Tom Pollitt
English cricketer and Royal Air Force officer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tom Urquhart Pollitt OBE (14 July 1900 – 13 August 1979) was an English first-class cricketer and Royal Air Force officer. Initially a non-commissioned officer when he joined the Royal Air Force, he later served as a commissioned officer during the Second World War. He also played first-class cricket for the Royal Air Force cricket team.
Ely, Cambridgeshire, England
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Tom Urquhart Pollitt | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 14 July 1900 Farnham, Surrey, England | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 13 August 1979 (aged 79) Ely, Cambridgeshire, England | ||||||||||||||
| Batting | Left-handed | ||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 21 March 2019 | |||||||||||||||
Life and military career
Pollitt enlisted in the Royal Air Force as a non-commissioned officer prior to 1931. He played first-class cricket for the Royal Air Force cricket team against the Army at The Oval in 1931.[1] Batting twice in the match as an opening batsman, he was dismissed for 6 runs in the Royal Air Force first-innings by Adrian Gore, while in their second-innings he was dismissed for 14 runs by the same bowler.[2]
Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, Pollitt was made a commissioned officer when he was promoted from warrant officer to flying officer in June 1939.[3] In August 1940, he was granted the war substantive rank of flight lieutenant.[4] He was mentioned in dispatches twice in 1941, in January and March.[5][6] He was made an OBE in the 1942 Birthday Honours.[7] He was mentioned in dispatches in June 1943,[8] and then in the same month he was promoted to the war substantive rank of squadron leader, antedated to July 1942.[9] He was promoted to the temporary rank of wing commander in July 1944.[10] A year after the conclusion of the war, he was promoted to the full rank of squadron leader.[11] He was granted seniority in the rank of squadron leader back to June 1945.[12] He was promoted to the full rank of wing commander in July 1947, with seniority to October 1946.[13] He retired from active service in April 1955, retaining the rank of wing commander.[14]
He died at Ely in August 1979.