Eject! Eject!

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On active duty during the first Gulf War in 1991, his Tornado bomber was shot down during a mission over Iraq. As a final aside, I love the design of these books and how good they all look together on the shelf! He has made a number of TV documentaries with Second World War veterans, written for national newspapers and magazines, and is a widely quoted commentator on military affairs.Captured and tortured, he was paraded on television provoking worldwide condemnation and leaving one of the enduring images of the conflict.

A few days later, having been beaten and tortured, images of Nichol and his pilot John Peters were broadcast around the world. As with his previous books, there are some less pleasant aspects of the story that some could be tempted to ‘sweeten’, or even brush over altogether, but it seems that due respect was given to the important part played by the not so pleasant aspects of the story, which is refreshing. On active duty in the Gulf he was shot down on the first low-level, daylight raid of the first Gulf War. It was only after Baker died in 1942 during the test flight of a prototype fighter plane that Martin turned his thoughts to designing an ejection seat.

The events in war, about the way the Vietnam pilots were treated for instance was beaten only by the dreadful, dreadful injuries that they used to receive as a result of ejecting. Captured, tortured and held as a prisoner of war, John was paraded on television, provoking worldwide condemnation and leaving one of the most enduring images of the conflict. I had the notion,” wrote Martin, “that I wanted to design things and not be employed by anyone” – a fine ambition.

John is a member of The Royal British Legion's Gulf War Group helping veterans with Gulf War Syndrome and a patron of the British Ex-service Wheelchair Sports Association. Packed with interviews with aircrew who know exactly how it feels to 'Bang Out' from an aircraft at high speed, both in peace and in war, the book gives the reader a vivid sense of what that life-saving experience feels like, but also features the moving accounts of what happens next, from the viewpoint of both the crews and their families, who often have little or no information about whether or not their loved ones have survived. He has written for The Times, The Mail on Sunday and The Observer and is a widely quoted commentator on military affairs. There was clearly an urgent need for such a device: early aircraft escape techniques, notes Nichol, “were rudimentary at best: strap on parachute and jump.The story is chronological from the early days of the seats being developed- a ripping yarn in itself, with some fantastic characters testing them- and then moves forward through several aerial conflicts, and other incidents in between. charts the astonishing and deeply moving story of military medics from the WW2 beaches of Dunkirk to the desert towns of Afghanistan today. In the wake of the war, that technological race to save aircrew lives using explosive seats continued at an incredible pace.