The Army Kinema Corporation

Is there anyone around that worked for the A.K.C during the 1950`s and 60`s. That is both civilian and service?

Hi John,
I was a stepson of a RAF sergeant in Hannover and worked at Globe Cinema in Hannover. I started work at 15 with two german projectionists. After three months they sacked both Germans and made me Chief Projectionist (the only projectionist). I genuinely worked seven days a week for three years with only one two week holiday in three years. They paid me a fraction of what they paid the Germans. The Manager (Sandy Powell) always made certain he got his day off a week!
After my Father was posted back to the UK I lived in the 6th. Civilian Mess in Hannover (great times) as a 17 year old!

Then I moved to ASK Hohne - large Cinema, later converted to Bowling alley and then left vacant. I alternated from living in the Sergeants Mess and then back into the Cinema as I could not afford to buy two meals a day when living in the Mess.

Did relief projectionist work in places such as Lemgo.

Loved my time in Germany

Cheers,

John Grant
Newcastle, Australia

PS Play Up Pompey!!!

You wouldn't happen to know he location of the cinema and mess in Hannover would you John?

Hi John,
I was a projectionist in Liverpool before I joined the Army, and also did a course at Beaconfield in Bucks, I was Driver/Projectionist on my regiments Army youth team, in the early 60's

Hello John, Bexy and Kingo,

I was posted to Hannover for three weeks in 1959. Billited in the WO`s and Sgt`s Mess on Schlacht Haus Weg. Could well have been Langenhagen Barracks. At the time, we were employed indirectly by the War Office, and given WO`s and Sgt`s status. At the end of Schlacht Haus Weg, there was a slaughter House. In the early morning the pigs would arrive, and shortly afterwards you could hear them screaming. By the middle of the afternoon, you could smell them as they were being boiled. There was always a cloud of white steam over the place. Unfortunately I can no longer recall just where the Globe Theatre was located? But it might well have been in the city? All I can remember is that Hannover was a really nice city. By then mostly recovered from the war.

In reference to the Globe Lemgo. Yes I did again a three week stint there. Unfortunately I cannot recall who the manager was, but from my notes it was certainly a good posting. During my posting, I was put up in Stornoway Barracks. The theatre was outside somewhere down the road. To get to it, you had to pass an entrance to a D.P. camp. We were always told to be careful when passing the gate, but I never heard or saw any trouble.

Like you, I was a projectionist back in the UK, but having been turned down by the R.A.F for National Service, I volunteered for the next best thing -the A.K.C. Besides I was an army brat, having been to Germany twice, in 1947 and 1952, so I was eager to get back.
When I joined the A.K.C in London, I then became a British Based Relief Operator. But in emergencies I could stand in for the manager. My six years with the A.K.C. was spent with both British (1 year) and Canadian forces (5 years).
Happy days!!

Hi All,
Address of Globe Hannover was cnr. of Freundallee and Willestrasse (you turn of Hans-Bockler Allee (going in direction of Kleefeld from City Centre). It was on a corner block that was part of the German Barracks. The Brits had some use of the barracks originally as my brother and sister used to go to horse riding lessons in the barracks.

The Mess was diagonally opposite - same address. As you turned right into Willestrasse cinema was on right hand corner and across the road on left was the Mess.

Hey John - wonder if we met? I started work in Globe Cinema Hannover in 1959. Manager was Sandy Powell. Only person I remember coming to Cinema apart from Managemen was an Englishman that accompanied film - South Pacific. Todd - AO with magnetic sound stripe.

Cheers,

John

Hello John,

My god 1959, its such a long time ago, in fact 49 years ago.

Yes I was certainly there in 1959 as a relief operator. It was only for about two weeks, as the resident operator or operators were away possibly on manaeuvres. In some instances, I worked alongside the one who was left, and more often alone.

Well John, I could well have been the one, but after such a long time, and so many theatres, I just cannot remember now.

I usually remember details of my postings, especially when I was at a particular posting for a reasonable period of time, but Hannover was not one of them. However the name Sandy Powell definitely rings a bell.

Do you remember the circuit engineer, a Herr Wehrmann who would check all the projection equipment twice a year? The once a year inspections by the top brass, Mr Rycart, Mr Wilson and of course Brigadier Snowden?

