Entertainments National Service Association
The Entertainments National Service Association ( ENSA ) was an organization founded in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for the British armed forces during World War II . The ENSA was active in parts of the Royal Navy , British Army and the Royal Air Force . It was replaced by Combined Services Entertainment (CSE), which is now part of the Service Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC) .
Members
Well-known artists such as Gracie Fields , Vera Lynn and George Formby Jr. appeared in ENSA . In 1945 the actors Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson received the title of Honorary Lieutenant of ENSA. They performed Shakespeare plays for the soldiers.
reception
Although well-known entertainers were in the service of the ENSA, a high quality of the performances could only be guaranteed for a small part of the troops, while the ENSA generally had a rather bad reputation. So the abbreviation ENSA was sometimes mockingly converted to "Every Night Something Awful" ( "something terrible every evening" ).
