On this show, The Dumbells. They were the most popular group of entertainers in Canada during the First World War. The Dumbells were a group of muddy soldiers who had been plucked from the trenches by Captain Merton Plunkett, who knew the war weary troops needed a morale boost. They sang and danced and played their way around the fields of Flanders in 1917 and 1918. And they became a part of Canadian folklore when they returned and performed in Canada after the war.