Horace Leonard Ridler (1882-1965) was born in Surrey, South East England. He was the youngest son of an upper-class family with a history of producing civil servants, successful businessmen, officers, gentlemen farmers and school masters for generations. He had a comfortable start in life that offered him a public school education and ample travel. However, Ridler had no interest in academia and instead decided to pursue a career in the military, as it was common amongst men of his social position. With his father’s consent, Ridler joined the army in 1904, but not before taking a grand tour of Europe and North Africa. During his travels, Ridler came across the irresistible lure of the fairground and music halls of Paris and Vienna and the tumblers and jugglers of the bazaars of Africa, which may have awoken an early interest in the world of entertainment and show business. Back in England, age 22, Ridler took a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 3rd Battalion of the No...