CAN YOU HELP?
INTRODUCTION

In the summer of 1959 I was sent to the RAF Cinema Corporation's Cyprus headquarters at RAF Nicosia on a projectionist's course. Somebody must have noticed my activities with my ciné camera. By that time I had achieved an ambition and had purchased a 16mm Bolex camera, having become dissatisfied with the quality of 8mm. This camera cost about £150, on a wage of £11 a fortnight, which was only achieved by the generosity of R.G. Lewis, a camera shop in Holborn, London, who allowed me to pay for it on Hire Purchase, despite my lack of funds and the distance. It was an exciting day when I received a note in my post box telling me there was a parcel to collect. The only snag was that I could not really afford to run it, since the film was very expensive.

The projectionist's course lasted a week. We were trained mainly on the RAFCC's standard mobile projector, the DeBrie D16, although we were also given some instruction on the Bell and Howell machine and on the 35mm arc projectors used in the station cinema. The course finished on Saturday morning, and another course member and I hurried to the guardroom to enquire about transport. We were dismayed to be told that nothing more was expected to go to Episkopi or Akrotiri until Monday. But one of the staff wondered if the 'milk run', the daily communication flight between Akrotiri and Nicosia, had left on its return trip. A phone call to the control tower confirmed that it was just about to leave.

We piled into a Landrover and were whisked across to where the Percival Pembroke was waiting, engines running. The pilot told us to sit in the front seats in the passenger cabin, to avoid upsetting the trim, and we were off immediately. It only took about 20 minutes to get to Akrotiri. My companion was home, but I had to go to the guardroom, where I very soon managed to get a lift to Episkopi.

The purpose of this course was to qualify me to run the RAFCC mobile projection unit at Episkopi. In addition to the two permanent Army Kinema Corporation cinemas, the RAFCC showed films weekly at the Airmen's and Corporals' Clubs, the Sergeants' Mess and the Officers' Mess. The Airmen's and Corporals' shows were a combined outdoor event in the summer.

This was a spare-time job, which netted me and the other operator, usually Alan Sharpe I believe, 50 piastres (50p) each per show, plus free beer. We had two projectors, so that we could show features without a break, but the changeover was rather more crude than it is in 'full size' cinemas. In order to change from one reel to another invisibly films have two spots which appear briefly in the top right corner of the picture. The first spot is the cue to start the incoming projector running so that it is up to speed when the first reel runs out. When the second spot appears the light from the first projector is shut off and the light from the incoming machine exposed. In a normal cinema this is achieved by means of synchronised shutters so that there is no gap nor overlap.

Our method was rather different. The RAFCC painted white stripes down the edge of the film in place of the spots. Whichever one of us was operating the machine which was running out of film faced away from the screen, closely watching in the near darkness for the first white painted edge. One hand was held poised over the outstretched hand of the other. The first white stripe that raced past was the cue for a smart tap on the hand of the other operator, who switched on the motor of his projector. The next white stripe prompted another hand tap, on which one projector light was switched on and the other switched off.

It wasn't perfect, and became even more complicated later when our 'customers' clubbed together to buy an anamorphic lens, to enable us to show Cinemascope films. Just one lens, for two projectors. There was no chance of a slick changeover now. We had to switch off and fumble in the sudden darkness to swap the lens over.

We showed fairly up-to-date features, together with Pathe News and a cartoon or other some other short film. A vehicle from the station Transport Section would go to Nicosia with the old programme and bring back a new one every Tuesday. We knew what we were getting because I phoned Nicosia every week to be told what next week's feature film would be. This allowed us to publicise it and, having the means to do so, I made a short trailer to show with the current week's film. This was just text, shot on cheap Government-surplus stock and processed in my little still-film processing tank in the barrack-block laundry room. I had to be quick because the first showing was the same night.

At around the same time in the summer of 1959 my 'day job' changed, too. I knew vaguely that  three JARIC personnel  were seconded to the Middle East Air Force Public Information Office, and to my surprise I became one of them.

JARIC (ME) 1958-1960 web site