Yep, will listen in whilst working this afternoon - as a young teenager I read "Tornado Down" to death, first a hardback copy that I'd continually borrow from the local library, then saved up my pocket money to buy my own paperback version which is still in a box at my parents house somewhere.
 
Wow great interview.

I found it amazing how candid the pilots were about how they felt during their time in captivity, they felt shame and were worried about how the country would perceive them after they had "Given in" and took part in the TV broadcasts.

One of the pilots who had produced an article (post war) about the demise of the Panavia Tornado received a lot of very abusive comments calling him a coward because he "gave in".

I don't believe they were cowards, flying that low into a barrage of flak and AA missiles confirms that they were not. It is easy sat in the comfort of our homes to suggest that they should have stuck with the 'Name, Rank & number' scenario whilst being beaten, threatened with gang rape and death but I would challenge most who say that they would not have done the same as these brave men.

Great link @downsizer ?
 
It's been a while since I read Tornado Down, but I don't recall thinking they gave up too easily.
 
I used to work for an RAF WO who was on an exchange with the Kuwaiti AF at the time running their ejection seat bay. Obviously he was captured at Al Jaber AB when they were overrun but the stories of those guys (about 40 +families) is less well known.

He rarely talked about it but once over a beer he opened up talking about mock executions, beatings, etc, etc. Must have been pretty terrible, plus not knowing what they had done to his family.

I certainly feel much better trained for that kind of thing today than I did when I joined not long after GW1.
 

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