Summit Gist

After D-Day: Rare Photos From the First Show for US Troops in Normandy I n late July 1944, LIFE magazine photographer Ralph Morse was on hand for what he called, in his typed notes from the scene, the “first organized entertainment in Normandy” after  D-Day . In his photos of scantily clad women (and men) performing for hundreds of battle-weary troops, Morse chronicled a small, memorable reprieve in the midst of the Allied push south, toward Paris. (See a scan, below, of the note that Morse sent to his editors along with his film. Caption from LIFE.  "Acrobatic dancer performs for U.S. troops lounging in field at rest camp. Show featured girl dancers, also had two clowns, one of whom had once performed with Ringling Circus in New York. The girls heavily relied on dancing and pantomime because none of them spoke English." Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images I n late July 1944, LIFE magazine photographer Ralph Morse was on hand for what he called, in his typed ...