Customer Reviews
No nonsense insight of how it was - By: D. Powell, 26 Feb 2008 
This book is a real insight into the RAF & the run up of the Golf War. Neither men portray themselves as `heroes' nor do they pretend to make up a story to give the impression they were some kind of James Bond.
They tell a terrifying story of being shot down & captured. Both explain their expectation of being killed & the joys of being released. Sorry to use to the pun, but this book is difficult to put down once started & I would recommend it to alll. Trilling, terrifying & insightful, this book is one of the best I have read!
When the Tornados are down... - By: Andrew Moules, 01 Jul 2007 
One of the most unusual stories from the Gulf war, because the men who went to drop the bombs get to be on the recieving end of other men who come to drop bombs on them. As well as appearing on Iraqi TV (John Nichols later found fame introducing airshows for the BBC), the 2 servicemen are more articulate than the average pilot (who are known for speaking only with their hands) & refreshingly honest throughout the whole story.
The first part of the book tells the details of flying a fast jet, & a few perculiarities of the Tornado. A cut-away daigram & pictures of both front & back seat cockpits add to the description. The roles of piolt & Navigator are skimmed over, with enough detaiklto make sense. Later, these details are crucial, for the tornado is downed reallly because Nichols fails to press a button in the attack sequence. The story is not full of flying escapades as this is the first & only daylight low-level raid of the war, & the 2 patriotic authors dismiss blaming their authorities for what was probably a botch up of timing on the first day of the air war.
It is this honest patriotic stance that fills the book, & explains why these 2 got so much fame & credit afterwards, with a Channel 4 film of the same & a TV job full stop. Well they were still in the employment of the RAF, & the reality of going to war was a strange shock even though they had been preparing for it for years.
After the agonising decision to eject, the fun reallly starts for these 2, with a crawl through the desert near the very airbase they had attempted to attack, then the showing bullet welcome form their captors, to the first of endless beatings & ferrying around Iraq, before being incarcerarted in a well built prison, that ironocallly becomes their shelter when it is bombed, & the guards are killed as they take shelter. Teh descriptions are horrible, & what seems to be hidden behind alll these experiences is the inevitable trauma that they alll mount up to.
Nichols affirms from his prison cell that he rarely goes to church. But prayer gacve him immense strength. Other colleques died, but these survivors get to refelct on what is important to them (family, using what they have earned for good etc...) & the book ends fittingly with a dignified funeral for falllen collegues from their squadron, & a quote from Phillippians chapter 4 (The Bible), so what more could you want in such a book?
Tornado Down - By: Karla Frackleton, 15 Apr 2003 This has got to be the best ever book i've read, couldn't put it down for a second I always wanted to know what happens next. I would recommend this book to anyone, it show just how evil the iraqi soldier can be & how brave John Peters, John Nichol & the other POW are.
Takes you into the reality of war - By: , 09 Jun 1999 This book is must to read. The accounts are graphic & bring to life the reality of war & what happens behind enemy lines that none of us will ever know or face. Both John Nichol & John Peters tell you there sides of the capture. The only way to undestand this bok is to read it.
