Entertainments National Service Association

The Entertainments National Service Association ( ENSA ) was an organization founded by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson in 1939, which provided for the entertainment of the British forces in World War II. ENSA was active in parts of the Royal Navy, British Army and the Royal Air Force. It was replaced by the Combined Services Entertainment ( CSE ), which is part of the Service Sound and Vision Corporation ( SSVC ) today.

Members

In the ENSA were known artist on as Gracie Fields and George Formby, Jr. In 1945, received the actor Lord Laurence Olivier and Sir Ralph Richardson the title of honorary lieutenant ENSA. They performed Shakespeare plays for the soldiers.

Reception

Although known entertainers were in the service of ENSA, could a high quality of the performances are guaranteed for only a small portion of the troops, while the ENSA generally had a rather bad reputation. Thus the acronym ENSA was sometimes derisively to " Every Night Something Awful " umgemünzt ( " Every night something terrible ").