Alan Pollock
 

Been discussed on here many times before chaps, but FYI: RAF veteran pilot, 82, relives the split-second decision he made to fly through a busy Tower Bridge | Daily Mail Online

I was working at Barclays Bank Millbank on that morning and was on a break so was able to dash outside to see what caused the considerable noise (it really was that loud). Although the building is by the Thames it is surrounded by trees so no machine was visible just the low level sound as you would get at an air show. It certainly made the papers that evening and the TV reported it but without any real images of the event as the 'Tower Bridge' bit had not been pre planned or any media notified in advanced. Air Traffic at Biggin Hill were called (civvy by then) and they called a couple of the fighter bases to the north east of London to be told by one of them ' Oh he's done it then !!!' .
I believe he was also involved with the original Yellow Gnat team at Valley as led by Lee Jones,so its a shame that the 'Bridge day' finished his career; but he made his point and paid for it.

Indeed, I've just been reading the article. I wrote about the incident in the book 'Fading Eagle' I can't recall how long and haven't got a copy immediately to hand to cross reference, however, it took something like 12 hours to take down his formal witness statement. Part of the way through, the investigating officer asked Pollock if he objected to a recess as he had got cramp in his writing hand and did he mind if someone else took over copying his statement for a while. He didn't just fly through the spars of Tower Bridge but paid unannounced flying visits to Lakenheath and I think Marham as well before beating up the Squadron HQ of 54 Sqn at West Raynham. 54 being the other close support unit at the base, also kitted out with Hunter FGA9.:ok:

FB:)

The CI at Valley, Wg Cdr Bill Edwards AFC, and Lee Jones both offered Alan the No.3 position with No.4 FTS aerobatic team. He had flown a few fly-off practices with the 'team' in April 1964 but, as he was already Flight Commander on the new Gnat squadron and had recently won that season's singleton aerobatic display commitment, continuing as No.3 was not considered possible. He would occasionally use a yellow-painted Gnat aircarft for his displays and once earned the displeasure of Gerry Ranscombe when he was involved in a landing accident at Yeovilton after a show in June 1964. the aircraft - XR983 - was fortunately undamaged.

I feel it is only appropriate to mention here that Alan has been a true stalwart along with the late Tim Webb of the Hunter tribe. Despite his ailing health he has kept up a constant stream of "Information" regarding the health and otherwise of the 3000+ pilots who became operational on one mark of the hunter or another. Not an inconsiderable undertaking by any stretch of the imagination.

Subsidiary to the above Alan also for many years had an active role in the affairs of No's 1, 26 and 43 Squadron "old boys" associations. Not to forget his very active role in getting the war widows pensions sorted out and several other political adventure's.

In my opinion if anyone deserved a gong for all his good work it is Alan. How about petitioning to get him an OBE as a minimum?:)

I'll sign it!:ok:

FB:)

Wonderful story. :D

A petition to get somebody an OBE isn't the way - what you'd actually be doing is petitioning for somebody else to do your staff work for you. You'll need to make a nomination:

Nominate someone for an honour or award

It would be interesting to know if Alan Pollock had originally wished to continue flying in civil aviation but his deed dissuaded airlines/insurance underwriters.
At the time I was driving bulk raw sugar tippers - on extended leave between AFTS & OCU (Didn't let on to the RAF :E)

Post #2 almost makes the statement about his "split second decision" sound like a complete fabrication.

Thank God the cowboy element has largely been eradicated from the Service 50 years later.

How do you mean?

FB:confused:

You complete t****pot Camelspyder, if you understood why Al performed this deed then you might understand why people like you have wrung the guts out of a fighting force to the extent that it doesn't have the b*lls to stand up and be counted for something it believes is wrong today.

You might have great FS statistics, but then again you don't have to fly and fight an aircraft.. just push buttons and let it do it for you.

Scr*t

I suspect views on this will be polarised. I'll leave it at that because I'm just not in the mood...

