Editing Max Geldray (section)

==Early life (1916–46)==

Geldray was born Max Leon van Gelder, on 12 February 1916 in [[Amsterdam]], [[Netherlands]], to [[Jewish]] parents.<ref name="D Tel Obit" /> His father, Leon van Gelder, was a commercial traveller, and his mother was Margarite, née Baillosterky.<ref name="Leigh DNB" /> By 1922, Leon was the European Manager for Maja perfume and the family moved out of Amsterdam to [[Bilthoven]].{{sfn|Geldray|1989|p=15}} Both parents could play the piano—Leon was self-taught and played by ear, while Margarite was classically trained—and it was Leon who started to teach Geldray how to play.{{sfn|Geldray|1989|p=16}} He developed love of [[jazz]] music after hearing [[Louis Armstrong]] on the radio in 1928; Geldray later wrote "how could anyone ''not'' love its energy, its vitality and the freedom of its form? And Louis Armstrong among all the players, became something special to me".{{sfn|Geldray|1989|p=18}}
[[File:Django Reinhardt (Gottlieb 07301).jpg|thumb|left|220px|[[Django Reinhardt]], friend and playing companion of Geldray]]
In February 1930, Geldray heard a mouth organ played on [[BBC Radio]] and mentioned the performance to a friend, Hans Mossel, owner of a music shop in Amsterdam; Mossel had ordered a [[chromatic harmonica]] the previous week and gave it to Geldray, who practised assiduously.{{sfn|Geldray|1989|pp=24–25}} By 1934, Geldray had made some appearances on Dutch radio{{sfn|Geldray|1989|p=25}} and formed a band with eight others; an agent named Franklin billed the group as "Mac {{sic}} Geldray and his Mouth Accordion Band", changing the surname of the principal to the name he retained for the rest of his life.{{sfn|Geldray|1989|p=28}} With his performances, Geldray became the first person to play the harmonica in the jazz style.<ref>{{cite news|title=Goons musician Max Geldray dies|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3717500.stm|publisher=[[BBC]]|date=5 October 2004|location=London}}</ref> A change in the format of the band to a quartet and the introduction of a new manager led to a six-week tour of English theatres in 1937, accompanying the comedian Tom Moss; the band changed its name to "The Hollander Boys".<ref name="Independent Obit" /> During the tour, Moss introduced Geldray to [[Jack Hylton]], who invited him to play in his orchestra for the evening.{{sfn|Geldray|1989|p=35}}

On his return to the Netherlands, the harmonica band broke up and Geldray travelled alone to Brussels, where he found work playing with the dance orchestra at the club [[Le Boeuf sur le Toit (cabaret)|Le Boeuf sur le Toit]], where he remained for a year.{{sfn|Geldray|1989|p=41}} He then worked with a dance band in The Hague, before joining the house band at the Ostend Casino, the Johnny Fresno Band .<ref name="Times Obit" /> He would meet performers who were booked to play the casino on occasion, including saxophonist [[Coleman Hawkins]], the English bandleader [[Ambrose (bandleader)|Ambrose]] and French bandleader [[Ray Ventura (pianist)|Ray Ventura]].<ref name="D Tel Obit" /> Ventura soon offered Geldray a job and in 1937 Geldray moved to Paris.<ref name="Leigh DNB" /> While in Paris, he went to the ''[[Hot Club de France]]'' and played with jazz guitarist [[Django Reinhardt]],<ref name="D Tel Obit" /> a musician about whom Geldray asserted, "I can honestly say that I have never heard anyone better".{{sfn|Geldray|1989|p=51}} The two became close friends and played together often.<ref name="Guardian Obit" /> With the [[Battle of France|invasion of France]] by German forces in early 1940, Geldray travelled to England, where he realised he would be safer.<ref name="Leigh DNB" /> On 20 September 1940, he joined the [[Royal Netherlands Motorized Infantry Brigade]], part of the Dutch army exiled in England.{{sfn|Geldray|1989|p=88}}{{efn|On 26 August 1941 the Royal Netherlands Motorized Infantry Brigade received the title "Prinses Irene Brigade", in honour of [[Princess Irene of the Netherlands]], the daughter of [[Juliana of the Netherlands|Queen Juliana]] and [[Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands]].{{sfn|Thomas|1991|p=17}}}} During the war he continued to play and appeared on [[BBC Radio]]; in 1942 he was part of the entertainment laid on for [[Elizabeth II|Princess Elizabeth's]] sixteenth birthday at [[Windsor Castle]].<ref name="Independent Obit" /> During the course of 1942, Geldray also met Sarah Prentice, a 26-year-old Scottish variety artiste, whose professional name was Zaza Peters;{{sfn|Geldray|1989|pp=156–157}} the couple married on 18 January 1943.<ref name="Leigh DNB" />

Geldray took part in the [[Normandy landings]] with the [[Royal Netherlands Motorized Infantry Brigade|Prinses Irene Brigade]], but was injured by a bomb blast and spent time in a military hospital.<ref name="Times Obit" /> Although he did not incur long-term injuries, he suffered from recurring nightmares in the following years.<ref name="Leigh DNB" /> After the liberation of Amsterdam, Geldray travelled to the city to find his parents who had been resident when the Germans invaded. He found that both parents and his sister Xaviere had been killed in a [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camp]] by the Nazis.<ref name="Leigh DNB" /> At the end of the war, Geldray returned to Paris and once again found work with Ray Ventura's orchestra for two years, before returning to London in 1947.<ref name="D Tel Obit" /><ref name="Guardian Obit" />