Tornado: In the Eye of the Storm

by John Nichol

Bill Cope, the Squadron Boss, departed with his most experienced crew at 4 a.m. arriving at Muharraq later that day. Their arrival was somewhat underwhelming. ‘If we had expected a welcome for bringing a much-needed additional capability to the RAF element in-theatre we were to be disappointed,’ Cope later said.19 That night he went for a drink with the Jaguar Detachment Commander in the top-floor bar of the Sheraton Hotel, where they were quartered. What was the drill for a Scud attack? Cope asked. Do we go down to the basement? ‘Not really,’ his friend replied. ‘If a Scud hits the hotel it will be coming vertically downwards at about Mach 5 and will probably pass through all floors before ending up in the basement. So most people rush up here for a beer while watching the Patriot missiles launching from Dhahran across the causeway.’ Cope considered the advice carefully while sipping his beer.