George Patrick "Pat" Hanna (born 18 March 1888 in

Whitianga Whitianga is a town on the Coromandel Peninsula, in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. The town is located on Mercury Bay, on the northeastern coast of the peninsula. The town has a permanent population of as of making it the ...

, New Zealand – 24 October 1973 in

Ampthill Ampthill () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It lies between Bedford, Bedfordshire, Bedford and Luton. At the 2021 census it had a population of 8,825. Histor ...

, Bedfordshire, England) was a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

-born film producer, he was a soldier of the First World War who entertained post-war audiences with the stage show Diggers, that was adapted to a film of the same title in 1931.

Biography

Hanna was born to Patrick Hanna, a hotelkeeper from

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Down Cathedral, Its cathedral is sai ...

, Northern Ireland and an Australian born mother Mary Jane, Hanna's talent for art led him to a signwriting

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

and cartooning for a

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington is Capital of New Zealand, the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the List of cities in New Zealand, third-largest city ...

newspaper. He enlisted at the start of the First World War as a private in the

New Zealand Expeditionary Force The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight alongside other British Empire and Dominion troops during World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). Ultimately, the NZE ...

where he participated in the

Occupation of German Samoa The Occupation of Samoa was the takeover – and subsequent administration – of the Pacific colony of German Samoa by New Zealand during World War I. It started in late August 1914 with landings by the Samoa Expeditionary Force from New Zeal ...

. In 1916 he joined the

Otago Infantry Regiment The Otago Infantry Regiment (Otago Regiment) was a military unit that served within the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) in World War I during the Gallipoli Campaign (1915) and on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front (1916–191 ...

where he was sent to Egypt, then France and Belgium. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in December 1916 and was promoted to lieutenant in December 1917. His expertise with

hand grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

s led him to be appointed a Bombing Officer. Lt Hanna remained in the Army of Occupation following the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

becoming Entertainment Officer forming No 1 Entertainment Unit. His orders were to "organise entertainment, lay on laughter unlimited and rollicking relaxation".p.40 Fotheringham, William ''Fotheringham's Extraordinary Sporting Pastimes'' 2007 Robson Hanna set up a concert party called "The Diggers" where he was the director, chief writer and performer. The Diggers toured in Germany, France and England. During this time he invented a scaled down version of badminton called "Batinton" that was played with bats on a smaller court. Hanna posed for

Jack Cato John Cyril "Jack" Cato, F.R.P.S. (4 April 1889 – 14 August 1971) was an Australian portrait photographer in the pictorialist style, operating in the first half of the twentieth century. He was the author of the first history of Australian phot ...

's photograph ''The Spirit of Anzac''.

Pat Hanna's Diggers

After leaving the Army, Hanna reformed ''The Diggers'' as ''Pat Hanna's Diggers'' where they toured New Zealand, then Australia with several former Australian Diggers now in the group; numbering 25. ''The Diggers'' featured a musical sister act of Jessie and Hilda Meadows. Hanna married Jessie the pianist in 1922, the couple having two children Ian and Pattie. Hanna became renowned for creating a

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...

of the Digger stereotype and another of an Army Chaplain. One of the Chaplain's monologues ''The Gospel According to Cricket'' and Hanna singing '' Mademoiselle from Armentières'' became big sellers. The Digger shows' popularity led to Hanna making his first film ''

Diggers The Diggers were a group of religious and political dissidents in England, associated with a political ideology and programme resembling what would later be called agrarian socialism.; ; ; Gerrard Winstanley and William Everard (Digger), Will ...

'' (1931) as actor and writer for

Efftee Studios Efftee Studios was an early Australian film and theatre production studio, established by F.W. Thring (the name 'Efftee' deriving from his initials, 'FT' for Francis Thring) in 1930. It existed until Thring's death in 1935. Initially Efftee Films ...

led by Frank W. Thring, the father of

Frank Thring Francis William Thring IV (11 May 1926 – 29 December 1994) was an Australian character actor in radio, stage, television and film; as well as a theatre director. His early career started in London in theatre productions, before he starred i ...

