Part 2 of 3
A partial recording of a radio programme broadcast to Allied Forces in the Middle East in March 1941. This excerpt contains live recordings of a dance orchestra playing at Cairo's famous Shepheard's Hotel.
The New Zealand Broadcasting Unit in Egypt recorded the programme for re-broadcast back in New Zealand.
NZBU commentator Doug Laurenson Doug Laurenson [Military Service no. 34957] describes the terrace at Shepheard's Hotel and introduces the Continental Savoy Orchestra lead by Maio Reiniger. They will be playing some new arrangements they have just received from the United States. The first number is "Swing that music" by Louis Armstrong.
This item is part of a collection of recordings made by the Mobile Broadcasting Units, which travelled overseas with New Zealand forces between 1940-1945. They recorded New Zealanders' experiences of war and messages to their families and friends, which were sent back home to be played on a weekly radio programme.