Happy days!
John

Hello John Grant and others who worked for AKC. Im Malcolm James and releived you John at Hohne sometime in 63/64. I was at Hannover for two years until I left there owing to Sandy Powell not ever letting me have a day off. I went and did relief all over what was West Germany in those wonderful days. They were the best years of my life. I would like to hear from anybody who knew me at all such as you John and Alan Olsen.
Im at malcolmjames@london.com
Best to you all.

Malcolm

I too did a course at Beaconsfield as part of being a Gunnery and D&M instructor.(they did not have minefields in those days,but dogs to keep you away from the ATS quarters)I remember we had an AKC at Wesendorf,it was renowned for its own Zoo,I once dropped half a bar of chocolate on the floor there,and before I could pick it up the mice had it and were gone.Frequent screams were the order of the day as the mice trotted over the girls feet!The wife only went in there once - that was enough!
-----
Don

Does anybody have any info about the AKC globe cinema in the Schauberg in Iserlohn ? I think it was first used by the Canadians and then by the British up until it was handed over in 1970.I am researching the history of the Schauberg Iserlohn at the moment and there is little about the Canadian and British usage of the building.

I remember the Schauberg and seem to recall it was under British use. I don't actually recall it ever being used by the Canadians, however. There was a Globe Cinema in Fort Prince of Wales, though.

I seem to recall, in around 1971-72, the Schauberg had rock concerts...pretty sure it was at the Schauberg.

In some ways, I am rather surprised you can find so little info about the Canadian and British usage of the building, but on the other hand, it would appear, there is a dearth of information about what I would have thought to be a fairly significant portion of the area's history (i.e. The Canadian time and British era). In some ways, it's like we were never there. There just isn't that much commemoration present at all, apart from a hockey Denkmal in Deilinghofen and the odd plaque here and there.

Sad, really.

Hi John
I was a projectionist at the Elizabeth Cinema Bradbury Barracks in Krefeld while serving there between 1964-68. 16 Signal Regment
We had two Bauer 35mm projectors, the model of which I did never find out. My hobby was cinephotography and still photography and later I did a Projectionist course at Minden where I was "taught" both 35mm and 16mm. I even bought my own Agfa 8mm sound projector and a new camera! We used magnetic sripe in those days!
The other projectionist we had there was a Malcolm Margerison who like me was Royal Signals.
I thoroughly enjoyed the projection work at the AKC and the extra money which I think was DM4,- per show certainly helped my hobby!

Chris

Well Hello Hairy, from the other Mush

Len (Ciphers)

Flippin' 'Eck Mush everywhere I go you seem to follow!
If its not a genealogy group is a Royal Signals group and then here of all places! Just hope you were not in the AKC at any time!

You can follow me to the pub and buy me a pint!
Great to see you again!!
Chris

Ran the ship's (the Paraguay) cinema for the kids on board on my way home from the Suez cock up in '56 .. does that count ... as an aside beside a bunch of families being repatriated from Cyprus, ... we had the 2nd Btn Scots Guards aboard, they being part of 1st Guards Bde, 3 Inf Div (I was Brigade Cipher NCO). Being sod all to do on troopers most of the Guards boys used to sneak into the cinema to watch the cartoons with the Kids (remember these were Guardsmen) ... one of the favourites was Muffin the Mule .. all the Kids, and I mean all the Kids, used to sing the song We Want Muffin, Muffin the Mule as it came up on the screen. On docking at Southampton us Signals boys were marching off the dock when the tune of Muffin the Mule sung by a chorus of Wooden Tops echoed over the docks.. Great days ..

Len (Ciphers)

And you are still making an ass of yourself today! I remember putting on a film at Elizabeth Cinema, cannot remember the name but halfway through we had to turn the volume up high and let the film run.

It took a few minutes and then on the screen it looked as though the film was melting and the sound went off. Of course being a cinema full of squaddies there were loads of Boos and jeers, then suddenly a scream rent the air and there was a close up of this face on screen with all the flesh peeling off and an eye shooting out all this gunge!