Oh come on TOFO old plum climb down off the perimeter fence and gives both barrels full of you opinion!:ok:

FB:)

A legend in his own (mess) lunch time. Chip on the shoulder-so under the bridge he flew (easy feat). No judgement - so sod off and disappear into history. The big picture doesn't endorse stupidity.

cvg2iln,

To be honest, I don't think it is quite so easy to sit in judgement and find one way or t'other, is all that simple where Alan Pollock is concerned. Your absolutely right, he shouldn't have broken away from his formation, much less tried to dragoon the rest of the pilots on the Tangmere detachment to do the houses of parliament as I believe he proposed the night before. However, that he did what he did, while the grown ups could never condone it (he knew that) he seems to have genuinely believed that the kind of country we were becoming, indeed become, was utterly indifferent to the oldest independent air force, theirs, reaching its milestone Golden Jubilee. One particular Jaguar pilot many years later described occasions here he had acted with a certain degree of unrestrained song and fire and other aircrew have told me of their own, albeit more borderline moments of excess, but as the Jag chap said when he stood before his Station Commander his excuse was to describe his own actions as born of fighting spirit. I doubt if the CO suddenly snapped his fingers and said 'darn yes of course!' but the point is, just who do we really want strapping into the cockpit when the RAF has to confront a more demanding situation, a war for national survival? I'd take the Alan Pollocks and the Jag pilot anytime.

FB

I was an 18 year old Pilot Officer amending AP129 in Ops Wg HQ at Little Rissington when Al made his point. Now I’m 68, retired after flying 5000 hrs in RAF fast jets. Never flew under Tower Bridge but did a few runs down the Mall on State occasions and it still makes me extraordinarily proud to have been a small part of it all.

Al. wrote an article "Why I Flew my Hunter Through Tower Bridge - 5th April 1968" for "Flypast" magazine.

His article can be read here:
Jever Steam Laundry - 4 Sqn personnel Pollock 004

I love the Jever Steam Laundry site. Fascinating insight into that time and the people involved. Well worth a peep.

Mine was social :O rather than aviation related.
CO: "Jolly good show! If I was your age that's exactly what I'd be doing!"

Phew!!

That increasingly and deservedly used phrase ----

"The knowledge of everything, and the understanding of very little"

At that time I was a S.A.C. employed at the control tower at R.A.F. Marham. and specifically
in Marham Monitors where we filtered RT calls through to the Approach Room. Flt.Lt Pollock's RT was 'Marham Approach and his call sign'. I asked what was his position and he replied 'Pretty Close' and then I asked Altitude? (maybe I said height ) - 'Pretty Low'. He then flew along the centre line of RW 24/06 at about 30 feet (evidence from Corporal in the RW Caravan) before climbing and turning right downwind to West Raynham. (Apparently Marham was not the only airfield he 'buzzed en route back to West Raynham )I believe he subsequently returned to Marham where he was held under arrest for a couple of weeks, probably to keep away from any press.
Just about everyone in the RAF made a resounding 'YES' when told of his Tower Bridge fly through.


Also at the time he crossed Marham, the traffic lights from the Burma Road across the 24 threshold and on to the taxiway were at green and the Local Controller was returning from lunch as Flt.Lt.Pollock simultaneously crossed 24 threshold. The Local Controller was an elderly Flt. Sgt. and had to sit in a darkened room for the rest of the afternoon.

5aday

POLLOCK, ALAN (ORAL HISTORY)

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80027439

At fifty two years old, a serviceman of 25 years service, shot at in two operational tours with no way of responding, hearing a fellow colleugues death rites being stated as a T1 message over the radio net (wondering if the people under his command are safe), hearing the hero worship of a career Flt Lt (as stated in the last post) for a bazern disregard for his actual professional position that he was paid to carry out in equipment he had not legal right to do what he was doing. Unprofessional.. Taking him straight out of the remit of the FIRST WORD of the title of this FORUM.

AR,

For the 11 years prior to his great moment on 5th April 1968, I don't believe Flt Lt Pollock had his professionalism called into question, if it ever was, then it was clearly quickly dismissed for some reason or other. Otherwise, I doubt he would have been selected to fly further tours on the Hunter and in the ground attack role as well. Fast and low. He also appears to have been held in sufficient regard to be let loose as one of the early instructors on the Folland Gnat. I understand the latter wasn't quite an easy aeroplane to master given its swept wing. Professionalism also means demonstrating supreme ability as well as just doing as your damn well told all the time. The Marine Sergeant who shot the dying insurgent, he wasn't at all unprofessional, he suffered, as Alan Pollock did, a momentary (afford that any length of time you like) lapse of judgement. But unprofessional, certainly not. To match either of these chaps in their relevant field would be a tall order for anyone, even those who have walked in their shoes, occasionally.

