Historical information

Chu Chin Chow is a musical comedy written, produced and directed by Oscar Asche, with music by Frederic Norton, based (with minor embellishments) on the story of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves. Tickets to see Chu Chin Chow were particularly eagerly sought by troops on leave from the Western Front. One of the attractions for the on-leave soldiers was the chorus of pretty slave girls who, for the period, were very scantily dressed. The cast was large and included a camel, a donkey, poultry and snakes. A total of 2,800,000 people saw the show. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_Chin_Chow)

It is thought that Harry Holmes attended 'Chu Chin Chow' while on leave in London during World War One. Around this time he had been serving in the Australian Imperial Forces in Egypt.

Henry 'Harry' Holmes was the son of Violet Holmes. He enlisted under the name Harry Smerdon Holmes and was put into the 18th A.A.S.C., then later transferred into the 5th Division Train A.S.C. According to his Soldier's Pay Books (Cat. No. 20112) Holmes Registration number was 7983. He was Catholic and enlisted in the Third Military District on 17 September 1915, and embarked on 8 November 1915. Holmes was in the 18th AASC Unit with the rank of Driver at that time. On 15 November 1918 Holmes was promoted to Lance Corporal. He received leave on:
* 3 August 1917 - London (10 days)
* 19 February 1918 - Paris (10 days)
* 27 August 1918 - London (14 days)

Physical description

White paper theatre programme with red and black writing. It is a publicity brochure from the play 'Chu Chin Chow' by Oscar Asche set to music by Frederic Norton.

Inscriptions & markings

In black ink in front 'So far this is an easy first of the shows I've seen, The scenes are great and being Egyptian we understand them all the better'.