大象传媒

This story was submitted by a volunteer for Radio Bristol Action Desk at City of Bristol College

In 1939 I was working as an usherette in The Kings Cinema in Yate. Our manager was called up to serve in the British Army and in his place was a man known as Mr Berry. After a while we noticed strange things about him - not least of which I started to think he seemed to have German sympathies. When the newsreels were on he would never comment on the British part and seemed to be offended if you mentioned anything derogatory about the Germans.
Anyway, he used to tell us he had to catch the last bus to Old Sodbury, where he was lodging.
However, one evening myself and one of the other usherettes had been in the nearest pub. By this point I was cashier at the cinema and, as we all cycled to work in those days, I used to leave my lights and pump in the cash desk. On this particular evening I let myself in to collect these items I opened the office door to find Mr Berry locking my way. I noticed he had the pink curtains that were part of the decoration in the cigarette and chocolates display - and being rather cheeky that age I made som remark about it to him and he sacked me.
Well, the next day I got myself a job at the local aircraft factory and one day when I had gone home, who should be waiting for me but two detectives from Staple Hill Police Station, wanting to know more information about Mr Berry. It transpired that on more than one occasion the police had found him re-entering the cinema when he should have been on his bus to Old Sodbury, but naturally he had told them he was the manager making checks and locking up.
The detectives asked me why the man was in the cinema so late and I said I didn't know, but then told them about the time I had found him in my cash desk late at night.
The police then asked me to contact them if I heard anything else about his movements. Well, I found out quite a bit. He was planning to go to Weymouth and that he was taking a large black box. He was then planning to go to Reading and it was here that the police arrested him.
Now, I don't know the full details of everything that happened to him, but I was told that the night I walked in on him I had nearly caught him making a transmission to Germany and that he had been using a trasmitter kept in the roof of the cinema. Whether this was what was in his black box or not I don't know - and I never found out why he had those curtains! - but we later learned he had been responsible for the bombing of Parnell's Aircraft Factory in 1941.

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