Veteran famously paraded on TV by Saddam Hussein remembers mock executions

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran John Nichol’s aircraft was hit by a missile in 1991 leading to his capture and torture by Iraqi officers. That horrific experience helped him connect with survivors of the Blitz for a fascinating new book

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Gulf War veteran John Nichol was famously paraded on TV by Saddam Hussein, after he was shot down, captured and tortured by Iraqi officers in 1991. Now a bestselling author, his experience helped him to identify with the people he spoke to for his new book, Blitz: When World War II Came Home.

Originally from North Shields, he bonded immediately with 99-year old Blitz survivor, Millie Matthews, who hails from his home town. Just 12 in 1939, when the war started, she still has PTSD, saying: “As the war grew closer, even children could feel the tension in the air.

Being evacuated was a terrible experience. We were piled into some sort of canvas lorry with labels around our necks. No idea where we were going. I was separated from my younger brother and sister.

“I was taken to some farm and lived in what can only be described as the cow-sheds. It was truly horrible.”

Delighted to return home six months later, in 1941, South Shields came under attack when 107 people – including 43 children – were killed after a German bomb struck the public air raid shelter in the basement of Wilkinson’s Lemonade Factory.

Millie and her siblings survived, but her aunt perished. Millie says: “Screams started to fill the air. There was dust everywhere and it was difficult to breathe. I don’t know if there were bodies or rubble beneath my feet. I grabbed hold of my brother, Stanley, and saw he had blood all over him. I was in shock for about two or three years after that. So many people died.”

Seeing striking similarities between the world during the Blitz and how it is today, former RAF navigator John, 62, wants Sir Keir Starmer to prepare for the very real threat we could be dragged into a war again. He says: “Our military policy is to cross our fingers and hope for the best.

“But look at the world we are living in – complacency is no longer a viable option.”

Blitz draws on diaries, official records and eyewitness accounts to paint a powerful picture of life during the air assault on the UK. Of the devastating North Shields bombing, John says: “My dad was in the Navy and we knew nothing about it. I’m mildly ashamed.

“One of the biggest misconceptions about the Blitz is that it only really affected London, but that is not true. More than 60,000 civilians were killed all across the UK between 1939 and 1945.”

From 1940 to 1941 nearly 400 people died in bombing attacks, referred to as the Newcastle Blitz. John, who now lives in Hertfordshire, says: “These are stories that need to be heard today. We can really learn from them.

“If you look to Ukraine and the Middle East, it’s happening again with some of the same style of weaponry. We must remember. We must learn. But we bloody well don’t.”

John joined the RAF in 1981 and was commissioned in 1986, but never expected to go to war. He says: “Suddenly the world changed. A war began in a desert I couldn’t have even pointed to on a map. There we were, flying our jets to fight the biggest blaze of our lives, low level into enemy fire.”

The 1991 Gulf War in Iraq saw the largest use of British troops in one deployment since World War II.

John’s Tornado GR1 bomber was hit by an Iraqi surface-to-air missile on the opening day of Operation Desert Storm, on 17 January 1991.

He says: “One moment I was a knight of the air going into battle at 600mph, 30ft above the desert floor. The next I was on the ground, alone and terrified.

“The missile hit, we nearly hit the ground, the aircraft was burning. My pilot John Peters and I had to eject.”

Describing his emotions, he continues: “Fear. Pull the handle. I hope this bloody seat works. Bang, you’re blasted out the cockpit.

“Parachute opens. There’s a silence as you float down into enemy territory. You land. Fear. Get my kit together. Get my gun out. Run.”

The two Johns were captured on the ground by around 20 to 25 Iraqi soldiers and held as prisoners of war for seven weeks, during which they were tortured and paraded on Iraqi TV.

John says: “I was terrified, beaten with a rubber hose, having cigarettes stubbed out on me. It was almost incomprehensible. People would put a gun against my head, saying ‘you’re going to die now’ and pull the trigger in mock executions.”

Yet, John, who lost three stone during his imprisonment, insists: “I didn’t do anything heroic. I merely existed amid adversity.”

John, who met his wife Suzie, 53 – who has a high flying job connected to the construction industry – in 1992, and shares a daughter, Sophie, 21, with her, says several times he expected to die.

He adds: “I found those quite calming experiences. Is there an afterlife? Is there a god? Will there be a white light? Then you realise that you’re not dead and the terror rises again.”

A lapsed Catholic, he rediscovered God in captivity. “I said a few prayers just in case I met him in the next few days,” he laughs.

Released on March 4, at the end of the war, after 47 days, a local paper had run an article saying his body had been found. But he managed to call his parents from Cyprus, where he was hospitalised, to tell them he was alive.

He says: “It still brings me to tears now to think about their suffering.” Of his experience, he continues: “It teaches you the fragility of life.”

Returning to his RAF role soon after his release, John saw his Gulf War mission as a failure and was keen to go back into conflict to prove himself.

He says: “The pilot I was teamed up with was Big Al. His wife said, ‘I’m really pleased that you’re flying with Al, you can’t be shot down twice.’ She was wrong, I know somebody who was shot down four times.”

John, whose wartime experience helped him to bond with the Blitz survivors, was also keen to include more recent survivors of mass casualty events, like the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster, in his book.

He says: “I was interested in people who run towards danger, like the emergency services who ran into Grenfell. I use the quote, ‘Am I going to walk on by or am I going to do something?’ Most people do something. Some people film it for Tik Tok. But most people do something, especially if it is your job.”

John still suffers from PTSD as a result of his capture. He says: “I was in the RAF Club last summer and they had a load of big balloons. It was a red hot day and the balloons kept bursting. Every time, I ducked down and spilled my glass of champagne. Bonfire night is awful, ask any veteran.

“I am hyper vigilant now. I see danger everywhere. I can understand why military marriages have real difficulties.

“I’ll suddenly go seemingly mad because there’s perceived danger in Tesco and I’m looking for the kitchen department to find a knife. I’m lucky my wife is very understanding.”

A supporter of unsung heroes everywhere, John has also been to every Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards since it started in 1999.

He laughs: “I think there’s only two people that have been to every Pride of Britain: me and Carol Vorderman.”

Blitz: When World War Two came home, is out now £25 Simon & Schuster