It Ain't Half Hot Mum to Bombardier after Solly is demobbed and sent back to Britain. The soldiers are under the orders of Battery Sergeant Major "Shut Up" Williams, a belligerent Welshman who has spent almost all of his life as a professional soldier. In turn, Williams reports to the two officers in charge of the Concert Party: Captain Ashwood and Lieutenant-Colonel Reynolds. Both Ashwood and Reynolds are characterised as coming from upper-class backgrounds. Ashwood, the younger officer, is rather stupid and slightly excitable, while Reynolds is older and more worldly-wise and sensible. While often bemoaning the rough conditions of Army life, both Ashwood and
It Ain't Half Hot Mum does anything right. The Sergeant Major wrongly believes that Parkins is his son (Williams had a relationship with Parkins' mother Edith in Colchester), which is why he treats him much better than he treats the others, and keeps telling him he has "a fine pair of shoulders". Parkins is not Williams' son, but when the rest of the concert party discover what the Sgt Major believes, Parkins is welcomed into the party, as the Sgt Major would want to stop it being sent into battle as long as Parkins is a member. They change Parkins' blood group on his medical