Nui Dat Xmas concert DPR/TV/998

The seven members of a government sponsored concert party to South Vietnam this week brought more than two hours of Christmas cheer to about 1,500 Australian soldiers at Nui Dat. The concert party, led by comedian and compere Johnny Holmes of Sydney, NSW, performed for soldiers on Christmas Day in the red earth amphitheatre at the end of Luscombe airstrip at Nui Dat. The soldiers, dressed in jungle greens and clutching rifles, stamped their feet, cheered, whistled and clapped their way through two hours of singing, jokes, gags and music. In the middle of a 24-hour Christmas cease fire truce, the soldiers watching the concert completely forgot the war that had ceased at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve and would not resume until 6 p.m. on Christmas Day. The members of the concert party were Sean Callip and Sonja Tallis, folk singers; Gail Squires, Carolyn Young and Beverly Hay, vocalists; Ted Preston, organist; and Darryl Scott, drummer. In a 16 day tour of South Vietnam the members will perform at about 20 concerts for upwards of 30,000 soldiers at Nui Dat, Vung Tau, Saigon, Phang Rang and Danang. (Also identified: Sergeant John Perry of Dunedin, NZ, with binoculars; Private Alan Moore of Croydon, NSW, with camera; Pte Ernie Thomson of Erskinville, NSW, with cine camera; Pte Harry Jacobsen of Murdialloc, Vic).