This site is dedicated to the Men and
Ladies of the
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This site is dedicated to the Men and
Ladies of the |
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Ken Rawlinson writes " Sir, Ref your request for articles stories etc, memories of the Campaign in Burma with the the 14th Army may I submit the enclosed material. of yet another perhaps forgotten unit which did sterling work trying to keep morale high. I refer to the C.K.S. (combined kinema section) which sent Mobile cinema Units all over SEAC. I joined this organisation in 1944 when I became medically unfit to drive tanks in action. After some training as a cinema projectionist in Calcutta was sent back into Burma with a mobile cinema unit consisting of a 15 cwt Bedford truck complete with generator, two 16mm projectors and a supply of films to entertain the various units. I had a member of the IAOC a naik (lance corporal) as assistant operator. We toured most of Burma Imphal Kohima Kalewa Myitkyina Mandalay and finally to Rangoon following the 14th army. It was in Rangoon I was promoted to WO1 and became second i/c No1 Kinema Coy CKS despatching units even further afield into SEAC. We gave shows to large & small audiences, we showed both English and Indian films perhaps travelling 100 miles plus to do so with the proud boast of getting to and finding the unit on time, the terrain and monsoon sometimes making this a little difficult. We even gave shows within the sound of gunfire both of ours and of the Japs. It certainly was an adventure for a lad of 22 yrs and much more enjoyable than the scrapping of the previous year in Burma. Enclosed is a copy of a letter sent to my parents during this time describing an ordinary 'day in the life of' ' a mobile cinema operator in Burma with the 14th army. Of course there were more exciting and less mundane days but that is another story. Ken Rawlinson Ex WO1 No1 Kinema Coy CKS India. Click Here for Ken's letter to his parents Click Here to read 'A Wartime Experience' written by Ken Ken can be contacted via steve.rawlinson@unn.ac.uk |
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