Hugh Pollard (Major)
Encyclopedia
Major Hugh Bertie Campbell Pollard (6 January 1888 – March 1966) was an author, firearms expert, and a British
SOE
officer. He is chiefly known for his intelligence work during the Irish War of Independence
and for the events of July 1936, when he and his SOE colleague Cecil Bebb
flew General Francisco Franco from the Canary Islands
to Morocco
, thereby helping to trigger the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War
. He was the author of many published works on weaponry, in particular on sporting firearms.
(1919–1921), Pollard was Press Officer of the Information Section of the Royal Irish Constabulary
. Together with the Section secretary, Captain William Darling, he produced the Weekly Summary, an official synopsis of the war in Ireland
. The crudeness of this paper and its obvious intent at deceiving the journalists for whom it was produced 'resulted in much negative publicity for the Crown forces and the Irish Administration
'. He was also directly involved in two particularly bungled attempts at 'black propaganda
'. One was the attempt to produce and distribute a fake version of the Irish Bulletin
, the gazette of the Irish Republicans. The fraud was quickly exposed and the reliability of information emanating from Crown sources in Ireland severely damaged. A second incident involved the bizarre attempt to fake a military engagement in County Kerry
(reported as the 'Battle of Tralee'). The press-release included photographs of the purported scene of the battle. These were republished in a number of Irish and English papers before the actual location was identified as Vico Road in Dalkey
, a quiet seaside Dublin suburb. The entire event had been staged by Pollard and Captain Garro-Jones, a colleague of Major Cecil Street
, and was without foundation. In December 1920 in the House of Commons, the British government was forced to admit that the photographs and a contemporary, (though unreleased) newsreel were fake. Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty
, Pollard recorded his interpretation of the history of Irish nationalist organisations in Secret Societies of Ireland, Their Rise and Progress, which included an apparent defence of sectarian violence and a repetition of some blatant misinformation. One such was the allegation that the Lord Mayor of Cork, Tomás Mac Curtain
had been assassinated by the Irish Republican Brotherhood
, rather than Crown forces.
At 07.15 on the morning of July 11, 1936, Pollard left Croydon airport
, London
, in a de Havilland
Dragon Rapide aircraft, piloted by his friend Cecil Bebb
, and two female companions.
The flight log records that the aircraft was bound for the Canary Islands
. The purpose of the flight was to collect General Franco from the Canaries and fly him to Tetuán in Morocco
, at that time a Spanish colony, where the Spanish African Army was garrisoned.
The Madrid government recognized that Franco was a danger to the Spanish Republic, and had sent him to the Canaries in order to keep him away from political intrigue. Had a Spanish
plane flown to the islands, the authorities would likely have been alerted, but the British aircraft attracted little or no attention. Pollard, Bebb and Franco arrived in Tetuan on July 19 and the General quickly set about organising Spanish Moroccan troops to participate in the coming coup.
It is possible that British security services may have been complicit in the flight, which was planned over lunch at Simpsons-in-the-Strand, where Douglas Jerrold, the extreme right-wing Editor of the Catholic English Review (and also a British intelligence officer), met with the journalist
Luis Bolín, London correspondent of the ABC Newspaper and later Franco's senior press advisor. Jerrold then persuaded Pollard to join the enterprise, and Pollard in turn recruited Cecil Bebb
as pilot, plus his daughter Diana, and a friend, as "cover".
However it is not clear how much the British government knew or indeed cared about the activities of the secret services in aiding Franco, if they were in fact responsible. Britain remained officially neutral throughout the duration of the Spanish Civil War
.
Pollard's personal SOE
file has recently been released, revealing him to have been an experienced British intelligence officer. When considering Pollard for a place in SOE, one officer wrote: "Certain jobs Pollard apparently could do well, but he was definitely unreliable where money and drink was concerened". He was also a skilled linguist and an expert in firearms, and had a good deal of personal experience of wars and revolutions, such as those in Mexico
and Morocco
. In the 1920s, during the days of the "Black and Tans
", he served In Ireland
as a police adviser in Dublin Castle
.
Pollard listed his hobbies in Who's Who
as "hunting and shooting". He was a much-published expert on firearms, having written the 'small arms' section in the official War Office textbook. His history of the battle of Ypres
is still in print today.
Douglas Jerrold said of him that he "looked and behaved like a German Crown Prince and had a habit of letting off revolvers in any office he happened to visit".
In 1940, once Franco had seized power, Pollard became the MI6 station chief in Madrid
.
