Grounded, he never lost his love of aviation or deep respect for the aircrews who played such a vital role in that defiant defence of “this sceptr’d isle” in the summer of 1940. Then he tipped his wings to the War Memorials, buzzed the House of Commons with a mini-sonic boom (they were on their feet talking about aircraft noise at the time) – because he felt that “they should be reminded that we had an Air Force” – and then, on sighting Tower Bridge, realized it made a deliciously attractive target to fly through, the act of which became legendary. And so, on that fateful day, he peeled off from his flight, pretended to have lost comms, and took his Hunter jet along the Thames. Alan Pollock felt that something should be done to mark this anniversary.
( The 100 th Anniversary was rather different ).įlt.
There were no concerts in the Royal Albert Hall, no commemorations for the 38,462 RAF aircrew killed in the Second World War – or those lost before or after. April 1 st, 1968, marked the 50 th Anniversary of the Royal Air Force who were given half a day off to mark it – but most of them, recalls Pollock “didn’t even know why”.