Rose Remembers

I was ever so good at jitterbugging

By Westminster Resident

At 16 I was a hostess at the Hans Crescent American Club. And we met a lot of Americans there; we used to have such a good time. There were a lot of actors and actresses that are still around now, like Bruce Forsyth, he was only a young boy about 15 or 16; he was the stunt man and used to do all sorts of tricks and dancing and all that. And lots of film stars that are around now, they were all doing turns. And all we had to drink was coke and things like that, there was no alcoholic drinks or anything. But we had a marvellous time.

And then we used to go out with the Americans and they treated us ever so well. We used to dance, I was ever so good at jitterbugging, and I would be thrown over the GIs' shoulders, and over/under their arms, and under their legs because I only weighed 7 stone then. [laughs] We had such a wonderful time. They were ever so good to us and you just had to be cute, you know, to get away with things. You know, like, if they gave you a really big soggy kiss you used to say “Gosh, don’t you wish you were back on the farm, it’s just like a cow taking its heel out the mud.” [laughs] That used to put ‘em right off, I used to find all sorts of ways to put ‘em right off. But we had a marvellous time.