I was literally thrown back into the other projector as had been watching through the viewing window and I have never seen so many grown men cringing under seats in my life! All the hard cases in the camp were literally
blubbering all over the place!

Really funny to see! And boy did I get stick at the end of the film, especially from the Squadron OC who had taken his wife to see the film! After that it was taken off the circuit! Why it wasn not taken off before then I do not know as there was a note in the reel tins to warn about it!

I remember one AKC cinema in BAOR where the "horrors" were "live".I was happily sitting watching a film with the wife,munching some cadburys,when I dropped the bar of chocolate on the floor.I bent to pick it up,but the mice(I hope they WERE mice)were quicker,and a scampering of little feet,and the cadburys was gone.The wife screamed,said out loud,a rat just ran over my foot,and all the girls made a rapid exit!(and some of the boys too)
------
Don

PS - I had to leave too as there was about a foot of snow and the wife would never have made it home in her silly shoes!

Typical the wives were never prepared for the inevitable snow or rat!
I did a pest and rodent course at Sennelager and often got called out to the NAAFI or Sgts Mess to get rid of cockroaches, for some reason the rats only went to the Officers Mess! Always wondered if they knew something I didn't!

Chris

Hairy Lineman wrote:

Typical the wives were never prepared for the inevitable snow or rat!
I did a pest and rodent course at Sennelager and often got called out to the NAAFI or Sgts Mess to get rid of cockroaches, for some reason the rats only went to the Officers Mess! Always wondered if they knew something I didn't!

Chris

Rodents were never one of my favourite creatures...not as bad for me as snakes (aaaaagghhhh!!!! ), but damn close.

I now live in the Glorious Province of Alberta, Canada -- the nation's only 'rat free' territory, so I don't have to contend with those critters any more. Mice? yeah....they're a problem.

I remember living out on 'the economy' our first tour (59-62) -- I would have been 6 years old -- and the block of flats we Canadians were housed in were originally built as housing for workers at the some of the local factories and, at the time, were out in the middle of the fields near Balve, out along the Hoennetal southeast (?) of Hemer/Stephanopel/Deilinghofen.

We had storage lockers down in the cellar and it was normal to, before entering (the light was halfway down the corridor and was turned-on by pulling a chain), to jiggle the door-knob so the rats knew humans were about to enter and could scatter to where ever it was they normally hung out....you could hear them skittering off.

The garbage bins were these heavy metal contraptions with a lid that had a large bar across the top...a rat lock. I can remember, as part of my household chores, taking the garbage out and seeing on any given day a large rat perched up on top of the bins, very curiously studying me.

Out behind the block of flats was this immense excavation, long since grown over with foxglove and such. Originally, as I understand it, it was excavated to have more flats built in behind the existing ones, but it never happened (even a decade later when we were back for our 2nd tour, the Big Hole was still there!).

The one flat was in the basement but if one looked out the windows along the back of the flat one looked down 2 stories into the hole. And into the open water line below us....one could see rats swimming along down there! Lovely, but it was all part and parcel of life and it was a heavily rural area.

I also recall, shortly after Xmas one year, one of the Canadian families, unfamiliar with how things worked in Deutschland, left the turkey carcass sitting on the kitchen table. The next morning the turkey had mysteriously disappeared. They searched everywhere and couldn't find it and finally just chalked it up as "one of those things.'

Two or three years later, when preparing to rotate back to Canada and cleaning the flat in preparation for move-out, they had occasion to slide the huge livingroom schrank away from the wall in order to clean and dust in behind it....they found the remains of the turkey carcass, by now picked clean!! Ick....

As teenagers, we often went to the Globe up in Deilinghofen. I don't ever recall sharing the experience with mice or rats, but have no doubt the building was rife with either/or. No, actually, now that I think of it...I do recall my Mom saying on more than one occasion watching a mouse scamper down the main aisle. Those would be very cultured mouses!!! Apparently, they favoured Disney shorts featuring their favourite Hollywood rodent, Mickey something-or-other LOL

I know Hemer as while at Dortmund I had the "opportunity" to go pot holing there. Remember it well as our instructor/mentor was a young Rupert (2Lt) who knew everything and so our first day was okay, we went about three miles 1½ each way but then we went to bed under canvas and halfway through the night we found our sleeping bags were moving, afraid it might be an earthquake due to the underground cavers I jumped out only to find myself in freezing cold water, the so called Rupert had told us to put our tents in the middle of a dried up river bed, which as it was the middle of winter we had a huge thunderstorm.

