John Nichol - Tornado Down

John Nichol is flying again, but in fighters, having recently finished a course at RAF Coningsby converting from the Tornado GR1 to the Tornado F3 Air Defence Variant.

John Peters is also flying once more, as part of 31 Tornado Strike/Attack Squadron based at RAF Brüggen in Germany.

Helen Peters has resumed her career in Marketing.

Toni Peters is an independently minded two-year-old with a very healthy appetite.

Guy Peters successfully completed his potty-training some time ago and is now a lively four-year-old.

AAA: Anti-Aircraft Artillery (Triple-A)

ALARM: Air-Launched Anti-Radiation Missile

APU: Auxiliary Power Unit

ATC: Air Traffic Control

AWACS: Airborne Warning and Control System

BAI: Battlefield Air Interdiction

BFPO: British Forces Post Office

BMEWS: Ballistic Missile Early Warning System

CAP: Combat Air Patrol

CAS: Close Air Support

CAS: Chief of the Air Staff

CDS: Chief of the Defence Staff

C-in-C: Commander in Chief

COLPRO: Collective Protection

CPGS: Cassette Preparation Ground Station

CRPMD: Combined Radar and Projected Map Display

CSAR: Combat Search and Rescue

CSAS: Control/Command Stability Augmentation System

ECM: Electronic Counter Measures

ESM: Electronic Support Measures

EWO: Electronic Warfare Officer

FEBA: Forward Edge of the Battle Area

FLOT: Forward Line of Own Troops

4g: four times the force of gravity

GPMG: General Purpose Machine Gun

GLO: Ground Liaison Officer

HARM: High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile

HAS: Hardened Aircraft Shelter

HEAP: High-Explosive Armour Piercing (Ammunition)

HUD: Head-Up Display

IFF: Identification Friend or Foe

KKMC: King Khaled Military City (Saudi Arabia)

KTO: Kuwait Theatre of Operations

LMF: Lack of Moral Fibre

MASS: Master Arm and Safety Switch

MFBF: Multi-Function Bomb Fuse

MOS: Minimum Operating Strip

NBC: Nuclear Biological Chemical

OAS: Offensive Air Support

OCA: Offensive Counter Air

OCU: Operational Conversion Unit

OLF: Operational Low-Flying

PBF: Pilots’/Personnel Briefing Facility

PK: Probability of Kill

POL: Petrol Oil Lubricants

QWI: Qualified Weapons Instructor

RHWR: Radar Homing Warning Receiver

RPV: Remotely Piloted Vehicle

SAM: Surface-to-Air Missile

SEAD: Suppression of Enemy Air Defences

SQUINTO: Squadron Intelligence Officer

SSM: Surface-to-Surface Missile

TOT: Time On Target

TWCU: Tornado Weapons Conversion Unit

WOC: War Operations Centre

WSO: Weapons System Officer

Acree, Lieutenant Colonel, 163, 170, 193

‘Aggressor’ Squadron (US), 20–21

Ahmed (Iraqi guard), 143, 152, 154, 155, 160

air power

problems of coordinating, 63–4

in modern warfare, 61, 63

air-to-air refuelling, 1–2, 7, 17–19, 53–7, 82–3

aircraft (Coalition Air Forces)

C–130, 35, 63

EA–6B, 63, 87

EF–111, 63

F–5, 34

F–15, 34, 251

F–16, 34

F–18, 46–7, 73, 86–7

F–111, 73

Hercules, 35

Jaguar, 35

OV–10 Bronco, 163

Tornado see Tornado (main entry)

Victor, 35, 54, 83

Wild Weasel F–4G and F–16C, 63

aircraft (Iraqi)

