Something for our American cousins.

[johnh]

During the second world war my Dad was in the Fire Service, fighting fires in Liverpool during the Blitz, at the docks and in the city centre. He was a musician, a pianist, and used to enjoy telling the story of how, before the war, he played piano in Lewis's restaurant and during the blitz tackled the blaze in Lewis's when it was bombed and burned out. I don't know how it happened but Dad became friendly with a number of American soldiers who were also musicians. He used to invite them to our home and have jam sessions late into the night. My brother and I used to sit in the corner watching and listening. We couldn't see much though as the room was filled with cigarette smoke like fog. The American musicians (both white and coloured) were fantastic to listen to. Dad was particularly friendly with one American called Sergeant Joe Cohen. Together they put on a number of wartime shows in aid of the Fire Service Benevolent Fund. They had them at the Picton Hall and the Garrick in Southport. Dad and Sergeant Cohen wrote a song together, called 'A Sad Sack'. Dad wrote the music and Sergeant Cohen wrote the lyrics. I still have the original manuscript written by my Dad. Dad did a lot of broadcasting on BBC after the war with his Sextet. He was quite well known in Liverpool at that time and played at the Ocean Club.

Don't know what happened to Sergeant Cohen, I don't think Dad kept in touch with him after the war - that's if he survived the war. I hope he did.

 

[markjazzbassist]

wonderful story john. here in new orleans we have the national WWII museum. it's amazing. i went there recently and learned quite a bit about the conflict. 3 of my grandparents were involved. My father's father was in the army and had his foot blown off by a landmine and had a fake foot the rest of his life. My father's mother was a nurse helping the wounded and that's how she met my grandpa. My mother's father was in the navy on a aircraft carrier. He was an engineer. All 3 survived and were wonderful grandparents but they never talked about the war and never wanted to (can't blame them really).

[Sibdane]

During the second world war my Dad was in the Fire Service, fighting fires in Liverpool during the Blitz, at the docks and in the city centre. He was a musician, a pianist, and used to enjoy telling the story of how, before the war, he played piano in Lewis's restaurant and during the blitz tackled the blaze in Lewis's when it was bombed and burned out. I don't know how it happened but Dad became friendly with a number of American soldiers who were also musicians. He used to invite them to our home and have jam sessions late into the night. My brother and I used to sit in the corner watching and listening. We couldn't see much though as the room was filled with cigarette smoke like fog. The American musicians (both white and coloured) were fantastic to listen to. Dad was particularly friendly with one American called Sergeant Joe Cohen. Together they put on a number of wartime shows in aid of the Fire Service Benevolent Fund. They had them at the Picton Hall and the Garrick in Southport. Dad and Sergeant Cohen wrote a song together, called 'A Sad Sack'. Dad wrote the music and Sergeant Cohen wrote the lyrics. I still have the original manuscript written by my Dad. Dad did a lot of broadcasting on BBC after the war with his Sextet. He was quite well known in Liverpool at that time and played at the Ocean Club.

Don't know what happened to Sergeant Cohen, I don't think Dad kept in touch with him after the war - that's if he survived the war. I hope he did.

 

John, you have the most interesting life!

 

We'll keep waiting on that book!

[Cornish Steve]

During the second world war my Dad was in the Fire Service, fighting fires in Liverpool during the Blitz, at the docks and in the city centre. He was a musician, a pianist, and used to enjoy telling the story of how, before the war, he played piano in Lewis's restaurant and during the blitz tackled the blaze in Lewis's when it was bombed and burned out. I don't know how it happened but Dad became friendly with a number of American soldiers who were also musicians. He used to invite them to our home and have jam sessions late into the night. My brother and I used to sit in the corner watching and listening. We couldn't see much though as the room was filled with cigarette smoke like fog. The American musicians (both white and coloured) were fantastic to listen to. Dad was particularly friendly with one American called Sergeant Joe Cohen. Together they put on a number of wartime shows in aid of the Fire Service Benevolent Fund. They had them at the Picton Hall and the Garrick in Southport. Dad and Sergeant Cohen wrote a song together, called 'A Sad Sack'. Dad wrote the music and Sergeant Cohen wrote the lyrics. I still have the original manuscript written by my Dad. Dad did a lot of broadcasting on BBC after the war with his Sextet. He was quite well known in Liverpool at that time and played at the Ocean Club.

Don't know what happened to Sergeant Cohen, I don't think Dad kept in touch with him after the war - that's if he survived the war. I hope he did.

 

 

John,

 

I managed to track down a copyright entry for that song: "Charles F Henesy, Nov 16, 1943, Joseph Martin Cohen APO 507, NY"

 

Is it possible he was a lawyer, educated at Yale? That's the only JMC I can find online.

[Lowensda]

I'm going to guess the H is Johnh is Henesy then?

 

Fantastic stories John. Please start collating them.

[johnh]

 

John,

 

I managed to track down a copyright entry for that song: "Charles F Henesy, Nov 16, 1943, Joseph Martin Cohen APO 507, NY"

 

Is it possible he was a lawyer, educated at Yale? That's the only JMC I can find online.

