John Nichol

Author John Nichol is a retired Royal Air Force navigator who became known to many when he was beaten and then paraded on Iraqi television after being down and captured during the first Gulf War. This provoked worldwide condemnation and was one of the most vivid and enduring images of the conflict.

During his first mission for Operation Desert Storm in the first Gulf War, he flew as number two to Squadron Leader Paul 'Pablo' Mason on an ultra-low-level sortie against Ar Rumaylah airfield in Southwest Iraq. During the flight, his Panavia Tornado ZD791 was shot down by Iraqi forces, and he and his pilot, John Peters, were captured and tortured in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.

John was released by the Iraqis at the end of the Gulf War. He co-authored a book about his experiences, Tornado Down, with John Peters, and has subsequently written over ten more books, including five novels: Point Of Impact, Vanishing Point, Exclusion Zone, Stinger and Decisive Measures.

John began his career in the RAF in 1981 as an electronics technician and was commissioned as a navigator five years later. He served with XV Squadron based at RAF Laarbruch. During 15 years service in the Royal Air Force, John flew Tornadoes in both Air Defence and Ground Attack roles. He has served around the world from the Nevada Desert to the Middle East and Norway to the Falkland Islands. After the Gulf war, John was involved in policing the exclusion zone as part of the UN force maintaining the fragile peace in Bosnia.

John's latest books provide extensive eyewitness accounts of key World War II events. These include The Last Escape, which tells the harrowing story of Allied POWs in the closing stages of the war, Tail-End Charlies, which gives an insight into the final battles of the Allied bomber campaign, and Home Run, in which he recounts the experiences of escaped Allied POWs evading capture in Europe behind enemy lines.

John Nichol's daring and traumatic experiences, allied to his skills as a writer, make him a formidable Motivational Speaker and an enthralling After-dinner Speaker. To book him for your Event, contact Prime Performers for more information, either through our online booking enquiry form or by calling us on 020 3500 3331.