Mig–23, 24, 115

Mig–25, 24

Mig–29, 24, 115

Mirage F1, 24

Su–22, 24

Su–25, 24

airfields, Iraqi, 24–5

anti-aircraft weaponry, 114–15

Ar Rumaylah, xvii, 64, 72–3, 113–15

attacks on, 61–2

Airspace Control, 63

Akrotiri, RAF, 33, 34, 238

Al Badiyah Al Janubiyah, 84

ALARM (Air-Launched Anti-Radiation Missile), 13, 63

Amman, 236

Ar Rumaylah airfield, xvii, 64, 72–3, 113–15

AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System), 62, 87

Ayton, Colin, 16, 81

Aziz, Tariq, 52, 53

Ba’ath Party, 28–9, 127, 168, 175

Ba’ath Party Regional

Headquarters, 178

‘Baghdad Bungalows’, 172

Baghdad, devastation of, 201–2, 228–9, 248, 249

Baghdad Novotel, 223–8, 246–7

Bahrain, 35–7, 41–2

Bahraini Defence Forces, 57

Baker, James, 52, 53

BBC Songs of Praise

(Christmas Eve), 49–50

beatings and torture

John Nichol, 122–3, 140–42, 143, 144–6, 147–8, 212–13, 214–15

John Peters, 123–5, 129–32, 150–51

weapons used, 130

Bellini, Gian Marco, 161, 172, 196, 197–8

Brand, Douglas, 211

Broadbent, Maggie, 109

Broadbent, Wing

Commander John, 25, 42, 278

Brüggen, RAF, 1

Buckland, Group Captain Neil, 109–10, 132, 259

Buckley, Squadron Leader Gordon, 1, 2, 76, 252–3

‘Built-More’ prison, 188

Burgess, Simon, 8, 169–70, 191–2, 199, 201, 237

CAC (Counter Air Campaign), 61

CAP (Combat Air Patrol), 45, 46, 86

CBS crew captured, 193–4

chaff, 78

Children’s Christmas Party (XV Squadron), 32

Christmas Day in the Gulf, 50

Clark, Rupert, 185–6, 191, 193, 199, 237, 240, 255, 268

COLPRO (Collective Protection), 37

communications jamming, 63, 87

CPGS Cassette Preparation Ground Station), 70

CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue), 74

Curzon, Warrant Officer Pip, 44

Cyprus, 33, 238, 252, 256

Decimomannu, 20

deployment to the Gulf, 3, 6–7, 31–4

desert flying, 40, 84

Desert Storm, Operation, 73

Desert Survival lectures, 57–8

Dhahran, 72

dog-fighting tactics, 19–20

ECM (Electronic Counter-Measures), 78, 147

escort missions, 61, 62

ethics of war, 30–31

Exocet missile, 44–5

expatriate community, 41

Falklands War, 78

fear of capture, 28–30

Finningley, RAF, 9

first sighting of enemy, 84–5

g-suits, 74

‘Goolie Chits’, 74

Goose Bay, 20

Granby, Operation, 16

Gulf Air, 41

Gulf Memorial Fund, 274

Gulf Memorial Service, 277–80

Gulf War

Coalition air strategy, 64–5

end of the war, 221

ethics of war, 31

first mass air attacks, 72

ground offensive begins, 205

scale of the operation, 279

UN deadline, 60

UN Resolutions, 16, 52

underlying causes, 15

HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile), 63, 86–7

HAS (Hardened Aircraft Shelter) sites, 61

‘Havequick’ frequency-agile radios, 40

Head-Up Display (HUD), 17

HEAP (High-Explosive Armour-Piercing) ammunition, 78–9

Henderson, Group Captain David, 42

Hi-Lo-Hi training sorties, 14, 22

Hicks, Steve, 191, 238, 275–6

Hunter, Warrant Officer Guy, 163

Hurrel, Squadron Leader John, 37

Hussein, Saddam, 15, 16, 25, 29, 31, 53, 156, 279

imprisonment

in Baghdad, 167–221

bombing raids during, 119–21, 173, 177, 188–93, 215

boredom, 178–9

conditions improve, 217–19, 220–21

insanitary conditions, 174, 176, 179, 185–6, 204, 208

put in with other captured airmen, 205–6

release, 222–3

solitary confinement, 176–87, 205–6, 217, 220–21, 230

23 February bombing raid, 188–93

27 February bombing raid, 215

Initial Point (IP), 88

Intelligence

briefing before operations, 73–5

debriefing after release, 242

interrogations

John Nichol, 118–19, 127–8, 136–40, 144–7, 207

John Peters, 118–19, 127–8, 133–4, 150, 203

questions asked, 127, 136–8, 146–7, 203, 207

Iraqi Air Force, 24

Iraqi Air Force officers, 115–16

Iraqi Army guards, 168

‘Joliet’ prison, 202–16