IN WHITE tuxedos and black ties, the Lou Simmons Orchestra played hit after hit to hundreds of troops while German bombs rained down outside.

That night, it was Peter Green who sang for the American troops stationed at Blandford Camp, awaiting their orders for D-Day.

"We had a few close shaves," said Peter, now 81.

"Fortunately the bombs missed us and went on to nearby farmland, but everyone got down on the floor for a moment. And then we kept on playing."

Although the fighter planes missed their targets that night, those troops never heard the orchestra again - just four weeks later they fought on the beaches in France.

Peter, who now lives in St Leonards, said: "It was a very sad time of life and music wasn't the saviour by any means but, by jingo, it played a huge part in uplifting people."

A former journalist, Peter was rejected by the RAF on medical grounds and worked transporting ammunition. Then, in the early 1940s, music changed his life.

Peter and a friend organised a charity dance at Bournemouth Town Hall to raise funds for Aid to Russia.

With the help of Lou Simmons, a musician and evacuee from London, the dance was a success.

This was the start of a nine-year partnership which led the Lou Simmons Orchestra to be central to the South's music scene during the war years.

Peter said: "Lou was blind - he employed me to be his eyes, and that was my entry into the music business."

Peter went on to become the official wartime music correspondent for Melody Maker.

And inspired by Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington, Peter and Lou formed an orchestra of local musicians to entertain troops all along the South Coast.

Dance, jazz and big band took them to stages in ballrooms, barracks and cinemas.

And it was Peter's tenor/baritone voice that rang from the bandstand across Bournemouth pleasure gardens on VE night.

The soloist said: "When everyone joined in for Land of Hope and Glory I thought the heavens would just collapse.

"We'd all been through this terrible war - all had lost loved ones and everyone was full of emotion.

"We were so glad to be able to let off steam."

First published: June 3