Pollock, John (Jack)
Lieutenant
‘D’ Company, 13th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Killed in action on Saturday 1 July 1916 (aged 23)
No known grave
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Thiepval Memorial, France (Pier and Face 15 A and 15 B)
Holywood and District War Memorial
High Street Holywood Presbyterian Church
BIOGRAPHY
John Pollock was born on 11 May 1893 in Holywood and he was the youngest son of John and Margaret Pollock (nee Morrison) who were married on 30 January 1877 in Dundonald Presbyterian Church.
The Pollock family lived in High Street, Holywood and then at The Priory, Marino.
John Pollock Senior was a timber merchant (Lytle & Pollock Ltd, 18 Duncrue Street, Belfast) and he and Margaret had at least eight children:
Maggie Sophia (Daisy, born 22 November 1877 at Knock)
Eleanor (Ellie, born 4 December 1879 in Ballycloughan)
Ada (born 22 February 1882 in Ballycloughan)
Unnamed female child (born 1 April 1884 in Ballycloughan)
William (born 28 August 1886 in Ballycloughan)
Elizabeth Morrison (Bessie, born 18 September 1889 in Ballycloughan)
John (Jack, born 11 May 1893 at Ardeen, Holywood)
Gladys (born 10 June 1896)
Prior to the outbreak of the Great War Jack Pollock worked as an apprentice draper. He was a member of the 1st Battalion North Down Regiment in the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and he enlisted in Belfast on 17 September 1914.
Jack Pollock was 6 feet 2 inches tall and he served with the 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (No. 16944).
On 14 October 1914 Jack Pollock received a commission with the 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (1st County Down Volunteers) in 108th Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division. Initially he was posted as missing in action after the first day of the Battle of the Somme and later it was officially confirmed that he must be presumed to have been killed in action. It was reported that ‘D’ Company had been raked by curtain fire (continuous artillery or machine-gun fire concentrated on a designated area). Lieutenant John Pollock was 23 when he died and he has no known grave.
Lieutenant John Pollock is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in France; on Holywood and District War Memorial and in High Street Holywood Presbyterian Church.
Lieutenant John Pollock’s mother Margaret died on 18 August 1917 (aged 63).