Remembering Elvis Presley at Prestwick Airport: His one and only visit to the UK

It was March 3, 1960 when Elvis Presley made his first and only visit to the UK - and it wasn’t performing in London or Glasgow as you might expect - it was on the runway of Prestwick Airport.

At the time, Prestwick Airport was an American Forces base, often used by the US to refuel their planes heading to and from Europe throughout the 20th century. It was one of these military planes from which Elvis emerged onto British soil for the first and final time on the tarmac runway in South Ayrshire.

The King of Rock and Roll was returning from a stint in the US Army - which he was obligated to do once called up for national service. He spent two years travelling around the European theatres as a soldier after getting the national service call-up in 1958 - although he was allowed to keep his guitar to entertain the platoon.

With time to kill while the plane was being refueled, Presley and his fellow troops disembarked and mingled with the dozens of fans who were there waiting for him. Word had already spread around Glasgow and South Ayrshire that the star’s flight would be landing around that time and a crowd gathered.

With none of his usual entourage around him, Elvis was reportedly relaxed and happy to chat, even holding an impromptu press conference in the terminal building at Prestwick.

Ann Murphy, who was then aged 16, was one of those lucky enough to meet the man who has estimatedly sold more than 1 billion records worldwide since he came on to the scene in the early 1950’s. Murphy remained an Elvis fan right up until 2016, as she wrote on the Elvis Presley Fans website:“I used to babysit for a Sergeant Phelps at the US airbase,”

“I was at work one day when he turned up at my house and told my mum that Elvis would be at the airbase that night and I should go if I wanted to see him.

“My mum ran to a phone box to call me at work. I couldn’t believe it - I loved Elvis, I had all his records.

“On the bus home, I was telling everyone I was going to see Elvis that night but they all thought it was just a rumour. They probably thought I was crazy. I changed into my American jeans, lumberjacket, bobby socks and blue suede shoes and cycled the three miles to the airport base.

“I dropped in at my friend Muriel’s and she said she would come too but I couldn’t manage to give her a ‘backie’ so we skipped and ran all the way. When we got to the base there was a small group of people already there, standing at the barrier in front of two huge Cadillac cars.

“Muriel and I were right at the barrier. We were so excited and suddenly the plane was in front of us. The door opened and there was Elvis. He was so handsome in his uniform. He waved and we started screaming. He shouted: ‘Where am I?’ and people shouted back: ‘Prestwick’ - but I was shouting: ‘I love you’.

“Elvis came down the stairs and looked fantastic with that beautiful smile. We could hardly believe we were looking at him. We could nearly touch him. Then Muriel did an amazing thing. She jumped over the barrier and threw herself on him - a couple of huge military policemen scraped her off and put her back over the barrier.

“The next thing we knew, he was away. We went to the cafe where the young folk hung out and told people we had seen Elvis. They were all laughing at us but the papers the next day proved it.”

Ann believed that, in a way, that day changed her life, never losing her love of rock and roll - bringing up her children and grandchildren on the songs of America’s biggest rock star. Later in life, Ann would marry a man nicknamed the ‘Prestwick Elvis’ - who styled himself after the King - so much so that he was buried in a midnight blue suit with blue suede shoes.

After meeting fans on the runway, the Jailhouse Rock singer was rushed off to the nearby officers’ mess, which today is the Adamton Country House Hotel, where he called his wife-to-be, Priscilla.

There to greet him officially at Prestwick, was base commander Colonel Russell Fisher, chief executive officer Major Ed Miller and admin officer Major Ben Bacchus.

Liet-Col Ed Miller, now retired, said : “I remember it well. I got the job as Sgt. Presley’s escort, probably because I was a professional musician before the war.

“He was an extremely pleasant, sincere young man who took the time and trouble to speak to everyone he met. The lucky few fans who were in the right place at the right time were left with the memory of a lifetime.”

The Lieutenant-Colonel’s words ring true - while Elvis was only at Prestwick for 90 minutes, his influence on the people that were there lasted a lifetime.