Best Regards,

FB

I have just been sent this extract, which was apparently from the Daily Mail:

Now 82 and living in retirement with his wife Patricia in Surrey, the man who shot Tower Bridge insisted this week that the events that followed his low-level run down the Thames on that gorgeous spring morning all those years ago came as something of a surprise even to himself.

“Shooting the bridge was a spur-of-the-moment thing,” maintains Pollock, who had been among the RAF pilots who bombed the stricken oil tanker Torrey Canyon with napalm at a height of around 50 feet off Lands End in March 1967.

“Any fighter pilot used to attacking targets would have been intrigued by what lay in front of him. It was such an unusual situation – your brain is working so fast.”

In 1982 he was fully exonerated of any wrongdoing for his actions on April 5, 1968.

And any bitterness he may have felt on his departure from the RAF may have been eased by over one hundred letters of support he subsequently received from the public.

"What on earth is the matter with the youth of today ?” spluttered retired Squadron Leader G Plinston in a letter to a flight magazine. “In my day we used to fly whole squadrons of aeroplanes through bridges.

“At Rouen, all of No. 1 Squadron Hurricanes flew under the transporter bridge one behind the other."

In RAF circles, you suspect a number of G&T's will be raised to Alan Pollock today...

I wasn’t going to contribute to this thread but have now changed my mind as a direct result of some of the posts on here.

I was on 1 Squadron at West Raynham on my first tour when Al was there and, in fact, he was my flight commander for some of that time. I was actually in Gibraltar on detachment at the time he flew though Tower Bridge.

To address the somewhat derogatory use of the term “career flight lieutenant” first. In those days flight lieutenants commanded flights, squadron leaders commanded squadrons and wing commanders commanded wings. Some of the people I have known in my 45 plus years of service (37 years full time service and 8 and a half years as a full time reserve) provided invaluable lifetime service to Queen and country and retired as flight lieutenants. I have nothing but respect for the vast majority of those people and have no problem with the fact that they were “career flight lieutenants”. Not everybody can be air rank or the RAF wouldn't work! Furthermore, Al was 32 years old so was hardly "passed over" in those days!

Al Pollock was a very good flight commander and was highly respected on the Squadron. The fact that he had a rush of blood to the head with an aberration most certainly does not detract from all his previous excellent service to the extent that it seems to have been assumed - by some - that he must have been generally unprofessional. Nothing could be further from the truth in my opinion.

Furthermore, from the time that he was made to leave the RAF until right up to today, he has continued to provide an invaluable service to those who have served. He has spent an inordinate amount of his own time, unasked, unpaid and generally unthanked, in keeping everyone who flew the Hunter informed of events, happenings, births, deaths and marriages et al. This despite the fact that he has been unwell himself in the last few years and has struggled to maintain such an excellent service.

I wish I could say that I have never had any “aberrations”, as I must conclude that some posters on here have been so “professional” that they have never made a mistake or an error of judgement throughout their careers, and therefore think that anyone who has must be unprofessional.

All I know is Al Pollock was, in my view, highly professional for 99.95 percent of his career and even with his very publicly noted one “bad decision” he still maintains the respect and friendship of the very vast majority of everyone who knew him, even if some of those who have never known him wish to judge him as otherwise.

Game set and match
 

Well said W-Gan Nice to hear it from the 'coal face'; I suspect many out there would have liked to have done it, but Al made a decision, did the business, and took it on the chin; I thought the RAF was built on that sort of spirit.

Spot on Roj!!

Great post Roj! 👍

Nail, head, hit Roj.


The chap can be summed up by two questions.


Should he have done it.......no.


Are we all in awe that he did it........yes.


I believe there is a painting that shows the only casualty of the event, a chap that fell off his bike ending up with put a hole in the knee of his trousers. I dare say that the occupants of the top deck of the bus also had some damage to their trousers too. It must have been one heck of a sight.

Just noticed on the Tube a poster for the Tower Bridge Museum ( I didn't know it existed) headlined "Daredevil Pilot & Flying Buses".... It can only refer to Al. Not sure about "daredevil" - more like "consummate FJ jockey", but that does not get the attention of Joe Public I guess.....

You can get the image branded on lots of stuff these days.

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/...ary-eason.html

At least one thing came out of it, he made the Country aware of the day, and it is still remembered today 50 years later, you can't say that of many anniversaries, and probably few things about the Government of the day.