincerely hope that our rights and our freedoms soon will be observed again in your country. That's what we Americans are fighting for."

Letting this sink in for a brief instant, der Bingle signalled Corp. Jack Russian, pianist of Major Glenn Miller's band, and said: "But I didn't come here to preach. I came here to sing a few songs."
Bing then sang a song from a film in which he starred, except that the lyrics were cleverly twisted so that the sense of the song was really: "Come with me out of that nasty Hitlerland and back to the free world."

After that, because many Europeans such as forced laborers in Germany understand French, Bing did a song in that language. His phonetic French was not bad either.

A typist passing by asked what was going on inside the studio. "Bing Crosby is singing to the Nazis," she was told.

Increduously, the typist exclaimed: "To the Nazis! What kind of punishment is that?"

SOURCE

PHOTOS OF THE DAY: BING AND THE USO

Stars like Bob Hope and Jack Benny got a lot of credit for entertaining the troops during World War II and rightfully so. However, Bing also entertained the troops, but he did it more low key. Here are some great pics of Bing with our troops...

with Dinah Shore

BING AND THE QUEEN MARY

TODAY IN QUEEN MARY HISTORY: BING CROSBY WEEPS BEFORE LADY LIBERTY
By Greater Long Beach

KadyCee submitted this vintage news story, originally reported by the Associated Press on Nov. 10, 1944, to the RMS Queen Mary blog reported this day in 1944:
HOLLYWOOD (AP)–Hollywood’s wandering minstrel, Bing Crosby, was home today after a four-months tour of England and the battlefronts of France.

Nothing El Bingo saw abroad touched him so deeply, he says, as the spectacle he witnessed as his troopship, the former Queen Mary, brought war-weary, wounded and spent young American soldiers to their native soil for the first time in three years.

“As we steamed into the upper bay of New York,” says Bing, “1,000 American soldiers, all of them casualties and many without hands, arms or legs, begged to be brought topside to the forward deck. These boys hungered for a sight of their homeland and the Statue of Liberty, the epitome of all they had been fighting for, all they had sacrificed.

“I cried unashamedly along with them as the Manhattan skyline came into view and we passed Bedloe’s Island where the Statue of Liberty stands. A fellow from San Diego who had lost both legs was by me as we sailed by. ‘She’s a great old girl,’ he mumured [sic] in a choked voice. ‘She was worth every bit of it.’”

Crosby left New York July 24 at the head of a USO Camp Shows unit and travelled 19,000 miles, oftentimes being within 100 yards of the front lines in France, Belgium and Holland...

SOURCE

WHITE CHRISTMAS - 1958 VERSION

In 1958, the USO decided against sending out individual shows to military bases all over the world - what a let down for Bob Hope. Instead, they chose to stage a spectacular featuring dozens of stars. In this clip, we see a clever introduction of Bing Crosby by David Niven, Kim Novak, and Gregory Peck. Bing is singing yet another great version of "White Christmas"...

BING CROSBY AND THE USO

Bing Crosby's Service to Soldiers by Carolyn Schneider Note: Nevada resident Carolyn Schneider is author of the book “Bing: On the Road to Elko” about her uncle Bing Crosby and his 15 years as a Nevada cattle rancher... Bing Crosby was a great American and a great friend to the military. He was 37 years old when World War II started and was a well-known celebrity living in Hollywood. As a married man with children, he didn't qualify for the Selective Service, yet he was anxious to show his support for the war effort and even remarked in a news interview that he "felt foolish" for not being in uniform. So when the opportunity presented itself to contribute to the cause, he jumped at the chance. A request came out of Washington, D.C., for performers to entertain the troops and boost morale, Bing went into action, answering the call with his time and talent. Crosby teamed up with a USO Overseas Unit, and he soon received his notice to leave for Europe in August, 1944. Once the departure date was set, the USO unit sailed out of New York harbor on board the SS Ile de France, which had been converted into a troop transport, holding 10,000 men. Bing gave four shows a day to the servicemen on board during the five-day crossing to Scotland. He entertained 2,500 soldiers at a time on the voyage, until all the GIs had heard him sing and deliver some lighthearted banter, usually about his cohort, Bob Hope Traveling by train to London, Bing reported to the American Army Headquarters. One of his early military performances in England was for the 381st Bomb Group of the United States Air Force. This time, it was on a make-shift stage in a hangar, and he strolled out singing "Swinging on a Star." He was doing his show with a B-17 parked in the background and members of its air crew sitting on the wings of the plane -- plus any other space they could find. He entertained 4,000 soldiers that day, and it was the most successful concert the air base ever had. Soon thereafter, Bing was flown to France on a C-47 to Cherbourg where he entertained at an Army hospital and met up with Fred Astaire who joined his troupe. Later, the singer reported that during his extensive overseas tour, without fail, the GIs requested that he sing "White Christmas" because it reminded them of home. Of course he complied, but it was a tough performance for him, because half his audience would be in tears. He went anywhere and everywhere that American boys were fighting, at some of his shows the GIs would be sitting on the ground holding their rifles, at other times they would stand for the entire performance. Conditions for putting on a show were less than ideal, Bing and Dinah Shore sang to the troops from the bed of a truck. One show used a temporary stage, lit entirely with flashlights. No star treatment Bing always preferred to be thought of as a "regular guy," and during his European tour, he often joined in the chow line and ate with the men. He usually performed on stage wearing Army fatigues and a cap -- looking for all the world like the soldiers in his audience -- and with his hands in his pockets. He was very popular with the men and he sang for them in a bombed-out factory, field hospital and outdoor pasture. In England he dodged the buzz bombs, and in France, the German tanks, When their European tour was over, Bing and Fred Astaire returned home aboard the RMS Queen Mary, which also served as a troop carrier during wartime. The boat was crammed with servicemen, some were of the bomber group that was being transferred to the Pacific, and a few lucky ones were going home on leave. All of them were so tired they just dropped down anywhere on the deck to grab some sleep. Bing, Astaire and the others did a few shows for the boys during the crossing, including in the hospital wards for the many returning wounded. Upon his return stateside, Bing was questioned about his two months of being with the nation's fighting men: "It was the most satisfying and rewarding experience of my career," he said. SOURCE