A former Gravesend reporter has died suddenly at the age of 81 after acareer that took him to Fleet Street.

George Pollock – known to his friends and colleagues as Archie – left Gravesend Grammar School for Boys to become a reporter on the Kent Messenger at Gravesend and later Maidstone.

After serving with the RAF in the Second World War, he joined the Daily Mirrorwhere he was a specialist in Commonwealth affairs.

Subsequently he worked on several Sunday newspapers. He ended his career as Deputy Editor of the Reader’s Digest.

Mr Pollock was the author of The Jervis Bay, which toldthe story of the battle between an armed merchant ship and a German pocketbattleship.

The Jervis Bay was eventually sunk with all hands, but thevalour of the crew saved a British convoy.

For many years Mr Pollock lived in Gravesend and Meopham before moving to Sandwich on his retirement. He is survived by his widow, Joan, and daughters Glenda and Livia.

The funeral is at St John’s Church, Meopham, on Wednesday, September 20.

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