Later after relocating we visited a local gasthof for a few beers, one of our lads put the jukebox on ony to find a huge moose of a Canadian looming over him telling us he wanted to sing so turn that goddarn noise OFF! We meekly did as we were bid and listened to him sing, and boy that man could sing.

We got a few beers in and we all gathered together for a sing song which the local Germans found amusing as we were singing all the old WW1 and WWII songs!

I have a friend from Minnesota on Skype who was stationed there and worked for the prison service after leaving the army, he was Signals same as myself.

Anyway off on the Rememberance Parade tomorrow with the Royal Briitish Legion we have quite a good one this year as we are accompanied by a local cadet band and some WWII vehicle enthusiasts with Ding, Ferrets, Jeeps and old Signals Land rovers as well as a motorcycle and an ordinary army issue bicycle! I will be in my electric buggy as cannot march on one leg!!

Chris (Eastleigh between Winchester and Southampton UK)

Hairy Lineman wrote:

I will be in my electric buggy as cannot march on one leg!! ..............

Chris (Eastleigh between Winchester and Southampton UK)

But you will be there Chris, that is the important bit!!

Take care.

Paul.

My dad was manager Globe Cinema Hohne-1954-1970 mum worked in paybox & along with Derek Coyne I took tickets. We lived next door in the 1st floor flat. My dad took over from the previous manager a German whose wife was Marlene Dietrichs sister who [according to Bergen Museum] visited the Cinema pre war. other celebs who visited were Norman Wisdom,Tessa o~shea @ John lennon who was filming How I won the war- on the Cricket pitch opposite. When my Dad took over Hohne had just been vacated by Jewish survivors from nearby Belsen. If u knew where to look there were reminders of there stay all over camp. In the 1960s Gloucester School was built by Hoppenstetter Strasse & kids from Fally,Munsterlager,Celle &B ergen attended-This was a superb school with brilliant teachers. Unfortunatly I did no work & consequently ended up as a porter @ Cardiff Uni!!! Only joking-it was a great place to grow esp @ xmas with all the regt.parties also laid on by the Canadians & Cloggies.In fact there were so many Xmas parties for kids that they started in Autumn & finished in Spring!!!!! The SKC also used to rent out TVs & I can remember delivering with my dad 1 to troops in Rheinzehlin in 1966 to watch the World cup final! I went back to R on exercise in 1975 & it hadnt changed-wot a dump!! Great site -I stirred old memories-Clive Lewis

Slllightly off topic but in reply to Clive 1 and his adad being manager at Hohne.
My first girfriends dad was a manage or a cinema in Totton Hampshire and he used to get us free tickets to all the big shows at the three Southampton cinemas, wE SAW The Beatles, rolling Stones, Cliff & The Shadows, Cilla Black, Roy Orbison just to mention a few.
But back to BAOR and the Elizabeth Cinema in Krefeld around 65-66 we had Harry Secombe and Anita Harris put on a show and it was hilarious, a little later the Hayes Girls Choir came and I started going with one of the senior girls, met her in Dusseldorf and back in the UK. I also did the army projectionist course at Minden where I ended up showig the instructors how to use the BAUER 35mm and 16mm projectors as they hadn't a clue especially on 16mm which was my main hobby at the time along with 8mm!

This had me wondering who ran the Saturday morning film shows at Prince Rupert's, great films, Cockleshell heroes, The cold sea. Great stuff.

Jim

We have already debated the rival merits of PRS Wilhelmshaven and KAS Ploen

The system at Ploen in the 50s was that a package of films (feature film , AKC newsreel and short) would be delivered from AKC Globe at Neumunster on Friday. The contents would be checked out for suitability by a Committee of Staff and shown to the School after tea on a Saturday in Butler Hall (the School Assembly Hall). The projectionist was a member of the German civilian staff

Doubtless PRS had a similar system based on the Globe at Oldenburg