Bob Iveson of Stamford recalls his Harrier fighter jet being shot down during the Falklands War
Imagine ejecting from a fighter jet travelling at 500mph.
Having survived that, you’re alone for three days behind enemy lines in a barren and windswept land.
This sounds like a scene from the video game Call of Duty, but it’s exactly what happened to Squadron Leader Bob Iveson, 72, of Stamford.
Bob, who is originally from Yorkshire but since lived at RAF Wittering, Deeping St James and now Stamford, will soon be telling his story in a Channel 5 documentary, The Planes That Changed The World.
The programme will feature segments on the Harriers which Bob flew, the Spitfire, Sopwith Camel and the Lancaster Bomber.
Bob’s flying career began in 1967 when he gained his pilot’s licence after winning a scholarship. He had wanted to become an airline pilot but quickly realised he wanted to fly the fastest and most powerful aircraft. His father was Group Captain Douglas Iveson, a distinguished Second World War fighter pilot.
Having started by flying Tiger Moths, Bob found himself posted to Germany for a period while new aeroplanes were built before coming back to Britain and instructing on the Harrier.
Further spells in Germany and North Carolina in the USA followed before Bob returned to RAF Wittering in the late 1970s to join up with No.1 Squadron and take part in the Falklands War.
The war was fought after the British-administered Falklands Islands, 945 miles off the coast of Argentina, was subject to a sovereignty dispute. It was here that Bob was shot down by Argentinian forces.
On May 27, 1982, he had been flying his Harrier to support the Parachute Regiment during the battle for Goose Green in East Falkland. On about the fifth time he flew over to drop cluster bombs, he was shot down.
Bob describes his ordeal as one of ‘stark terror’.
“They hit me and it sent the aeroplane sideways and immediately the panel lit up with warning lights.
“The warning chimes were clanging in my ears and I could smell the smoke coming from the engine because it was on fire.
“The aeroplane was falling apart but I was trying to keep the nose up because I thought the Argentinians may not have been too pleased to see me after I’d been dropping cluster bombs on them.
“I had one hand on the nozzle and the other placed on the ejector.
“Suddenly the fire, which I could see in the rear-view mirror, came into the cockpit and I ejected.
“It was an instant reaction and I parachuted out of the aeroplane, which was travelling at 500mph, and skidded across the ground.
“Very fortunately, I landed on soft gorse and land that was quite boggy and the plane landed about 300 yards away.
“I got up and legged it in the opposite direction because they would have tried to find me.
“I had to hide in the deep, thick gorse, about five-feet high, because they sent up a helicopter.
“It had this big searchlight on the front and I just made sure I was well-hidden.”
Bob’s visor had smashed as a result of being ejected and after being briefly unconscious, he also suffered from cuts and bruises as well as a back injury.
After landing in the Lafonia Peninsula, and avoiding his plane as a fireball, Bob spent three days by himself, including two nights in Paragon House, a deserted house, that had food and blankets inside.
He had tried to leave the house the day after the crash but was beaten back by a storm and spent another night there, eventually leaving after hearing the fighting had stopped. He then attracted the attention of a British helicopter crew, who rescued him.
“You’re just thinking, what is going to happen now?,” he reflected.
Despite the ordeal, another posting abroad followed with Bob becoming Air Commander of an RAF Station in Belize and coming back to train on the Tornado and commanding No.617 Squadron during the 1991 Gulf War.
He retired from the RAF in 1999, when he moved to Stamford.
Married to Ronnie, the couple will celebrate their golden wedding anniversary in October. The couple have a son and daughter who have both been senior air traffic controllers in the RAF. They also have two teenage grandsons.
Bob is now president of the Rotary Club of Stamford Burghley.
