This disc belonged to Frank Wright. The letters ENSA refer to the Entertainments National Service Association, which was set up in 1939 to provide entertainment for the British armed forces personnel. Frank Wright was a renown resident of Smeaton, where he was born in 1901. He lived at Laura Villa, and attended Smeaton State School. His father William was a gold miner and his mother's name was Sarah. He was the youngest of eleven children. Their family won many singing and instrumental awards. Frank was tutored by Percy Code and was awarded a gold medal for the highest marks in the ALCM examinations in the British Colonies at the age of seventeen years. He became the Australian Open Cornet Champion by the age of eighteen. A year later, Frank conducted the City of Ballarat Band, and later the Ballarat Soldiers’ Memorial Band. He formed the Frank Wright Frisco Band and Frank Wright and his Coliseum Orchestra. These bands won many South Street awards, and Frank as conductor won many awards in the Australian Band Championship contest. In 1933 Frank Wright sailed to England to conduct the famous St Hilda’s Band and was appointed in 1934 as the Musical Director of the London County Council (the GLC or Greater London Council), where he organized many amazing concerts in most of the 150 parks, in and around the London district. He was also responsible for some of London’s major concerts at Kenwood, the Crystal Palace and Holland Park. He was made Professor of Brass and Military Band Scoring and Conducting and was a Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Frank was often invited to adjudicate Brass Band Championships around Europe, in Australia, including South Street and in New Zealand. Frank was awarded an M.B.E. in 1967 and he died in November 1970. The Frank Wright Medal at the Royal South Street competition is awarded to an individual recognized as making an outstanding contribution to brass music in Australia.This red coloured 3.5 cm leather disc has been stamped with the letters ENSA Frank Wright CE. It has a hole pinched in the top, through which a string has been threaded.frank wright, armed forces entertainment, musician conductor, brass bands, ensa, entertainments national service association

Dame Gracie Fields, DBE (born Grace Stansfield; 9 January 1898 – 27 September 1979) was an English actress, singer and comedienne and star of both cinema and music hall. When World War II was declared and whilst recovering from surgery she threw herself into her work and signed up for the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). Fields travelled to France to entertain the troops in the midst of air-raids, performing on the backs of open lorries and in war-torn areas. She performed many times for Allied troops, travelling as far as New Guinea, where she received an enthusiastic response from Australian personnel. In late 1945 she toured the South Pacific Islands. In 1979, seven months before her death, she was invested a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the entertainment industry.Reproduced black and white photograph of female wearing army jacket with soldiers kneeling and standing in background. Handwritten on rear - Gracie Fields in Pacificgracie fields, ww2, new guinea, 1945, south pacific islands