Lt Cdr David Sumner Mallock AFC RN
Lived in Devon
Pilot
Died 26 July 2012
He leaves a widow Jean
From records
Served from 1960 to 1977 including:
705 QHI,
706QHI,
848, Ark Royal
815, Centaur
814, Victorious
824, Ark Royal
819, RAF Ballykelly
CO NFSF(RW)
CO RNFTU
From David Edwards
In 1966 David was a fellow QHI on 705 at Culdrose, flying Whirlwind’s Mk 3 and 7, and Hiller 12e’s. Some of the Whirlwinds had no primary flight instruments on the instructors side of the cockpit and as the IF hoods provided a very poor simulation of Actual IF as much as possible of the flying was done in cloud. All the instructors put up with this situation despite some hairy moments and unusual attitudes. One day David bravely declared enough was enough and he would not fly actual without instruments infront of him. He was not at all popular with the Command but the policy was changed, we all heaved a sigh of relief and bought him many glasses of FOG (Fine Old Golden Sherry) the favoured tipple of the day. David was a brave and talented aviator.
From Fly Navy January 2013
David was born on 2 January 1939 in a London Nursing Home on Devonshire Street, the only son of Brian Esmond and Eleanor Mallock (later David was to have a sister – Rosalind). His mother’s diary entry for that day reads,
“Heavy snow followed by pea-soup fog – the new baby panda at London Zoo was a rival attraction.”
But David’s history was traced back to well before he entered the world. David tracked his ancestors back to 1647, to the Burges side of the family. Entries in the family Bible (the family name seemed to change from Burgis to Burges sometime in the early 1700s) revealed a fascinating history. This was also the case when David traced the King side of his family back, which revealed a rich military Heritage; including Captain King of the Black Watch, a General King and Lieutenant Colonel Stewart William King. With such varied heritage, including a great military history, it is no surprise that David was to live a truly eventful life, much of which was involved with the military.
With war being declared just eight months and one day after David’s birth, much of his very early years appear to have been spent away from the family home in Brentwood Essex, with his mother trying to establish safe places to live to avoid the forecast bombing of southern England.
All of David’s schooling was carried out as a boarder; from Herrington house in Essex he moved to Dragon School in Oxford and completed his education at Charterhouse. At the age of 17 he was awarded a flying scholarship. He served for two years at Royal Air Force Cranwell, learning to fly with the RAF. On time off from his flying instruction he enjoyed climbing and his log for 1956 records him climbing with his friend from Charterhouse, in Switzerland, Germany and Northern Ireland.
Having graduated from flying school and being awarded his wings, David opted for a change of service; exchanging a light blue uniform for the dark blue of the Royal Navy, specifically the Fleet Air Arm. To describe David’s naval career as outstanding would be an understatement. His achievements were numerous and impressive and included the Commander in Chief’s Commendation for general conduct, The Air Force Cross, for which he attended his investiture at Buckingham Palace, the Wilkinson’s Sword of Peace being presented in his honour to Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, and the Danish Medal of Reward first-class with Crown from the Danish embassy.
Unusually, for all the time that David served in the Fleet Air Arm he lived at RNAS Culdrose. In April 1963 he moved from the Wardroom into married quarters shortly after he married Jean, on 18 April. All of their children – Simon, Justin and Tamasin – were born in Cornwall.
David appears to have served in almost every country of the world’. An example of this is the entry for the 6th of November 1966, written in Sydney Australia it reads,
“HMS Victorious, South coast to Perth, Fremantle, Cocos Island, Christmas Island, Singapore for Christmas. Kuala Lumpar, Hong Kong, Subic Bay, North Borneo, Balam Bangan (with Admiral’s luggage).
He completed his frontline duties with 819 and 842 in 1973, from which he joined the Royal Norwegian Air Force Training Unit. He was to command the Royal Navy Foreign Training Unit (as it became renamed) until November 1976, when he had completed 5,000 hours helicopter flying in the Royal Navy.
In March 1977 he took a post as Chief Flying Instructor Helicopters at the Royal Jordanian Air Academy, he was joined by Jean the following month. This was the opening of a new, but not dissimilar chapter in David’s life. The years which followed saw him working as a chief pilot and flying instructor in Nigeria for seven years; then as Chief Pilot British Antartic Survey, during which time he had to be rescued off South Georgia after crashing into an ice shelf, as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning due to a faulty heater. He then spent the next 4 years on Falkland Islands managing Pilot Falklands. And finally to Middle Wallop where he was responsible for 81 aircraft, 278 staff, overseeing engineering for eight different aircraft types, simulators, ground school instructors and two air-traffic control schools.
In more recent years David has hugely enjoyed his golf, having been Seniors Captain at both Truro and Tiverton Golf Clubs.
David had a hugely interesting and immensely successful life. He served his country with distinction, he ran his working life with dedicated professionalism and he was totally committed to his family. He also made a vast number of friends along the way. David slipped peacefully away at home, and he is survived by his wife Jean, son Simon, daughter Tamasin and his two grandsons, James and Thomas. He will be hugely missed by all who knew and loved him.