Nicholas Stephen Alkemade (10 December 1922 – 22 June 1987) was a British

tail gunner A tail gunner or rear gunner is a crewman on a military aircraft who functions as a gunner defending against enemy fighter or interceptor attacks from the rear, or "tail", of the plane. The tail gunner operates a flexible machine gun or aut ...

in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

who survived a

freefall In Newtonian physics, free fall is any motion of a body where gravity is the only force acting upon it. In the context of general relativity, where gravitation is reduced to a space-time curvature, a body in free fall has no force acting on i ...

of without a

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

after abandoning his out-of-control, burning

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

heavy bomber over Germany.

War service

On the night of 24 March 1944, 21-year-old Alkemade was one of seven crew members in Avro Lancaster B Mk. II, ''DS664'', of No. 115 Squadron RAF. Returning from a 300-bomber-raid on

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, east of

Schmallenberg Schmallenberg ( Westphalian: ''Smalmereg'') is a town and a climatic health resort in the High Sauerland District, Germany. By area, it is the third biggest of all cities and towns of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the second biggest o ...

, ''DS664'' was attacked by a German

Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II ''Luftwaffe'' twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") that would be too fast ...

night-fighter—flown by Heinz Rökker of , caught fire and began to spiral out of control. Because his

had caught fire and was unserviceable, Alkemade jumped from the aircraft without it, preferring to die on impact rather than burn to death. He fell to the ground below. His fall was broken by

pine tree A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

s and a soft snow cover on the ground. He was able to move his arms and legs and suffered only a sprained leg. The Lancaster crashed bursting into flames, killing pilot Jack Newman and three other members of the crew. They are buried in the Hanover War Cemetery. Alkemade was subsequently captured and interviewed by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

, who were initially suspicious of his claim to have fallen without a parachute. This was until the wreckage of the aircraft was examined and his parachute was found as Alkemade had described it. The Germans gave Alkemade a certificate testifying to the fact. He was a celebrated

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

, before being repatriated in May 1945.

Later life

Alkemade worked in the chemical industry after the war. He appeared on the ITV series ''Just Amazing!'', a programme where former motorcycle racer

Barry Sheene Barry Steven Frank Sheene (11 September 1950 – 10 March 2003) was a British professional motorcycle racer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing even ...

interviewed people who had, through accident or design, achieved feats of daring and survival. Alkemade died on 22 June 1987 in Liskeard, Cornwall aged 64. In January 2020, 115 Squadron at

RAF Wittering Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford, Lincolnshire, Sta ...

voted to rename a building as "The Alkemade Building" in honour of his achievements in the RAF during World War 2.

References

External links

Parachute History Website

Video clip of Alkemade recounting the event
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alkemade, Nick 1922 births 1987 deaths English people of Dutch descent Fall survivors Royal Air Force airmen Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents World War II prisoners of war held by Germany British World War II prisoners of war

War service

Later life

See also

References

External links