Robert O’Connor – The Jeep Show
In late 1944 the American military was advancing through Western Europe so fast that entertainment units could not keep up with them. Major Joshua Logan, then an officer in Special Services, noted that the advancing G.I.s were “never in one place long enough to see a show”. He was credited with coming up with the idea of small quick moving entertainment units to entertain at rapid notice called “jeep shows”.
The small troupe usually comprised a comedian, dancer/singer and musician. They traveled in a jeep with their musical instruments and other equipment carried in a quarter ton trailer that would be converted into a stage.
Before Victory in Europe Day the jeep shows played before 23,749 troops in eighty-one performances.
Rooney recalled his first show being between two Sherman tanks three miles from the front in Belgium for 60 soldiers. Rooney’s troupe sometimes put on seven shows a day and covered 150,000 miles in a year. Before Victory in Europe Day the jeep shows played before 23,749 troops in eighty-one performances