In this section:
7th
January 1896 Born 4 Pera Place, Walcot,
Bath
Christmas
1912 Left school
October
1913 Attended Bristol University
1914 First
professional stage performance in Prunella (playing under the name of John
Robinson)
1915 Joined Somerset Light Infantry (Number 20481)
September
1916 Wounded at the Battle of the
Somme
April
1917 Returned to Bath
August
1918 Joined Birmingham Repertory
Company
November 1925 Opening
of The Ghost Train at the St Martins Theatre
December
1938 Financial ruin after collapse
of film company
May 1939 Death
of Bernard Merivale, agent, literary collaborator and close friend
September 1939 Joined
BEF (British Expeditionary Force) in France with rank of Major
May 1940 Evacuated
from Boulogne
1941 Touring
The Ghost Train throughout the UK with ENSA (Entertainments National
Service Association also known as ‘Every Night Something Awful’)
June
1944 Injured by flying bomb
October
1945 Married Althea Parker (third
wife)
April 1968 First
episode of Dad’s Army recorded at BBC Television Centre
November
1973 Desert Island Discs
November
1975 Royal Variety Performance
7th January 1976 Eightieth birthday with matinée and evening
performances of the Dad’s Army stage show at the Shaftesbury Theatre
March 1976 This
Is Your Life
July 1977 Final
episode of Dad’s Army recorded at BBC Television Centre
January 1978 Jack
and the Beanstalk at Theatre Royal Lincoln (last stage appearance)
1982 Awarded OBE
12th
March 1984 Died Northwood, Middlesex