Granny's Tales and Treasures
Cyril's War
This is the story of my father’s life during the Second World War. Some of this narrative appears in the booklet ‘In the Shadow of the Iron Horse’, which is a biography of my father and grandfather.
Before Enlisting: Grenada Cinemas
Cyril Albany Braund 1915-1965 left school at fourteen. When the Second World War broke out, he was a cinema projectionist in civilian life, working for the south-east London Granada chain. On the 28th of August 1939, the staff of Granada Cinemas were read the following memo from the managers of the Granada Group,
“A priority air-raid warning will be given to cinema managers when enemy aircraft are sighted over the North Sea. You will not on any account pass on this priority warning to your audience. You will merely give the warning “RED ROSES” to your staff so that they will be prepared.”[1]
More than eighty years later, this conjures up rather farcical images of staff rushing round whispering behind their hands and it seems unlikely that regular patrons would have remained ignorant of the password for long.
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On the 31st of August 1939 alone, thirty one memos were issued to Granada cinema managers giving,
“detailed instructions on ….subjects ranging from bandages, candles, children’s matinees, corrugated iron sheeting, evacuation, holidays and days off (cancellation of), hurricane lamps, sandbags, staff morale and uralite, to wedding presents (oddly enough) for female members of staff of two years’ standing who contemplated matrimony at such a juncture.”[2]​
The Staff of Grenada Cinema, Wandsworth Road 1939
Cyril back left
In an attempt to stop mass slaughter in crowded public places, Granada Cinemas were all closed for the first fortnight of the war. Granada staff were set to work ‘spring cleaning’ and carrying out other repairs. Fire drill, air raid precautions and first aid training followed. Cyril and other employees would have participated in the hunt for increasingly elusive drawing pins, with which to hold blackouts in place. When nothing more could be done, management and staff joined in an unprecedented camaraderie and occupied themselves playing games in the aisles. For the first time, Cyril was working a standard nine to six day but there was no cinema to visit during the evenings off.
Deprived of cinema newsreels, the public turned to the radio. At first, only the B.B.C. Home Service was available and its output was limited to news broadcasts, interspersed with Sandy Macpherson at the theatre organ. No doubt the Braunds, along with most of the nation, settled down at 6pm on the 3rd of September to hear the King’s first wartime broadcast.
“There may be dark days ahead and war can no longer be confined to the battlefield. But we can only do the right as we see the right and reverently commit our cause to God. If one and all we keep resolutely faithful to it, ready for whatever service or sacrifice it may demand, the, with God’s help, we shall prevail.”
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Cinema managers, including Mr Knott at Wandsworth Road, where Cyril worked, worried about their livelihood; they had been told that any re-opening would be accompanied by restrictions on the size of the audience and the opening times. By the 9th of September the cinemas in outer London had reopened. The Granada, Wandsworth Road was back in business by the 16th; albeit with the earlier closing time of 10pm. Cyril, working until this hour, would have struggled through the black-out to get home from work.
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Home Office Memoranda, such as the one from the A.R.P. Department entitled, For the Guidance of Owners and Occupiers of Places of Entertainment, added to the anxiety of Manager Knott. The nine sections in the memorandum set some difficult tasks,
“Section Six exhorted him to do his best to prevent panic (without saying how). Section Seven ordered him to provide fire parties of two per 250 seats and to produce buckets, sandbags, pumps and hoses (without saying where from).”[3]
The auditorium had to be made blast proof and a shelter provided for employees. In the case of the Granada, Wandsworth Road, the space beside the lobby was used as a shelter and sleeping quarters for the staff who were unable to get home due to air raids. This small area was also used by regular patrons who had been bombed out, blankets were supplied and elderly people stayed there on a semi-permanent basis.
“There were millions who, between long spells of war work and disturbed nights, turned to the cinema for relaxation; which created great risks and responsibilities. The problem was solved only by the loyal and willing co-operation of the cinema managers and the staffs with the county and county borough councils. Well-thought-out arrangements and signals prevented panic and protected valuable lives.”[4]
Films shown during the early days of the war included, Face at the Window, The Gang’s all Here, Secret Journey and The Four Feathers starring Ralph Richardson and June Duprez.
