MUSIC, Bob's passion. He always carried his favourite music scores in his kit, including some hard cover grand operas. On leave, he saw as many operas as he could, taking the score along to each performance, keeping one eye on the show and the other on the music. On 29 November, 1916, while stationed at Vignacourt, Bob was given permission to play the church pipe organ for an hour or so (3 recent photos, courtesy Isabelle Godard, see attached). One day in September 1917, somewhere in Flanders, whilst visiting 2nd Division HQ, Bob had a chance meeting with the decorated infantry officer, Captain Rupert 'Sos' Wertheim (whose interrogation of German POWs crucially affected the Allies preparation for the Battle of Menin Road). He was the son of the German Jewish emigré who set up the famous Richmond-based Wertheim piano-factory in the early 1900s. Captain Wertheim asked Bob to play all the operatic pieces he could remember. (A few days later, a stray German shell hit the 2nd Div. HQ killing a number of officers)

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