I never thought I'd be moaning Minnie but for a club of our resources it's ridiculous.

It has bee modernised with a powerful automatic fog-horn known locally as Moaning Minnie.

During their partnership, Fred, whose perfectionism earned him the nickname "Moaning Minnie" from her, had always been the dominant creative force.

Before we can settle down, the enemy launch a heavy mortar attack on their former positions, now occupied by the French, using the now familiar multibarrelled mortar, 'Moaning Minnie", or Nebelwerfer.

The loud, shrill howling noise of the incoming rockets led American, and other Allied soldiers in the Sicily campaign to give it the nicknames "Screaming Mimi" and "Moaning Minnie".

He crossed the Marano river under attack from "Moaning Minnie" rockets; took a shot in the back which inflicted only a severe bruise; and once saw a shell land near his feet, only for it to sink into the mud before exploding ineffectually.

Known as the "Moaning Minnie" by Allied soldiers for the distinctive noise the rockets made when fired, it was less accurate than a dedicated artillery piece, but its ability to saturate an area with fire and its psychological effects on infantry made it a valuable asset.

Coward described the couple's drearily conventional new spouses, Victor and Sibyl, as little more than ninepins, set up to be knocked down, but Anthony Calf and Anna-Louise Plowman play them with distinction, the one hilariously pompous, the other a ghastly moaning Minnie.

He insisted: "I never thought I would ever be a moaning Minnie but I don't know how we are going to fit in all our games."