According to Guy Morgan, notices were posted in Granada cafés giving bizarre instructions such as, “A bucket of sand is to be kept against the stove which holds the fish-frying pan. A loose tin cover is to be placed on top to prevent bits of grease falling in to it” and “The proper place for waitresses’ gas-masks is in the cash desk.” Every hour and a half the Granada managers appeared on stage and gave the following speech,
“Ladies and Gentlemen, after every feature I come up here on stage and make my little speech. Naturally, we will get air-raid warnings. In case we do, these are our arrangements: First, let me say that our theatre is much safer than the streets. Secondly, if ever an air-raid warning is received, we’ll tell you. The police know our arrangements and are fully satisfied with them. Thirdly, if ever an air-raid warning is received, the police advise only those within five minutes’ walk of their homes to leave. The show will go on for those who remain. Fourthly, we are sure that any who do leave will do so quietly and without fuss. You will realise how important it will be to keep a cool head. We can actually empty this theatre in two and a half minutes if you help. Finally, our staff have all been trained for an emergency. They know exactly what to do. If there is ever an air-raid warning, you can have complete confidence in them. Please tell your friends what our arrangements are – and tell them not to be frightened if I pop up. That’s all.”[5]
Both staff and patrons must have become heartily sick of those recitation and it is likely that regulars soon either chanted along in unison or ceased to listen to the manager’s exhortations.
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During the air raids, Granada continued to show films or provide recitals by the organist, sometimes through the night, whilst there were members of the audience who were unable to get home. “Audiences actually felt safer in cinemas and were more sharply affected by the film on the screen that by the conditions that reigned outside.”[6] Special slides had been prepared, which could be flashed on to the screen, such as that reading “Alert”, which rarely resulted in a significant reduction in audience numbers. Other slides would read, “Mrs X is wanted in the foyer.” Audiences seeing this would know that Mrs X’s home was damaged, on fire or destroyed. The cinema, where the manager greeted his patrons as friends, even to the extent of Mr Knott attending all local funerals, was home from home. “For the families of the embattled south-east England, the pictures have been a sort of Alice in Wonderland. They have kept our spirits up.”[7]
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During the war years, sixty five percent of all cinema goers attended twice a week or more. They watched their familiar environment change, gone were the three hundred posters displayed in each peacetime cinema. Paper controls limited poster sizes to sixty by forty inches, a twelfth of the pre-war dimensions and no poster could be displayed within a hundred feet of another.
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When the electricity supply was interrupted, other entertainment was provided by staff and patrons alike, Cyril probably joined in but was, no doubt, glad that it was another Granada cinema and not Wandsworth Road, where a three hour impromptu talent contest resulted in ninety percent of the participants singing The White Cliffs of Dover. The patrons of Wandsworth Road were working class; Morgan calls them “coster audiences.”[8] The first months of the war would find them sitting as far away from the screen as possible. This was due to the orientation of the building; the stage was closest to Lambeth Power Station, the gas works and the railway line and therefore seen as being the most vulnerable area of the auditorium. In the operating box, some eighty feet above ground, conditions were cramped and staff were vulnerable. They were surrounded by electrical equipment and heavy machinery; the steel helmets, donned during an air raid, offered little protection.
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The RAF Regiment
Nearly half the men Cyril’s age were in uniform and with the extension of the call-up, in May 1940,[9] he enlisted, together with his life-long friend Eric Golding. They joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on the 4th of July; thus losing their independence on Independence Day. Cyril became Gunner 1351715 and was described as being five foot eleven inches tall, with a thirty two inch chest, black hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion. Two thirds of the 1939 personnel of Granada cinemas, three hundred and twenty seven men and one hundred and fifty four women, like Cyril, served in His Majesty’s Forces.
