PICTURED is the cast of the St Albans boy scout gang show, performed for a week at Culver Hall, Culver Road, in 1939, and produced by Tinny Fellowes and Ralph Reader, impresario of the London gang show.

Mr Reg Simpkin, who sent the picture in and can be seen fourth from the left in the third row down, remembers: "It was good fun. It ran for a week, and every night it was packed.

"One thing I particularly remember was when the lights were turned out and all our boaters and banjos were luminous it was a special paint."

He can identify only two other members of the cast, Norman O'Dell on the left of the back row, and Gordon James, third from the right in the front row.

Mr Gerry Milstead, who was also in the cast, told me that the show was put on in February, and was full of slapstick and drag. "There were 18 sketches, and I was in nine of them," he said. "Some of them would not be accepted today there was one item when we were all blacked up."

Can readers supply any more names of people in the photograph?

July 5, 2002 15:30