A small scrap of a torn press
cutting brought back a whole host of memories.
It simply said that Private Eugene Delbert Hill,
aged 35, had received a court martial sentence
of two years hard labour for deserting from
the U.S. Army in 1945.
I remember Donna Delbert, as
he was called. He came into Hamley's and Max
Andrews introduced us. Later we met when Delbert
was working with Maskelyne Is Mysteries in the
Westminster Theatre. I always found Delbert
a most charming person and we had several long
chats about things magical. At one period, we
were on the verge of doing a deal over an illusion
I possessed. I certainly never suspected anything,
although after the revelations there were many
people who said, "Didn't you know? By golly,
I guessed right from our first meeting". Personally,
I don't think anyone suspected. Even when he
shared dressing rooms with some of the other
female acts.
Delbert was picked up at Newcastle
through I information supplied to the police
by a girl-friend in Islington who got a jealous
turn when he collected another girl-friend in
Newcastle.
His act was a hotch-potch of
all sorts of things. Basically, it could be
termed a fire-eating act but he added quite
a few magic tricks on occasions and did a bit
of whip-cracking too. He had projected a book
after the arrest to be called "Four Years a
Woman", but there was never any sign of it.
In Variety, he earned a good
living wage but, in the winter of 1947, he worked
as a packer in Lambert & Butler's tobacco
factory in drag. Delbert had worked as an entertainer
before his decision to desert and change to
female attire. Back in Pennsylvania he did small
shows and, finally, appeared before Queen Mary
with the Eighth U. S. Air Force show in 1944.
After the act he was presented to the Queen.
The one thing I do remember,
which looks a bit odd in retrospect, is the
way Delbert drank beer in pint glasses. Several
times when we were having a noggin I did think
it was a bit unfeminine. He could wade through
I a hefty cheese sandwich pretty quickly too.
One thing he did well in the magic line was
reeling a chosen card up out of the deck. He
would shoot it up to his hand so quickly you'd
never have a chance to see the thread from the
reel.
He once told me a "string-up"
for doing the same thing, but where the card
travelled horizontally. It's hell to explain
in print but if I draw you a little sketch,
you'll see how the stringing is done. At the
time, I remember thinking it was the sort of
thing Allan Lambie would have come up with.
Delbert didn't know where held got it.