Granada had begun training women operators as early as January 1940. This was not a universally popular move and many men feared for their jobs. Once the call-up was accelerated the wisdom of the policy was appreciated as only Chief Operators were deemed to have a reserved occupation. Cyril’s place as Second Operator at Wandsworth Road was taken by Mrs Oakley and it was she and Chief Operator Milverton who were on duty when tragedy struck the cinema. There were five hundred people[10] in the audience, watching a Laurel and Hardy film, on the evening of Tuesday the 12th of November. At eight each evening it was the duty of one of the firemen to cross the stage in order to telephone the fire station and inform them that all was well. On this occasion, the fireman was half way across the stage when a bomb landed on the roof and exploded in front of the screen. The curtain barrel fell on the fireman’s head and killed him outright, he was one of ten[11] fatalities during the incident. Thirty five were injured, several requiring amputations.
“’The film was just getting funny,’ Mr E R Bastick told the South London Press, ‘when the whole place was filled with a red glare, For some time I had not the slightest idea of what had happened. Then of all the barmy things, I stood up and quite calmly began to put my mackintosh on. Not till then did I begin to realise what happened. The people in the front seats caught it worst. I saw two men carrying away an injured girl, and that brought me to my senses with a jerk. There was no panic. I think very few people realised instantly what had happened and when they did they set to work to do what they could for the injured.’ The bomb hit the stage and the funny film faded out.”[12]
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In the operating box, which Cyril had occupied only four months earlier, two projectors were blown over and the film caught fire. The steel shutters were blown across the room, as the windows shattered and Chief Operator Milverton was injured by debris falling from the roof. In darkness, the audience, remaining remarkably calm, were helped from the building. Usherettes put their first aid training into practice and began tearing up their underclothing for bandages. One usherette, Ivy Wilson, even tore up the dress she had brought with her to put on when she changed out of her uniform.
“The cinemas never let us down. When they were shut it was only because they were too badly damaged to open. Truly the men and women of the cinemas deserved and had the thanks of the public throughout those terrible years.”[13]
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Wandsworth Road was the only one of the twenty Granada cinemas to become a victim of wartime bombing. Although a further nine did close for short periods the other ten boasted that they never had a day’s closure or had to curtail a showing. The management did begin to repair the Wandsworth Road building but before completion, the cinema was hit again and the area was further damaged later in the war. The Granada, Wandsworth Road was finally rebuilt in 1949; in the meantime, Manager Knott was transferred to the Clapham Junction branch.
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Whilst family and friends were experiencing the horrors of the Blitz, Cyril was away training with the RAF Regiment. By the 10th of February 1941, he was in Ronaldsway, Isle of Man taking part in No. 83 Gunnery course. This was followed by a spell guarding the airfield at Walsgrave in Coventry. Cyril had missed the appalling raids on Coventry of November 1940 but it remained a vulnerable location. It seems that Cyril spent the early part of the war in England. He was thus able to get leave to attend the wedding of his brother, Stan, in the December of 1942.
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Gunnery Course Isle of Man February 1941
Cyril back right I believe Eric is front row third from the right
Initially attached to 2785 Squadron, early in 1943, Cyril was a member of 2731 Squadron at Docking in Norfolk. On the 5th of May that year the squadron moved to Langham Regimental Training School. The next month saw periods spent in Great Sampford, Essex and at Catfoss in Yorkshire, under the command of Squadron Leader Davis. Cyril, despite being very light for his height, was recorded as being in good health at the time. Thus when Warrant Officer Luke arrived in June to interview twenty two medically unfit gunners with a view to re-mustering for trade training, Cyril would not have been amongst them. Instead he took a Ground Defence Gunnery Staff course.
