Basil Hallam was an English actor and singer. He created the character of Gilbert the Filbert for The Passing Show, the original revue of that title by Herman Finck

Herman Finck

Herman Finck was a British composer of Dutch extraction.Born Hermann Van Der Vinck in London, he began his studies training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and established a career as the musical director at the Palace Theatre in London , with whose orchestra he made many virtuoso...

, produced at the Palace Theatre, London

Palace Theatre, London

The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. It is an imposing red-brick building that dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus and is located near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road...

, on 20 April 1914. He also recorded the title song for the HMV

HMV

His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...

 label on 4 June 1914.

His death in action two years later is described by Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...

 in The Irish Guards in the Great War, Vol. 2
1916 - Salient and the Somme:
The song can be heard on a 2007 release by the Divine Art Record label, The Finck Album, sung by Mart Sander

Mart Sander

Martin Laurent Sander is an Estonian singer, actor, director, author and television host.-Life and career:...

.