The RAF Crewman Who Survived an 18,000 Foot Fall Without a Parachute
It’s not the fall from high up that kills you: it’s the sudden stop. That is a good rule of thumb, but it has some exceptions. One such was RAF Flight Sergeant Nicholas Stephen Alkemade (1922 – 1987), who on the night of March 24th, 1944, was serving as a rear gunner in an Avro Lancaster heavy bomber. Part of No. 115 Squadron RAF, Alkemade’s Lancaster was returning from a raid that had plastered Berlin, when it was attacked by an enemy Ju 88 configured as a night fighter. The attack set Alkemade’s plane aflame, and it began to spiral out of control. Alkemade’s parachute was burned in the fire. With the flames licking towards him, he jumped out of bomber, preferring to die by impact rather than get burned to death. He fell 18,000 feet to the ground, yet survived.
Alkemade fell into a stand of pine trees, then onto soft snow covering the ground. The trees and snow broke and cushioned his fall. Alkemade discovered that he was alive, that he could move his limbs, that nothing was broken, and that the only injury he suffered was a strained leg. He was captured and interrogated by the Gestapo, who disbelieved his claims until they found and investigated his bomber’s wreckage. Alkemade spent the rest of the war in a POW camp, where his survival story made him a celebrity. After the war, he made a living in the chemical industry, and was featured on Just Amazing, a British TV series about people who pulled off extraordinary feats of daring or survived against incredible odds.