1943
By May 1943, Cyril was back with 2859 Squadron, which appears to have been newly formed, probably in the May. On the 1st of July, he was on board the troopship Francinia in the Clyde, about to embark for the Mediterranean. They left at half past ten at night and were to dock first at Algiers and then in Malta. Whilst in Malta, on the 19th of July, the convoy was attacked by enemy aircraft but fortunately no damage was sustained. The squadron proceeded to the east coast of Sicily, in the shadow of the still active Mount Etna, Europe’s largest volcano. They were based at San Francesco[14] airfield. On the 11th of August, Cyril was again under fire,
“At 23.20 hours the Airfields within close proximity to this one were attacked by enemy aircraft, although no direct attack was made on San Francesco L. G. Duration of attack 35 minutes, This was the Squadron’s first action and all personnel expressed satisfaction at being able to get to grips with the enemy.”[15]
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Amongst all the horrors of war there was time for relaxation too. It seems almost certain that Cyril, who could play the piano, sing and enjoyed amateur entertainment, was a member of the squadron concert party. 2859 Squadron seem to have had a concert party to be proud of; they were to attract airmen and officers from neighbouring squadrons to their performances. On the 14th of August “The Squadron Concert Party gave its second concert in the evening and was enjoyed by a large audience.”[16] On a more sombre note, the Mediterranean climate was beginning to take its toll and four days later, the first recorded case of malaria amongst the squadron was diagnosed. Cyril did suffer from malaria but although the Operations Record Books mention several victims by name, he is not amongst them. At which point he first succumbed to malaria is therefore not known.
Sicily 1943 Cyril on the left
This Photograph is labelled Joia
An incident, of which all squadron members would have been aware, took place on the 28th of August.
“An unfortunate accident occurred this afternoon when Sgt. Dawson picked up a round of enemy 20mm ammunition which exploded in his hands resulting on lacerations of hands and chest. He was admitted to No. 30 M.F.H.. Disciplinary action will be taken against this airman in view of repeated warnings in regard to picking up of objects lying on the ground.”[17]
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Amidst increasing cases of malaria, in September, the squadron moved to Falcone.[18] It was there that they received the news of Italy’s capitulation on the 8th of that month. Another significant incident occurred three days later when,
“At 13.10 hours a Kittyhawk aircraft piloted by a pilot of USAF made a crash landing on the airfield. LAC Walsh of this Squadron who was on Gun post duty at the time saw that the aircraft was in difficulties, picked up a pick and made towards the aircraft as it landed. The aircraft turned over on its back thereby trapping the pilot in an inverted position. The pilot was in some danger of suffocation from petrol fumes but LAC Walsh managed to smash a hole in the cockpit hood, loosened the straps and freed the pilot. The aircraft did not catch fire.”[19]
Undaunted, the Concert Party put on an impromptu concert the same evening, not put off by their lack of practice since the move to Falcone. The Concert Party now saw themselves as a united group and adopted the name ‘The Flak-Astras’.
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The squadron was at Falcone for only two weeks before moving on, via Catania, to Gioia del Colle, on mainland Italy. On the 2nd of October,
“In the evening the Squadron Concert Party – The Flak-Astras – gave a Concert in the Airman’s Dining Hall, on the Main Italian Camp. The Italian Commanding Officer Lt/Col Corrado Corradiuo attended and also a large number of Italian Officers and airmen. The programme included 2 items by Italian airmen and the Concert was well received by all. It is thought that this was the first Concert given by a British Forces’ Concert Party on Italian soil in which the Italians participated.”[20]
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Still dogged by incidences of malaria, 2859 Squadron moved west, arriving in Foggia on the 6th of October, after an overnight camp on route. Three days late the malaria brought the squadron’s first fatality, Leading Aircraftman White died and his funeral was held on the same day. During their short stay at Foggia, the concert party performed at 239 Wing Officers’ mess, formerly The Old Governor’s Palace. A five day journey then took the squadron to Capodichina, Naples. On the day of their arrival, the dock area of Naples was attacked by enemy aircraft. Two days later another raid was made on the docks; like the first, it occurred in the early evening. In both cases the squadron was fortunate not to sustain any casualties. After a month of living in tents the squadron moved into buildings on the 19th of November. The Flak-Astras were kept busy and from the 2nd to the 4th of December, they put on a show called ‘Flying High’ at San Carlo Theatre in Naples. The Operations Record notes that all three of these performances was broadcast, presumably on some form of forces radio.
