Doraine and Ellis

Following a show at the Atlanta Biltmore Hotel, where the duo was playing an extended engagement shortly after the outbreak of World War II, General James Mollison, who was in the audience, asked the couple to perform for his troops.

[3] Their initial tour was to include only installations in the southwest U.S.; however, while playing an engagement in Indio, California, the couple received instructions to leave for New York the following day for a show at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

[3] By 1944, Doraine and Ellis's overseas work in World War II had taken them on a 13-month tour of fighting fronts in 23 countries, placing them in the ranks of the most seasoned veterans of U.S.O.

shows took them to Iceland, England, and British, French, and Dutch Guiana in addition to many tropical island locations that they were prevented from disclosing to others at the time for security reasons.

[1] Troops that Doraine and Ellis entertained on their overseas tour appreciated most the couple's offerings of semiclassical and light operatic fare, requesting their versions of "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life", "Indian Love Call", and Jerome Kern's "Make Believe".

In late 1944, they reported that the show that most stood out in their memory to that date was one that had taken place at a bomber base in England in June 1944, when the colonel in charge had to cancel a post-performance visit to the officers' club, citing pending "important business" the next morning and the need for "a few hours sleep".

[7] The show business publication, Variety raved, "Fine voices and personalities combine to produce a smooth session of well chosen, cleverly arranged songs.".