. ''Diggers'' was Australia's second talking feature. Hanna argued with Thring over the position of his musical numbers in the film leading him to form his own film production company where he produced, directed and starred in '' Diggers in Blighty'' and ''

Waltzing Matilda "Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem". The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing ...

'' (both 1933) however the films were poorly distributed and not successful.

Later life

Hanna toured America billed as the "Down Under Will Rogers" and returned to Australia where he broadcast on

3LO ABC Radio Melbourne (official callsign: 3LO) is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. It began transmission on 13 October 1924 and was Melbourne's second licensed radio station after 3AR. The other ABC Local Radio stations in Vict ...

. Too old for active service in World War II, Hanna invented a detonation device for a petrol grenade and trained troops and civilians planning to be guerrillas against the Japanese in the use of hand grenades. Hanna encouraged having fun with grenades and combined his knowledge of grenades and entertaining. He published a book in 1941 ''Grenade Training by Recreational Methods''. Hanna's son Ian served with the 2/24 Battalion posing for a drawing of Sybil Craig's called ''Soldier in a Digger Hat''. Charles Chauvel considered casting Hanna as the lead in his ''

Forty Thousand Horsemen ''Forty Thousand Horsemen'' (aka ''40,000 Horsemen'') is a 1940 Australian war film directed by Charles Chauvel. The film tells the story of the Australian Light Horse (mounted rifleman as distinct from cavalry) which operated in the desert at t ...

'' film but was impressed by the younger

Chips Rafferty John William Pilbean Goffage MBE (26 March 190927 May 1971), known professionally as Chips Rafferty, was an Australian actor. Called "the living symbol of the typical Australian", Rafferty's career stretched from the late 1930s until he died i ...

who Chauvel cast in Hanna's place. One of Hanna's Diggers troupe,

Joe Valli Joseph George McParlane (also spelled McFarlane and McPharlane; August 13, 1885 – May 29, 1967), known as Joe Valli, was a Scottish-Australian actor who worked in vaudeville and films. He had a long-running vaudeville partnership with Pat Hanna ...

, reprised his Scottish caricature he played in the Diggers show in the film and Chauvel's ''

The Rats of Tobruk The Rats of Tobruk were soldiers of the Australian-led Allied garrison, as well as the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade that held the Libyan port of Tobruk against the Afrika Corps, during the Siege of Tobruk in World War II. The si ...

''. Hanna got the rights to some old films from

such as ''

His Royal Highness Royal Highness is a style (manner of address), style used to address or refer to some members of royal families, usually princes or princesses. Kings and their female Queen consort, consorts, as well as queens regnant, are usually styled ''Maje ...

'' (1932) and had success re-releasing them along with his old movies. Hanna and his family moved to England in 1961 where he researched the

Clan Hannay Clan Hannay is a Lowland Scottish clan.Way, George and Squire, Romily. ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). Published in 1994. Pages 16 ...

's ownership of Sorbie Tower in Wigtownshire Scotland. Jessie Hanna and his daughter Pattie returned to Australia after Pat's death.

Notes

External links

Famous Diggers
at ''Australian Variety Theatre Archive''

''Hindsight.'' ABC Radio National, broadcast 24 April 2011

at

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

*
Pat Hanna
at

AustLit AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource (also known as AustLit: Australian Literature Gateway; and AustLit: The Resource for Australian Literature) is a national bio-bibliographical database of Australian literature. It is an internet-based, ...

(subscribers only)
Pat Hanna Collection
at

Arts Centre Melbourne Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly called the Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the central M ...

Pat Hanna
at ''Australian Variety Theatre Archive''
Pat Hanna
at

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography The ''Dictionary of New Zealand Biography'' (DNZB) is an encyclopedia or biographical dictionary containing biographies of over 3,000 deceased New Zealanders. It was first published as a series of print volumes from 1990 to 2000, went online ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanna, Pat 1888 births 1973 deaths New Zealand male comedians New Zealand expatriates in Australia New Zealand male film actors New Zealand military personnel of World War I New Zealand male stage actors New Zealand people of Irish descent 20th-century New Zealand male singers 20th-century New Zealand comedians