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1941 had seen a 113% increase in cases of syphilis amongst servicemen and civilians and 1942 was even worse. The Ministry of Health had begun an information campaign by the autumn of 1942. It was not until late the following year that 2859 Squadron felt the effects of this. Whether the docklands of Naples were proving somewhat of a temptation, or whether this was routine, the squadron were treated to both a lecture on sexually transmitted diseases and a film entitled ‘Sexual Hygiene’, within a short space of time. The later was shown in the American cinema; would Cyril have been enlisted as projectionist? With the health of the squadron still a priority, typhus injections were given to all on the 14th of December. The same day saw an accident befall the Squadron Leader.
“S/Ldr A J B Vidler met with an unfortunate accident in the evening when the car in which he was travelling with officers of 324 Wing collided with another vehicle. He was taken to No. 118 Station Hospital US Army with a compound fracture of the right tibia.”[21]
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The squadron rehearsed for and took part in, a march past which was to form part of a film called The Fifth Christmas, no doubt destined for showing to British audiences in cinemas like those of the Granada chain. The squadron celebrated their fifth Christmas with a dinner and informal concert, for which a piano was hired. The new year saw the squadron move further south down the coast to Lago and Assistant Squadron Leader J.B. Peattie arrived to take command.
In the March of 1944, Vesuvius erupted. The squadron were close enough to take photographs but strangely, this is not mentioned in the Operations Record. On the 27th of May
“In the evening a small celebration was held to mark the anniversary of the formation of the Squadron. The evening took the form of a smoking concert with a Bar & Buffet & all available personnel of the squadron were present. Music was supplied by the squadron band.”[22]
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Vesuvius Erupting March 1944
A month later, the squadron boarded H.M.T. Orontes at Naples harbour to return home. They disembarked at Greenock at 19.30 hours on the 5th of July and ‘entrained’ at 23.15. The train left ten minutes later and after a thirteen and a half hour overnight journey, the squadron arrived at Sutton Bridge in Lincolnshire.
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On the 19th of July 1944, Cyril was admitted to the Queen Victoria’s Hospital, Herne Bay, Kent. Two days later he was transferred to the Municipal Hospital in Canterbury, where he spent nearly three weeks. It is very likely that this was due to a bout of malaria. The Operations Record for the 23rd of August reads, “Despite all anti-malarial precautions which have & are being taken cases are still occurring of personnel of this squadron being admitted to hospital with malaria.”[23] Kent seems rather a long way from the squadron’s base in Lincolnshire but perhaps this was where malaria cases were sent. Whilst Cyril was in hospital, the squadron moved from Sutton Bridge to Sibson in Cambridgeshire.
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Back in England, the concert party were still in demand. On the 29th of December they visited a neighbouring RAF station at Woolfox Lodge and a month later “A revue was presented in the Concert Hall by a concert party consisting mainly of personnel from this Squadron.”[24]
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By the spring of 1945 the end of the war was in sight and Cyril was one of the “34 O.Rs and 3 SNCOs accepted and transferred to the army”[35] because their services were no longer required by the RAF. Cyril received a letter from Sir Archibald Sinclair, Secretary of State for Air, at the Air Ministry, informing him that he was to form part of the War Cabinet’s move to draft naval and air force personnel into the army. On the 13th of March 1945, he was officially discharged from 2859 Squadron on enlistment in the army. His discharge documents describe him as being of very good character with a satisfactory degree of trade proficiency. On transfer, he was five feet eleven inches tall, weighed on one hundred and thirty nine pounds. He had hazel eyes, black hair and despite the Mediterranean climate and malaria, a fresh complexion. His Air Force report reads, “A very good type Airman though not a good J.N.C.O.. He could be well employed in his civilian trade. General Conduct excellent.”[26]
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The following day, Wednesday the 14th of March, Cyril was due to report, at 00.01am to No.19 Personnel Transit Centre, Weeton, Preston in Lancashire for service in the territorial army. The recommendation on enlistment stated that Cyril was “Above average intelligence, bright, pleasant and alert. Has quite good ability all round and is keen to do well in the army. Should prove capable.” He was graded AI medically and there is a note to say that he refused protective inoculations in September 1945. His service record states that he played football and cricket and took part in swimming and a little boxing and that his hobby was sketching.
