The Hawker Hunter is a fighter jet developed by Hawker Aircraft for the RAF during the
1950's. Initially introduced as an interceptor aircraft, intended to defend against attacking
bombers, the Hunter moved to a ground attack role in later years, noted for its exceptional
performance. It saw combat service in a range of conflicts such as the Suez Crisis, the
Six-Day War, the Rhodesian Bush War and more. It's safe to say then that you probably wouldn't
want one of your pilots to go rogue and fly this thing into the capital city unauthorised.
But in 1968 in London, that's exactly what happened.
Flight Lieutenant Alan Pollock was born in 1936 and had grown up in awe of Britain's
Royal Air Force and the pilots who fought in World War II. It was only natural then
that he himself became an RAF pilot, and an exceptional one at that, being a flight commander
in the RAF's Number 1 Squadron. However, by the 60's, the RAF was experiencing
somewhat of a decline from its former glory days. Pollock was a vocal critic of the RAF's
fighting effectiveness, and blamed the government for defence cuts and a general apathy towards
the nation's airforce. April 1968 marked the 50th anniversary of
the founding of the RAF and Pollock was disappointed there wasn't much planned in the way of celebration
- there wasn't even going to be an aerial display. A lot of people, even within the
RAF, didn't even know the 50th anniversary was occuring, which seems a bit of a shame
given the RAF's illustrious history. And so, Alan Pollock decided if the government
wasn't going to celebrate the anniversary, he would just have to do it himself, with
an act of protest against them. On the 5th of April 1968, members of Number 1 Squadron,
including Pollock, were returning to RAF West Raynham from RAF Tangmere, after attending
a dinner at the base. It was during this return Pollock had planned to act.
Hopping in his Hawker Hunter, Pollock took off with four others, though he would need
to lose them to carry out his plan. He gradually broke off from other jets, before flying low
so that his camouflage would hide him against the countryside. He used speechless code to
transmit a message to the formation leader - claiming he had lost visual contact and
his radio had malfunctioned. He then made his way to London.
On his journey he came across Dunsfold Aerodrome, the site Hawker Aircraft used for developing
the Hunter. After keeping an eye out for any other air traffic, Pollock swooped low over
the airfield to pay them a brief Anniversary visit.
Not long after, Pollock was following the river Thames and arrived in London around
noon. The weather was beautiful and Pollock enjoyed the view as he flew in low. Soon he
spied his main target - the Houses of Parliament. Up to now, Pollock had kept his speed and
thereby his noise low, to avoid disrupting London's citizens. But now, he had decided
to open up the throttle, and let the government know they still had a fighting airforce. Pollock
circled the Houses of Parliament three times, interrupting a debate as the noise of the
craft rattled the windows. He then flew back over the Thames to enjoy
his idyllic cruise, dipping his wings in a show of respect as he passed the RAF memorial.
Once again he admired the view as he travelled downriver. That was until his thoughts were
interrupted by something he had not planned for.
"Until this very instant I'd had absolutely no idea that, of course, Tower Bridge would
be there. It was easy enough to fly over it, but the idea of flying through the spans suddenly
struck me. I had just ten seconds to grapple with the seductive proposition which few ground
attack pilots of any nationality could have resisted. My brain started racing to reach
a decision. Years of fast low level strike flying made the decision simple."
Alan Pollock flew his Hawker Hunter through the bridge at around 400 miles per hour, making
him the first and only pilot to do so with a jet. No images or footage exist of the incident
so here's a nice mockup. I imagine it probably gave the pedestrians quite a fright.
Pollock then flew low across several more airfields as he made his way back to RAF West
Raynham, where he performed an inverted run over the squadron hangars before landing,
marking an end to his anniversary tribute display. He was then arrested.
Alan Pollock could have been court martialed for his act of protest, but this was regarded
as an unfavourable decision. He would obviously make his reasons for the flight known in his
defence, and it would have been an embarrassment for the government and the RAF to not only
publicly acknowledge they hadn't properly marked the 50th Anniversary, but to then take
action against a pilot who tried to bring attention to it.
Instead, they quietly invalided him out of the RAF on medical grounds. Pollock went public
with the story anyways, and received an outpouring of support from the general public as well
as members of Britain's military. He was officially exonerated by the RAF in 1982.
And that's the story of an RAF pilot's public act of protest. Pollock has said at the time
he thought for a second his tail fin was about to collide with the top span of the bridge.
That would certainly have made for a very different story, but on this channel we cover
all manner of stories, like the former soldier who stole a tank and took it on a rampage.
If you'd like to hear more of these stories you should subscribe so you'll see new ones
in the future. Thanks.