References are to Ray Riling
, Guns and Shooting, a Bibliography, New York: Greenberg, 1951.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
SOE
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
officer. He is chiefly known for his intelligence work during the Irish War of Independence
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
and for the events of July 1936, when he and his SOE colleague Cecil Bebb
Cecil Bebb
Captain Cecil Bebb was a British MI6 officer and freelance pilot who flew General Francisco Franco from the Canary Islands to Spanish Morocco in 1936, a journey which was to trigger the onset of the Spanish Civil War.-Events of July 1936:...
flew General Francisco Franco from the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
to Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, thereby helping to trigger the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. He was the author of many published works on weaponry, in particular on sporting firearms.
Ireland
During the Irish War of IndependenceIrish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
(1919–1921), Pollard was Press Officer of the Information Section of the Royal Irish Constabulary
Royal Irish Constabulary
The armed Royal Irish Constabulary was Ireland's major police force for most of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police controlled the capital, and the cities of Derry and Belfast, originally with their own police...
. Together with the Section secretary, Captain William Darling, he produced the Weekly Summary, an official synopsis of the war in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The crudeness of this paper and its obvious intent at deceiving the journalists for whom it was produced 'resulted in much negative publicity for the Crown forces and the Irish Administration
Dublin Castle administration in Ireland
The Dublin Castle administration in Ireland was the government of Ireland under English and later British rule, from the twelfth century until 1922, based at Dublin Castle.-Head:...
'. He was also directly involved in two particularly bungled attempts at 'black propaganda
Black propaganda
Black propaganda is false information and material that purports to be from a source on one side of a conflict, but is actually from the opposing side. It is typically used to vilify, embarrass or misrepresent the enemy...
'. One was the attempt to produce and distribute a fake version of the Irish Bulletin
Irish Bulletin
The Irish Bulletin was the official gazette of the government of the Irish Republic. It was produced by the Department of Propaganda during the Irish War of Independence. and its offices were originally located at No. 6 Harcourt Street, Dublin. The paper's first editor was Desmond FitzGerald,...
, the gazette of the Irish Republicans. The fraud was quickly exposed and the reliability of information emanating from Crown sources in Ireland severely damaged. A second incident involved the bizarre attempt to fake a military engagement in County Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
(reported as the 'Battle of Tralee'). The press-release included photographs of the purported scene of the battle. These were republished in a number of Irish and English papers before the actual location was identified as Vico Road in Dalkey
Dalkey
Dalkey is suburb of Dublin and seaside resort in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement and became an important port during the Middle Ages. According to John Clyn, it was one of the ports through which the plague entered Ireland in the mid-14th century...
, a quiet seaside Dublin suburb. The entire event had been staged by Pollard and Captain Garro-Jones, a colleague of Major Cecil Street
Cecil Street
Cecil John Charles Street, MC, OBE, , known as CJC Street and John Street, began his military career as an artillery officer in the British army. During the course of World War I, he became a propagandist for MI7, in which role he held the rank of Major...
, and was without foundation. In December 1920 in the House of Commons, the British government was forced to admit that the photographs and a contemporary, (though unreleased) newsreel were fake. Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty
Anglo-Irish Treaty
The Anglo-Irish Treaty , officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the secessionist Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of...
, Pollard recorded his interpretation of the history of Irish nationalist organisations in Secret Societies of Ireland, Their Rise and Progress, which included an apparent defence of sectarian violence and a repetition of some blatant misinformation. One such was the allegation that the Lord Mayor of Cork, Tomás Mac Curtain
Tomás Mac Curtain
Tomás Mac Curtain was a Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland. He was elected in January 1920.He was born at Ballyknockane in the Parish of Mourne Abbey in March 1884. He attended Burnfort National School. In 1897 the family moved to Blackpool on the northside of Cork where he attended The North...
had been assassinated by the Irish Republican Brotherhood
Irish Republican Brotherhood
The Irish Republican Brotherhood was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland during the second half of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century...
, rather than Crown forces.
Spain
Croydon Airport
Croydon Airport was an airport in South London which straddled the boundary between what are now the London boroughs of Croydon and Sutton. It was the main airport for London before it was replaced by Northolt Aerodrome, London Heathrow Airport and London Gatwick Airport...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, in a de Havilland
De Havilland
The de Havilland Aircraft Company was a British aviation manufacturer founded in 1920 when Airco, of which Geoffrey de Havilland had been chief designer, was sold to BSA by the owner George Holt Thomas. De Havilland then set up a company under his name in September of that year at Stag Lane...
Dragon Rapide aircraft, piloted by his friend Cecil Bebb
Cecil Bebb
Captain Cecil Bebb was a British MI6 officer and freelance pilot who flew General Francisco Franco from the Canary Islands to Spanish Morocco in 1936, a journey which was to trigger the onset of the Spanish Civil War.-Events of July 1936:...