Cyril became part of the Royal Army Service Corps and began gunnery training at Warminster, Wiltshire. His Army Service Book reads, ”retrained for 10 weeks as Infantry, has fired all Platoon Weapons and is capable of taking his place in a Rifle Platoon in the field.” Cyril then spent a month on a Senior N.C.O.s’ tactical course at the School of Infantry. It was just as the war was ending that he met Gwendoline Smith at a dance at Dawn Hall in Warminster, which Gwen was attending with her cousin, Olive. The survival of Cyril’s regular letters to Gwen, from this point, reveal details of the next stage of his life in the forces.
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After the War was Over: working with ENSA
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Although the war was over, it was months before most soldiers were demobilised and Cyril was no exception. The first letter from Cyril to Gwen is dated July 1945 and comes from Ballyedmond, Rostrevor, County Down in Northern Island. Ballyedmond had been requisitioned as a base for the US Air Force but they left in the July. The address on the letter suggests that Cyril was with the 15th Welch Regiment however his record of service states that he was initially in the Wiltshire Regiment, joining the Welch regiment in July 1945. At Ballyedmond, Cyril joined the Battalion choir and was part of a ‘broadcast’ from Belfast. He bemoaned the lack of entertainment and seems to have spent much of his time peeling potatoes.
The Gates of Ballyedmond Castle 2023
Cyril's Drawing of the Choir
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In December 1945, Cyril left for Calais and then went on to Milan by rail via Switzerland. By the January of 1946 he was back in Naples, stationed at Lammie Camp and working at the Odeon Cinema.
Memories of Lammie Camp that used to be available online read as follows, “Slowly we reached quayside in the port of Naples and once the ship was secured, gangplanks were placed up the side of the ship and disembarkation started. Men poured out of the ship onto the quayside. Three-ton lorries took us to our Camp and we went through Naples to reach it. It was called Lammie Camp. It was in an orchard, but, the ground was four inches deep in black dust. This came from the Vesuvius volcano that had recently erupted causing a lot of local devastation. During the time at this camp I managed to get into Naples, and also visited Old Pompeii which, in the days of the Roman Empire had been utterly destroyed and buried in ash from a violent volcanic explosion.”[27]
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The letters reveal that he signed up again after his war service ended to accrue some savings and to gain experience but having met Gwen, he expressed regret that he had committed himself for a longer term of service. His letters are mostly full of plans for returning to civilian life and bemoaning the lack of information about when he might be released.
Although the war was over, Cyril remained in the army, as a sergeant with the Department of National Service Entertainment, also known as the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA), resuming his civilian trade as a cinema projectionist. Once in Naples, he helped to set up a cinema at Pomigliano. Whilst stationed at Lammie Camp, during the first part of 1946, Cyril was the chief projectionist at the Odeon Cinema, which was next door to the Gaity Theatre, within the camp. Working alongside him in the projection box were two Italians, Umberta Difede and Umberta Lapau. During the week ending the 31st of March, the films shown were Dead of Night, starring Michael Redgrave and Judy Kelly and the Abbott and Costello film In Hollywood.
In April 1946, Cyril moved to a location nearer to the centre of Naples for a couple of weeks, installing a new cinema. He was able to see Gracie Fields at the Bellini Theatre, before being stationed in Pomigliano. He paid a visit to Capri and by June 1946, he was working at the Garrison Cinema Naples. He spent time in Sorento convalescing in June. At this point, it was six months since he had any home leave. July was spent commuting back to Pomigliano.
