“RED SHADOW”

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21224, 21 September 1940, Page 13

“RED SHADOW”

LANCE FAIRFAX IN EGYPT FORMER N.Z. RESIDENT Lance Fairfax’s baritone voice, which charmed New Zealand musical comedy audiences a decade ago, will soon be entertaining Anzac and British soldiers in the Middle East (writes a correspondent of the Napier Duiiy Telegraph with the forces in Egypt). “I noticed a face which seemed familiar under a British officer’s cap in a Cairo street today. On closer inspection I realised that the last time I saw the face it was under the turban of the Red Shadow, when the musical play ‘Desert Song’ was breaking records on the stage.” he continues. I asked: “Are you Lance Fairfax?” The British officer replied: “Yes. Don’t say they still remember me in New Zealand.” Ranked as captain, he told me that he was sent to the Middle East to help organise entertainments for Anzac "and British troops. “Soldiers are just as discerning as any other audience,” he said. “They want quality and refuse to accept second-rate stuff. To Tour the Camps “I hope to recruit a company to tour the camps.” Mr Lance Fairfax was well known in New Zealand prior to the last war, when, as Lance Fairfax Jones, he was on the staff of the Royal Insurance Company with the Hawke’s Bay Farmers’ Co-op. Assn,, Ltd. He enlisted from Napier in the 7th Reinforcements, and joined the Canterbury Infantry Regiment, in which he rose to the rank of captain and was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry in the field. After the war he took up music as a profession and made his mark on the London stage, becoming one of the leading baritones in England. His voice is familiar to listeners all over the world.