 

Steve, that is brilliant. Many thanks for that. Charles Francis Henesy is my Dad 1907-2000. Some years ago, I sent an email to someone at the New York Times to see if I could find anything out about Joseph Cohen. Never even got an acknowledgment.

Thanks again Steve, made my day.

[johnh]

I'm going to guess the H is Johnh is Henesy then?

 

Fantastic stories John. Please start collating them.

 

Yes, John Patrick Henesy born on St. Patrick's day (17 March) in Liverpool.

[Lowensda]

 

Steve, that is brilliant. Many thanks for that. Charles Francis Henesy is my Dad 1907-2000. Some years ago, I sent an email to someone at the New York Times to see if I could find anything out about Joseph Cohen. Never even got an acknowledgment.

Thanks again Steve, made my day.

 

John, if you're on ancestory.com, I found the below....

 

California Birth Index, 1905-1995BIRTH, BAPTISM & CHRISTENING NAME: Joseph Martin Cohen BIRTH: date - Yolo, California

 

Edited October 30, 2015 by Lowensda

[johnh]

Lowensda, many thanks for that. I have done a lot of genealogy work on the Henesy family so know my way around the various websites. Will follow that up. Really appreciate the information which is coming through. Would love to find descendants of Joseph Cohen to send a copy of the manuscript if they don't have it.

 

The birth date of Joseph Cohen - 1905 looks promising as that would make him almost the same age as my Dad.

Edited October 30, 2015 by johnh

[MikeO]

Gotta love the internet sometimes; 90% of it is crap but you can find some incredible stuff.

[rubecula]

I am feeling very happy for John on this. I understand what it is like, to get info this way. Ian C led me to a geneology site that led me to pop overto Ireland on a number of occassions.

 

There are one or two good and decent people on Toffeetalk.

[johnh]

I am feeling very happy for John on this. I understand what it is like, to get info this way. Ian C led me to a geneology site that led me to pop overto Ireland on a number of occassions.

 

There are one or two good and decent people on Toffeetalk.

 

 

 

I'm one of the two, not sure who the other one is. No, you are dead right Rubes, lot of good people on this site, privilege to be part of it.

[rubecula]

I must admit I do like to read the reminiscences from those of you who are marginally my elders. (Although the number is dwindling)

 

John can you tell me what it was like back when we played at Anfield?

[johnh]

I must admit I do like to read the reminiscences from those of you who are marginally my elders. (Although the number is dwindling)

 

John can you tell me what it was like back when we played at Anfield?

 

Rubes, I remember watching Everton at Anfield in about 1949, trouble is we lost 4 - 0. My grandfather was eleven when Everton moved to Goodison so he may have seen them play at Anfield as he was a very keen footballer. Why is it that you can think of loads of questions you would like to have asked of your ancestors, but never did when you had the opportunity? My parents never spoke about their grandparents and I knew nothing about them until I did some work on the family history.

[Cornish Steve]

 

Rubes, I remember watching Everton at Anfield in about 1949, trouble is we lost 4 - 0. My grandfather was eleven when Everton moved to Goodison so he may have seen them play at Anfield as he was a very keen footballer. Why is it that you can think of loads of questions you would like to have asked of your ancestors, but never did when you had the opportunity? My parents never spoke about their grandparents and I knew nothing about them until I did some work on the family history.

 

John, I agree with you very much about this. When I think about stories my grandfather used to tell me, I realize that some of them relate to people born around 1830. That's incredible when you think about it.

 

One thing for which I'm very grateful is that my grandfather, on his own initiative in his late 80s, made a series of cassette tapes on which he recorded details of his life: from childhood in a small Cornish fishing village, to fighting in the Battle of the Somme and then the Afghan Wars, to living life as a village policeman. He gave copies of these recordings to my dad, my brother, and me. I'm so glad he did this. My brother converted them into CDs, and I uploaded them to my iPhone. Seventy years from now, my own grandchildren will be able to listen to the voice of their great-great-grandfather telling stories relating to his parents and grandparents. No ancestry site can better that!

 

It's something I plan to do as well when I have time. Have you ever thought about doing this, too?

[johnh]

Steve, brilliant that. Yes, I have thought of doing something similar but in narrative format. I have the Henesy family tree going back to circa 1800. I then hit a brick wall due to lack of info in Ireland. I have it documented in a binder with copies of birth, marriage and death certificates and copies of Census forms. I also managed to get old maps of Liverpool (1890's) and have marked off all the various places where our ancestors lived. Not many addresses still exist. I managed to get a photo of my great grandfather and great grandmother who were born in 1860. Will pass it all on to my only grandson.

[johnh]

When my Dad did radio work in the late 1940's, there was an outfit that used to record broadcasts and sell them to performers. Dad has several of these records (78's) which came to me when he died. I have had them all transferred onto CD. They are all from broadcasts he did on a show called 'Northern Variety Bandbox'. He was once on the same bill as Peter Sellers, when Peter Sellers was an impersonator. I've still got the cast list from the Radio Times for this programme. Listen to these quite often, very nostalgic.

