... THE MIDDLE EAST ARENA A Collection of Pictures from Malta and the Mediterranean, Showing British Activities in this Vast Theatre of War BRITISH G.O.C. AT MALTA Major-General S. J. P. Scobell, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.. retired in 1939. He returned to the Army, and is now in command of the troops on the Island. He has had considerable experience in Somaliland, Turkey and India THE VICE-ADMIRAL AT ...

... WE TAKE OFF OUR HAT TO- IHESE CALIFORNIAN VEN USES, for proving transcendental curves to be a matter of pure geometry. The coritour testers of Venice, California, use the Figure-ometer to record the outline of HELENA BR1NT0N. JUANITA COLTEAUX (standing, left) enters the measurements on a chart, and other recruits wait their turn. Movie cameramen record the overall measurements of a VENICE ...

... ROYAL DUCHESS-MOTHER OF AN INFANT PRINCE. PHOTOGRAPH nv CF.CII. BEATON. H.R.H. the DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER, wife of the elder of the King's two brothers gave birth to a son, her first child, on Thursday, December 18. She was Lady Alice Montagu-Douglas-Scott is a sister of the Duke of Buccleuch, and was married in 1935. Our photograph was taktn by Cecil Beaton when her Royal Highness was ...

... . These W.A.A.F.s, smart in their new battle-dress, have been learning to man Britain's barrage balloons Practising the difficult art of handling balloon ropes a study in concentration. Learning splicing and knots in the rope shop. The diagrams of knots on the wall should be noted. Training with a sectionised winch is part of the programme of work in the Balloon Girls school. Hard at it in the ...

... SLIP-ON FROCKS IN LAME AND CREPE WRAPPERS AND MULES THERE has come into being a new type of dress which is called the slip-on. It is robbed of all com plicated fastenings and may be adjusted in the fraction of a second. Fortnum and Mason, Piccadilly, are making a feature of these, one of which is pictured above. It is carried out in a soft blue crepe embroidered with golden sequins. A folded ...

... Engaged The Earl of Harrington and Miss Grey The engagement was announced recently of illiam Henry Leicester Stanhope, eleventh Earl of Harrington, of Elvaston Castle, Derby, to Miss Eileen Grey. His fiancee is the only daughter of the late Sir John Grey, Bt., and of the late Ladv Grey, of Enville Hall, Stourbridge. Lord Harrington, who is nineteen, succeeded his father in 1929, and lie is ...

... By Foresight Royal Inspiration PLANS for the King's Christmas broadcast were made before Japan, throwing in her lot with Germany and Italy, set the Pacific ablaze. Now that war encircles the whole world, and embraces every great Power, the occasion assumes the highest importance. More than any other modern monarch, King George VI whose forty-sixth birthday on December 14 was passed quietly ...

... The Stand-in and the Star The Sadler's Wells Ballet is back at the New Theatre from to-day (Christmas Eve), opening with a revival of Coase Noisette in which Margot Fonteyn makes her first appearance since her early days as premiere danseuse. She will, during the season, take a leading role in Comus Robert Helpmann's first ballet for the Wells company (music Purcell, arr. Lambert decor Oliver ...

... The Tatler and Bystander in Town and Country By Bridget Chetwynd People MRS. CHURCHILL was in the House of Commons to hear her husband's speech about the new war develop ment, wearing a snow leopard coat, and a wide orange-coloured ribbon round her hair. Myra Hess was having an early lunch before going to a matinee of Blithe Spirit, very cheerful. Lord Decies was lunching out the same day. and ...

... The First of the Few A Film Tribute to Mr. R. J. Mite] Who Designed the Spitfire, Whic Course of Production at Denham 1 Leslie Howards and David 11, the Man is Now in [th the Two iven Leslie Howard, in his triple capacity of star, producer and director, is now filming The First of the Few at Denham Studios. His seventeen-year-old daughter, Leslie, plays her first part in the film. The First ...

... W.P.B. HARVEST FROM PALACE, SCHOOL AND CINEMA. Get a load of this PLAZA GIRLS bring out old files, papers, programmes, and back numbers for the new waste-paper drive. LONDON CINEMA USHERETTES heave-ho for the How to tie up your old newspapers waste-paper drive and bring out stacks of files a lesson from a London girl with a and old papers. tidy mind. BUCKINGHAM PALACE waste-paper baskets send ...

... . In minutest detail, without blur or smudge a sheet of black mirror ice reflects SONJA HENIE AND HER PARTNER as they sivirl and twirl in the new film Sun Valley Serenade This marvellous effect was not achieved without much headache on the set. Hundreds of gallons of black ink were frozen on the Sonja Henie rink at Twentieth Century-Fox Studios, when in walked the electricians and condemned ...