This year marks the 75th anniversary of the opening of the first Butlins holiday camp at Skegness and the birth of the Redcoats.

A new book, Here Come The Redcoats, is an unofficial tribute to the members of this world-famous club.

Written by two Redcoats from two different eras, Frank McGroarty and former Bradford boxer Rocky Mason, the book is an illustrated trip down memory lane and a potted history of the camps and hotels created by holiday entrepreneur Sir Billy Butlin.

Last year, the T&A featured the publication of Rocky’s autobiography Gumshield To Greasepaint, which recalled his childhood years during the war, his successful amateur boxing career, his life and times as a Redcoat and his friendship with Sir Billy.

He joined the organisation as a boxing instructor at the Filey camp. During the course of a 30-year career, he was a Redcoat, an entertainer, a manager and ended as leisure and amenities controller at Filey.

Frank McGroarty, who worked as a Redcoat at Butlins Ayr from 1982 to 1984, said: “If you worked at Butlins or were simply a holidaymaker, there was every chance you would have heard the name Rocky Mason. I can certainly vouch for that as a regular visitor to Filey on holiday in the Seventies and when I started work at Ayr in 1982.

“Even though I never worked for him on site, I looked on him as ‘Butlins Royalty’ as he played a major part in the company’s history and was a key factor in giving many Redcoats a launching pad for their own entertainment careers.”

Rocky recalls: “Sir Billy was a great showman. He once phoned Rex North, a journalist with The People newspaper, and told him he was buying the Queen Mary and would make it the largest luxury floating holiday camp in the world. It got headlines in Great Britain and throughout the world.

“After a few weeks when nothing had transpired, Rex phoned Billy and asked about developments. Billy said: ‘There haven’t been any – but where else could I get £100,000-worth of publicity for the price of a phone call?’ “A great many former Redcoats became big names in show business and I worked with many of them over the years – Jimmy Tarbuck, Dave Allen, Sir Cliff Richard, Ted Rogers, Bill Maynard, Charlie Drake, Michael Barrymore, John Inman and Des O’Connor.

“Ringo Starr was a drummer with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes at Pwllheli and Skegness before joining The Beatles. A great many showbiz stars started their career in the camps. The Bachelors started at Mosney Camp, Helen Shapiro won the Butlin Talent contest.”

* Here Come The Redcoats, published by Authorhouse UK, costs £11.99 and can be bought direct from the publisher at authorhouse.co.uk.