17 July 2025
Flight Lieutenant Alan Pollock was something of a family legend. A second cousin (I believe) of my dad, he died on 1 July aged 89.
He was something of an RAF legend; gaining national notoriety in 1968 when, following the failure of the government to recognise the 50th anniversary of the founding of the RAF, he flew his Hawker Hunter jet fighter past the Houses of Parliament at very low level before departing along the River Thames and flying “through” Tower Bridge.
On April 4 he had flown with four other squadron pilots to the fighter airfield at Tangmere near Chichester to attend a formal celebration. The following morning, after what he recalled as “a good party”, the five Hunters took off to return to West Raynham. Feigning a radio failure, Pollock managed to slip away unnoticed as the others headed for their home base.
He set course for London, avoiding civil air routes. “With the anniversary week coming to a close, I concluded that at least one celebration flag-wave across the Houses of Parliament, Downing Street, the Ministry of Defence and, most of all, the RAF Memorial that day was quite in order,” he recalled. “In our young Air Force, we had always been taught that an ounce of timely action and initiative was worth whole weighty volumes of passive, pompous pontification.”
After a low pass over the airfield at Dunsfold in Surrey, the home of the Hunter, he headed for central London. He swept round over Battersea and Vauxhall bridges towards the Houses of Parliament, where he opened the engine throttle to “wake up our MPs and remind other august figures, sitting chairbound at their ministerial desks below, that we still had a fighting Air Force, one small unit of which was celebrating its anniversary, despite the dead hand of the government policy.”
He then set off eastwards along the Thames, dipping his wings as he passed the memorial to the RAF’s founder, Viscount Trenchard, when Tower Bridge loomed ahead. A skilful low-level pilot, he lined up the bridge and flew through the towers as the startled traffic crossed the river beneath him. He then turned north to head for his base, paying appropriate low-level visits to military airfields en route to West Raynham.
The RAF decided not to court-martial him, with the inevitable publicity this would create. It was deemed more appropriate, and convenient, if he were medically discharged from the service.
https://youtu.be/_m9CcvPczcY
He received many letters of support, including some from those in the sister services. One letter to the national press summed up the feelings of many when the correspondent wrote: “Good luck to the pilot. I would rather trust the defence of the country to a handful of his type than to a great number of the timids.”
Before his Tower Bridge flight, he thrilled air-show crowds with his inverted flying along the runway at low level. “No one got lower, or faster,” one colleague observed.
Pollock maintained a deep love of – and unwavering commitment to – the history and traditions of the RAF. He was a devoted member of the RAF Historical Society, regularly contributing to the discussions at the twice-yearly seminars.
He worked tirelessly for service charities, and established the “They Were There” project to raise money for war widows when he discovered how little they received each week. He gathered more than 300 signatures of men and women involved in the Second World War which now surround a poignant print edition of the painting Battle of Britain VC by Robert Taylor, which captures the moment when James Nicolson, the only member of Fighter Command to receive a Victoria Cross, escaped from his Hawker Hurricane on August 16 1940.
To produce this unique piece, Pollock spent thousands of hours travelling 80,000 miles to track down people whose contribution to the Second World War gave us the freedoms we enjoy today. Not only did he gather their autographs but also their stories and memories, which he recorded for posterity.
His charitable work included raising money for Mencap and the establishment of the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum in West Sussex. For several years, he maintained a register of ex-Hunter pilots, keeping them informed of news of their colleagues through his Light Blue Newsletters.
Pollock was interested in skiing, motorcycling, mountaineering, languages (he spoke German, Russian and Arabic and was a keen student of Latin) and ornithology. He was a co-author of RAF Little Rissington: The Central Flying Years (2006).
In many respects, Alan Pollock came from a different age. Intensely loyal and patriotic, he was greatly admired by his colleagues.
His wife Trish survives him with their two sons and two daughters.
Flt-Lt Alan Pollock, born March 13 1936, died July 1 2025 – blue skies, Alan
1 April 2025
The 7.7-magnitude earthquake that hit central Myanmar on Friday has caused widespread destruction, killing more than 2,700 people and leaving affected areas in dire need of basic necessities such as food and water.
Two Australia-based doctors helping coordinate the emergency response at the epicentre in Mandalay and Sagaing have accused the junta of blocking supplies of emergency aid.
15 January 2025
I have never known Chiang Mai to be this consistently cold.
Sure – it is 10am I am am sitting at home with the doors open while wearing shorts but that is just habit !
21 January 2025
Yesterday was the second inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the USA.
He hit the ground running with some 200 executive orders seeking to make good on his campaign promises to pardon January 6 defendants, crack down on immigration to the US, deny federal recognition of transgender identities and undo Joe Biden’s executive actions.
Trump signed multiple executive orders in front of a crowd of his supporters at the Capital One Arena in DC and then signed more during a press conference in the Oval Office. Among other actions, Trump has:
Pardoned about 1,500 January 6 defendants facing prosecution for their role in the 2021 storming of the US capitol. Among those pardoned is Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison on seditious conspiracy charges. Trump also commuted the sentence of Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers militia, who had been sentenced to 18 years in prison on sedition charges.
Issued an executive order requiring federal agencies revoke the use of “gender” and “gender identity” and instead use a binary definition of “sex” in implementing policy – including in issuing passports, a move that LGBTQ+ rights groups have vowed to challenge in court.
Signed an executive order seeking to revoke birthright citizenship – automatic citizenship for people born in the US – for the children of undocumented immigrants. Birthright citizenship is protected by the 14th amendment and the order will almost certainly be challenged in court.
Rescinded 78 executive actions enacted by Joe Biden.
Signed an executive order to, for a second time, withdraw the US from the Paris climate accords.
Issued an executive order to remove the US from the World Health Organization (WHO). “World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen any more,” Trump said at the signing. The withdrawal of the US would dramatically cut funding from the global public health organization.
Donald Trump has signed an order to rename the 617,800 sq mile Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s 20,000ft Denali. The Gulf of Mexico will be renamed the Gulf of America, and Denali, the highest mountain in North America, will revert to Mount McKinley, which it was called before Barack Obama changed the name in 2015. The order will have no bearing on what names are used internationally.
18 Feb 2025
Thailand’s birth rate has dropped below 500,000 for the first time in 75 years, with only 461,421 births in 2024. This decline could shrink the population by 25 million in 50 years, leading to a labor shortage, changing family structures, and increased social isolation. Schools and universities may face closures or downsizing due to fewer students, while industries struggle with a shrinking workforce. With a Total Fertility Rate of just 1.0—lower than Japan’s 1.2—the government is pushing policies to encourage childbirth and sustain national development.