The Projection Box at Pomigliano
Naples in the 1940s
Cyril was formally transferred to the army reserve on the 23rd of August 1946, with effect from the 6th of November. His reference reads, “This N.C.O. has proved himself a capable worker and given consistently good service in the Cinema Division. He is a qualified projectionist and is keen, hardworking and reliable. An efficient and valued N.C.O.”[28]
Forces War Record sent by Cyril to Gwen for her 21st Birthday February 1946
Sicily and Southern Italy
Via Roma, Naples 1946
Cyril's Medals
Cyril's Demob Photo
Sources
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Morgan, Guy Red Roses Every Night: an account of London cinemas under fire Quality Press (1948)
Operations Record Book 2859 Squadron, at The National Archives AIR29/117.
Royal Air Force Certificate of Discharge for Cyril Albany Braund, in family possession.
Royal Air Force Service Record for Cyril Albany Braund from RAF Personnel Management Agency.
Soldier’s Service and Pay Book for Cyril Albany Braund, in family possession.
Release Leave Certificate for Cyril Albany Braund, in family possession.
Certificate of Transfer to the Army Reserve for Cyril Albany Braund, in family possession.
Letters relating to the service career of Cyril Albany Braund, in family possession.
Letters from Cyril Albany Braund to Gwendoline Catherine Smith, in family possession.
Cyril’s Demob Photograph
South London Press 15 November 1940
Lammie Camp Special Weekly News 31st March 1946.
Cyril’s Medals
​[1] Quoted in Morgan, Guy Red Roses Every Night: an account of London cinemas under fire Quality Press (1948).
[2] Morgan, Guy Red Roses Every Night: an account of London cinemas under fire Quality Press (1948).
[3] Morgan, Guy Red Roses Every Night: an account of London cinemas under fire Quality Press (1948).
[4] Morgan, Guy Red Roses Every Night: an account of London cinemas under fire Quality Press (1948).
[5] Quoted in Morgan, Guy Red Roses Every Night: an account of London cinemas under fire Quality Press (1948).
[6] Morgan, Guy Red Roses Every Night: an account of London cinemas under fire Quality Press (1948).
[7] From A Filmgoers’s War Diary quoted in Morgan, Guy Red Roses Every Night: an account of London cinemas under fire Quality Press (1948).
[8] Morgan, Guy Red Roses Every Night: an account of London cinemas under fire Quality Press (1948).
[9] To include those up to the age of twenty seven.
[10] According to Guy Morgan, there were 500 people in the audience. The South London Press of 15 November 1940 gives the figure as 70 but this may have been a propaganda exercise.
[11] This is Guy Morgan’s figure, The South London Press reported seven fatalities.
[12] The South London Press 15 November 1940.
[13] The Rt. Hon, Herbert Morrison, Home Secretary, quoted in Morgan, Guy Red Roses Every Night: an account of London cinemas under fire Quality Press (1948).
[14] San Francesco does not appear on modern maps but it was almost certainly in the region of Catania and Lentini.
[15] Operations Record Book 2859 Squadron AIR29/117.
[16] Operations Record Book 2859 Squadron AIR29/117.
[17] Operations Record Book 2859 Squadron AIR29/117.
[18] Almost certainly present day Falconara.
[19] Operations Record Book 2859 Squadron AIR29/117.
[20] Operations Record Book 2859 Squadron AIR29/117.
[21] Operations Record Book 2859 Squadron AIR29/117.
[22] Operations Record Book 2859 Squadron AIR29/117.
[23] Operations Record Book 2859 Squadron AIR29/117.
[24] Operations Record Book 2859 Squadron AIR29/117.
[25] Operations Record Book 2859 Squadron AIR29/117.
[26] Royal Air Force Certificate of Discharge.
[27] Release Leave Certificate for Cyril Albany Braund, in family possession.
[28] From www.world-at-war.co.uk/?p=319 website no longer accessible.