, and two female companions.
The flight log records that the aircraft was bound for the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
. The purpose of the flight was to collect General Franco from the Canaries and fly him to Tetuán in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, at that time a Spanish colony, where the Spanish African Army was garrisoned.
The Madrid government recognized that Franco was a danger to the Spanish Republic, and had sent him to the Canaries in order to keep him away from political intrigue. Had a Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
plane flown to the islands, the authorities would likely have been alerted, but the British aircraft attracted little or no attention. Pollard, Bebb and Franco arrived in Tetuan on July 19 and the General quickly set about organising Spanish Moroccan troops to participate in the coming coup.
It is possible that British security services may have been complicit in the flight, which was planned over lunch at Simpsons-in-the-Strand, where Douglas Jerrold, the extreme right-wing Editor of the Catholic English Review (and also a British intelligence officer), met with the journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
Luis Bolín, London correspondent of the ABC Newspaper and later Franco's senior press advisor. Jerrold then persuaded Pollard to join the enterprise, and Pollard in turn recruited Cecil Bebb
Cecil Bebb
Captain Cecil Bebb was a British MI6 officer and freelance pilot who flew General Francisco Franco from the Canary Islands to Spanish Morocco in 1936, a journey which was to trigger the onset of the Spanish Civil War.-Events of July 1936:...
as pilot, plus his daughter Diana, and a friend, as "cover".
However it is not clear how much the British government knew or indeed cared about the activities of the secret services in aiding Franco, if they were in fact responsible. Britain remained officially neutral throughout the duration of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
.
Pollard's personal SOE
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
file has recently been released, revealing him to have been an experienced British intelligence officer. When considering Pollard for a place in SOE, one officer wrote: "Certain jobs Pollard apparently could do well, but he was definitely unreliable where money and drink was concerened". He was also a skilled linguist and an expert in firearms, and had a good deal of personal experience of wars and revolutions, such as those in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. In the 1920s, during the days of the "Black and Tans
Black and Tans
The Black and Tans was one of two newly recruited bodies, composed largely of British World War I veterans, employed by the Royal Irish Constabulary as Temporary Constables from 1920 to 1921 to suppress revolution in Ireland...
", he served In Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
as a police adviser in Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle off Dame Street, Dublin, Ireland, was until 1922 the fortified seat of British rule in Ireland, and is now a major Irish government complex. Most of it dates from the 18th century, though a castle has stood on the site since the days of King John, the first Lord of Ireland...
.
Pollard listed his hobbies in Who's Who
Who's Who
Who's Who is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biographical information on a particular group of people...
as "hunting and shooting". He was a much-published expert on firearms, having written the 'small arms' section in the official War Office textbook. His history of the battle of Ypres
Battle of Ypres
There were five Battles of Ypres during World War I:*First Battle of Ypres *Second Battle of Ypres...
is still in print today.
Douglas Jerrold said of him that he "looked and behaved like a German Crown Prince and had a habit of letting off revolvers in any office he happened to visit".
In 1940, once Franco had seized power, Pollard became the MI6 station chief in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
.
Published works
- The Book of the Pistol and Revolver, London, McBride, Nast & Co., 1917. [Riling 1842]
- Automatic Pistols, London, Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, 1920. [Riling 1898]
- Shot-Guns; their history and development, London, Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, 1923. [Riling 1951]
- A History of Firearms, London, Geoffrey Bles, 1926. [Riling 2009]
- The Gun Room Guide, London, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1930. [Riling 2091]
- Game Birds and Game Bird Shooting, Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1936. [Riling 2203]
- The Story of Ypres, at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
also ISBN 978-1103812400 - A Busy Time in Mexico: An Unconventional Record Of a Mexican Incident, Internet Archive also ISBN 978-0217660921
- Fox Hunting - The Mystery Of Scent
- British & American Game-birds, London, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1939
- The Secret Societies of Ireland, Their Rise and Progress Internet Archive (1922)
- Hard Up on Pegasus, by Hugh B C Pollard, London, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1931. ASIN: B0006ALQ7A
- The keeper's book; a guide to the duties of a gamekeeper (1910) with Sir Peter Jeffrey Mackie
References are to Ray Riling
Ray Riling
Raymond "Ray" Riling , a Philadelphia builder and arms collector, was an important arms book collector, dealer, author and publisher from the 1940s into the 1970s....
, Guns and Shooting, a Bibliography, New York: Greenberg, 1951.
External links
- Pollard at Amazon.co.uk Retrieved March 6, 2010
- Article on Pollard at www.cambridge.journals.org Retrieved March 6, 2010
- Article on Bebb and Pollard's flight at randompottins.blogspot Retrieved March 6, 2010