Tornado: In the Eye of the Storm

by John Nichol

On a number of occasions, Spink found himself unnervingly close to the action. ‘During one of the first Scud attacks, I was driving towards one of our Tornado sites on the airfield. I glanced over at the Patriot anti-missile battery about half a mile away. Suddenly there was the most enormous bang and flash as a missile launched. I could see the shock wave forming and spreading out, coming down the road towards me. I dived out of the car and buried myself as best I could in a dip by the road. Seconds later there was another huge explosion as an incoming Scud was hit and the remains fell onto the base about 300 yards from the Tornados. Then bits of Patriot missile debris started to clatter down around me. It was a pretty interesting experience.’