Shot on 16 mm Kodachrome, this film was made by South Shields-born amateur filmmaker Richard ‘Dickie’ Annand (1914-2004). Son of a Lieutenant-Commander, Annand was educated at Pocklington School, East Yorkshire whereupon leaving he worked at the National Provincial Bank at South Shields, Rugby and London before embarking on a career in the military in 1933. Annand initially joined the Tyne Division of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve as a midshipman, then was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant in...

Shot on 16 mm Kodachrome, this film was made by South Shields-born amateur filmmaker Richard ‘Dickie’ Annand (1914-2004). Son of a Lieutenant-Commander, Annand was educated at Pocklington School, East Yorkshire whereupon leaving he worked at the National Provincial Bank at South Shields, Rugby and London before embarking on a career in the military in 1933. Annand initially joined the Tyne Division of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve as a midshipman, then was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant in 1936. He was commissioned into the Supplementary Reserve of Officers as a Second Lieutenant of the Durham Light Infantry in 1938 and was promoted to Captain ten years later in 1948. Annand relinquished this commission later that year due to disability but retained the rank of Captain.

Upon retirement and because of the injuries sustained during World War II, Annand became involved in helping disabled people, particularly those like himself who had hearing difficulties, and was a founder member of the British Association for the Hard of Hearing. He also helped found the Durham County Association for the Disabled.

Annand was 25 years old when he was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1940, the first awarded to a member of the British Army in World War II. Annand became known as the Wheelbarrow VC as he returned to enemy lines to retrieve his wounded batman and used a wheelbarrow to carry him to safety before collapsing due to his own injuries. Prior to that he ran across open ground three times to attack a German party on a bridge with hand grenades. Annand passed away in Durham at the age of 90 on 24 December 2004. Both his service uniform and Victoria Cross are on display in the Durham Light Infantry Museum. (1)

The introduction of 16mm film in 1923 opened up the world of filmmaking for the first time to non-professionals and was popular for non-theatrical productions (for instance, industrial and educational films). Eastman Kodak first developed this film format and pioneered accessible and affordable film technology during the early 20th century. Kodak had vastly improved the safety of its products too, with new-fire resistant acetate rolls of film meaning that amateur filmmakers could enjoy a cigarette whilst projecting their home movies without fear of causing an inferno. (4, 5)

By the mid-1930s, a German observer estimated that the British amateur cine scene had around 250,000 hobby filmmakers and about 3000 to 4000 of those people was a member of an amateur cine club; the home movie craze had taken hold of Britain. By 1965, amateur film equipment had become increasingly smaller, lighter, cheaper and easier to use, leading to increased popularity of home movie making and screening.

This film, rescued from a skip by cinema historian David Williams, documents the work done at Finchale Abbey vocational training centre for disabled adults, at Pity Me near Durham, where Annand worked from 1948. Finchale was established as a specialist centre for disabled adults when the prior hotel was transformed in 1943 to provide support for injured ex-servicemen returning home from active service during the Second World War. Richard Annand served as Personnel Officer for the centre for 30 years. (2)

The building gained small scale fame after it was transformed into a 1970s police station for popular TV show Inspector George Gently (2007-2017). The building was targeted for demolition (in 2018) to make way for a housing estate developed by the Finchale charity. The charity planned to move to a newly built office on the Belmont Industrial Estate in Durham to make way for the proposed 100 houses. (3)

References:

(1) Richard Annand - http://www.lightinfantry.me.uk/vcrannand.htm

(2) Captain Richard Annand, VC - https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/jan/17/guardianobituaries.secondworldwar

(3) Plans to demolish 1940s college for housing estate move forward - https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/16365950.plans-to-demolish-1940s-college-for-housing-estate-move-forward/

(4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16_mm_film

(5) The dangers of cellulose nitrate film http://www.hse.gov.uk/PuBns/indg469.pdf