The great central ward at No.

1 Base Hospital looked as gay as possible.
In the centre a Guard's band sat among palms and ferns, and an extemporised stage, draped with flags, was behind, with wings constructed of Japanese-figured material.

Pretty well all round were the beds, although many of them had been moved up into a central position, and there was a space for chairs and forms.

The green-room had to be outside the ward, and the performers, therefore, came and went in the public gaze.

But it was not a critical public, and the men, with a plenitude of cigarettes, did not object to pauses.