Pollard, M. E.: my Air Force recollections (April 24, 1973)

Interviewer: Roy, Reginald H.

An interview/narrative of M. E. Pollard's recollections of Major-General Pearkes. Lieutenant-General Pollard served with the Royal Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Interview took place on April 24 and May 15, 1973.

Rank: Lieutenant-General.

Interviewee: Pollard, M. E.

ABSTRACT: Lt-Gen. M.E. Pollard, 24 April 1973. 22pp. Pollard joined the Royal Air Force in 1938. Transferred to the R.C.A.F. in Nov. 1944. Acted as Forward Bomber Control Officer for the 1st Cdn. Army in Europe. Describes service with the 1st Cdn. Air Division with the NATO forces and their use and problems. Tactical nuclear weapons, political constraint. Canadians were very highly trained, and it showed! Comments on the Bomarc B nuclear missiles. Feels that equipment roles often confused because of the perceived morality of using nuclear weapons in differing situations. Our CF 104's were only really capable in the nuclear role. Problems of command/NATO. Lt-Gen. M.E. Pollard, 15 May 1973. 33pp. Tactical theory of air warfare. Influence of Americans. Bomarc sites in Canada. The Bomarc B was a fairly accurate weapon. Tactical use under Canadian command. A relatively inexpensive defence system. The Sage radar system, Canadian designed and very good. Political discussion of the Bomarc. They did keep the battle area well to the North, better than fighter aircraft could. Comments on some of the politics.

In Collection:

• Canadian Military Oral Histories

Contributor

• Roy, Reginald H.
• Pollard, M. E.

Subject

• Military history
• Pearkes, G. R. (George Randolph), 1888-1984
• Canada. Royal Canadian Air Force

Language

• eng

Date created

• April 24, 1973

Relation

• Part of the Social Sciences Research Centre collection of interviews.

Resource type

• Sound

Rights statement

• In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Extent

• 4 sound recordings (MP3)

Geographic coverage

• Europe

Coordinates

• 48.69096, 9.14062

Additional physical characteristics

• Two original sound tape reels (ca. 2 hours, 35 min.) : 1 7/8 ips, 2 track, mono. ; 2 sound cassette copies : standard, mono. in Special Collections.

Physical repository

• University of Victoria (B.C.). Library

Collection

• Canadian Military Oral History Collection

Provider

• University of Victoria (B.C.). Library

Genre

• sound recordings
• interviews
• reminiscences
• oral histories (literary genre)

Archival item identifier

• PME_240

Fonds title

• Reginald Herbert Roy fonds

Fonds identifier

• SC104

Is referenced by

• Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/reginald-herbert-roy-fonds

Date digitized

• June 21, 2011

Technical note

• Digital sound recording in .wav format at 16 bits and 44 kHz. In .mp3 format at 56 kbps and 24 kHz. Digitized by JF, technical and cataloguing metadata provided by JF and JP. Transferred from audio reel to audio cassette between 1987-1997. Interview migrated to digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2011. Migration metadata by KD and MT.

Rights

• This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca

DOI

•  https://doi.org/10.58066/x2wd-c042

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