Building up a picture of cinema's war time past

Rowley Regis-born university academic John Goodyear is researching the history of military theatre and cinema The Globe.

It was built on the site of the Oldenburg-Donnerschwee barracks in 1954 and was inspired by the creation of the first Globe at Gobowen, Shropshire, in 1916 and other venues that followed.

Dr Goodyear, a lecturer in English as a Modern Foreign Language at the University of Birmingham, is now renewing his appeal for people who were stationed in Oldenburg while completing National Service in the 1950s.

After conscription they would have attended a medical at premises in Broad Street, Birmingham before travelling to Oswestry to undergo intensive training.

They were then given leave before some were sent to the barracks in Oldenburg and others to Wales.

Dr Goodyear has so far interviewed around 30 former personnel from across the country but is keen to gather more memories of the theatre in order to publish a book about its rich past.

The Globe in Oldenburg, which has listed building status, has an auditorium seating 400 people and facilities to operate as a theatre or cinema.

There were once 66 of these British military theatres in Germany and this is the last of its kind in the country.

Dr Goodyear has been able to start building up a picture about the Globe's past thanks to interviews with soldiers that were stationed there.

This has included details about the genres of films screened at the venue and also how it operated.

"It was very much a British offering of films and what would have been popular at home at the time like cowboy, Elvis Presley and war films.

"There were public Globes over here at the time up and down the country. For many personnel who were 17, 18 or 19, it was the first they had been abroad and away from home. So the Globe was a reminder of home.

"The British has three years to enjoy these films before the building was handed over to German forces. It was then used as cinema and a local theatre but not to the same extent as it was by the British.

"They screened films every single night and often two times a night. The films were changed on an almost daily basis.

"A programme I found from 1956 shows there was a new film every other night.

"It was a huge operation," said Dr Goodyear.

Work to restore the building, which was taken over by the Bundeswehr in the late 1950s after Germany became part of NATO is due to start by the end of a year thanks to a successful fundraising campaign.

"The Globe Trust is just 60,000 euros away from its target to fully fund the building and renovation work. This is a remarkable achievement, especially considering that it started off as a voluntary community project, using fundraising and crowdfunding. Now, major sponsors have been found, both locally and also nationally in Germany, including the “Bund”, the federal government in Berlin," said Dr Goodyear.

But the project did suffer a setback when demolition work on a neighbouring building caused some unforeseen damage to the Globe when part of the former sports hall collapsed and damaged the side wall.

"Luckily, nobody was injured, but it has left a hole in the Globe, one that will need to be repaired. This means that the building work will take longer and it has pushed back the opening date of the Globe to autumn 2021, at the earliest," he said.

Dr Goodyear hopes to publish his book in time to coincide with the opening of the venue.

"Given the interviews and new insights as well as latest research more broadly into British army entertainment history, there is a considerable body of information that I have now collected, which forms a very strong basis for the book. It is my plan to start the writing process over Christmas. A publisher in Oldenburg has already expressed interest in publishing the book," he said.

Former National Service personnel who served in Oldenburg and would like to contact Dr Goodyear can call 0121 414 7503 or email J.Goodyear@bham.ac.uk