[MikeO]

 

John, I agree with you very much about this. When I think about stories my grandfather used to tell me, I realize that some of them relate to people born around 1830. That's incredible when you think about it.

 

One thing for which I'm very grateful is that my grandfather, on his own initiative in his late 80s, made a series of cassette tapes on which he recorded details of his life: from childhood in a small Cornish fishing village, to fighting in the Battle of the Somme and then the Afghan Wars, to living life as a village policeman. He gave copies of these recordings to my dad, my brother, and me. I'm so glad he did this. My brother converted them into CDs, and I uploaded them to my iPhone. Seventy years from now, my own grandchildren will be able to listen to the voice of their great-great-grandfather telling stories relating to his parents and grandparents. No ancestry site can better that!

 

It's something I plan to do as well when I have time. Have you ever thought about doing this, too?

 

That's really good stuff.

 

I never had a grandfather; both (plus a step-grandfather) died before I was born, always felt that I missed out.

 

When I was having post-C counselling I was given a huge list of questions about myself that I'd like to be remembered after I'm gone....like, best friend at primary school, favourite subject, worst teacher, first job, first love, what scares you? etc etc. There were about a hundred questions ranging from infancy to current day. I never did fill it out but I've still got it somewhere, must do it one day.

[rubecula]

My own grandfather was born in 1884, sadly he died when I was a toddler. BUT thanks to the post Ian C made (read up a bit) I traced my great grandfather and on back from there. All in Temple Bar Dublin

 

 

Curious to say I love working with wood, I even trained as a carpenter a long time ago. My great grandfather was a carpenter his father and his father in law were both cabinet makers, my great grandfather's grandfather (following this so far?) was a carpenter, as was his father.

 

Not got any further back than this on trades.

[johnh]

Rubes, my great, great grandfather, the one who came to Liverpool from County Cork in the 1840's, he was a cabinet maker. He didn't pass the skill on though as no one followed him. His son, my great grandfather, was a bookbinder and he had all his sons working at the same firm.

[rubecula]

And I had to become a totally different type of tradesman. Pity really, but even so I like working with wood ( I am an aircraft technician) Sometimes I wish we still flew in olde worlde biplanes.

[johnh]

And I had to become a totally different type of tradesman. Pity really, but even so I like working with wood ( I am an aircraft technician) Sometimes I wish we still flew in olde worlde biplanes.

 

You havn't flown Ryanair then.

[Lowensda]

He could be pres.....

 

[MikeO]

He could be pres.....

 

 

[Cornish Steve]

Donald Trump is a total embarrassment. It boggles my mind that so many people here in the US support him. On a recent business trip, I noticed several Trump posters in back yards from Georgia to the Carolinas to Virginia to Pennsylvania and more. It's like watching a terrible replay of the 1930s, with Muslims playing the role of the Jews. And, given that my maternal grandfather was Jewish and had to change his last name (in 1930s Britain) to avoid discrimination and attacks, I'm very sensitive to this analogy.

[MikeO]

Donald Trump is a total embarrassment. It boggles my mind that so many people here in the US support him. On a recent business trip, I noticed several Trump posters in back yards from Georgia to the Carolinas to Virginia to Pennsylvania and more. It's like watching a terrible replay of the 1930s, with Muslims playing the role of the Jews. And, given that my maternal grandfather was Jewish and had to change his last name (in 1930s Britain) to avoid discrimination and attacks, I'm very sensitive to this analogy.

 

My father-in-law's family did exactly the same thing; he's of Russian Jewish heritage and my mother-in-law is German; managed to escape to England in 1938 but many of her family members weren't so lucky.

[Keith B]

Donald Trump is a total embarrassment. It boggles my mind that so many people here in the US support him. On a recent business trip, I noticed several Trump posters in back yards from Georgia to the Carolinas to Virginia to Pennsylvania and more. It's like watching a terrible replay of the 1930s, with Muslims playing the role of the Jews. And, given that my maternal grandfather was Jewish and had to change his last name (in 1930s Britain) to avoid discrimination and attacks, I'm very sensitive to this analogy.

 

Yes exactly. Trump is an absolute psychopath and he's leading the republican polls. It's terrifying and embarassing at the same time.

[MikeO]

[chalkpie]

Honestly if I could move to the UK I would in a heartbeat. Its not just the Trump thing, either. Spent two weeks in the UK in August and didn't want to leave - I love the weather (yes - overcast, cool, rainy, etc), the beauty, the architecture, the people (except for you guys - ), the driving (the road system in the US blows chunks), the pubs, the green, etc

 

When I tell people here that I would live in the UK, they get all self-righteous and think I'm off my rocker - a common response is "The US is the greatest country in the world, why would you want to move there?". Ummmm, no its not. Its OK, I guess, but ultimately I find a majority of the people ignorant, plastic, and without a fucking clue about the rest of the world. The architecture is so bland here in comparison to Europe. Should I go on? I'll spare you. OK, I feel better now.

[rubecula]

Always fancied a visit to USA, never wanted to live there. Now with Trump looking for the top job ... I think a visit aboard a nuclear bomber would suit everybody.