The show must go on!

Forget the frontline. The legendary Windmill Girls served the cause on stage – lifting the spirits of bomb-ravaged Londoners and many a serviceman.

WORDS by KATE THOMPSON

The year is 1941 and Soho is ablaze. Piccadilly Circus is bathed in a bright orange glow as German planes roar overhead dropping more bombs into the furnace. An incendiary crashes through the roof of some stables near Great Windmill Street, engulfing horses in rubble. Out of the choking clouds of smoke emerges a curious sight. Two beautiful young women are leading six terrified horses by their halters. By the time the girls reach Vine Street police station and deliver the horses to safety, they are also belting out a note-perfect rendition of I’ve Got Sixpence. It takes physical strength and a dollop of chutzpah to save six horses from burning stables, but it’s nothing to girls who are used to performing five shows a day, six days a week,…

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The Australian Women's Weekly (Digital) - 1 Issue, June 2021

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