Nish Bruce

Family & Early Life

Bruce was born in Chipping Norton in 1956, middle son of Ewen Anthony Guy Cameron Bruce. He was the paternal grandson of Major Ewen Cameron Bruce (of Blaen-y-cwm).

Military career

Bruce joined the Parachute Regiment in 1973 at age 17 and in 1978 spent 4 years with The Red Devils Display Team participating in test jumping, international exhibitions and competitions before passing SAS selection and joining 22 SAS in April 1982.

Bruce served with 22 SAS B Squadron, 7 (Air) Troop from 1982–1986 and spent 2 years (1986–1988) with G Squadron, 24 (Air)Troop. While with B Squadron 7 Troop, he served with Al Slater, Frank Collins and Andy McNab. In a November 2008 interview with the Daily Telegraph, Mitchell described Bruce as 'one of my heroes.'

In 1982, Bruce was the first special forces soldier to parachute into the South Atlantic during the Falklands War a couple of weeks ahead of the fleet carrying the main task force to recapture the islands and was a member of Operation Mikado. While in the SAS, due to his extensive skydiving background, he was pivotal in the original trials and development of the high altitude military parachuting High & Low Opening (HAHO & HALO) tactic now routinely used as a conflict insert for Special Forces. HALO jumps would involve jumping at night from 29,000 feet with full oxygen support and 100 lbs additional equipment and a freefall time of approximately 120 seconds before opening the parachute at 3000 feet. HAHO jumps would involve deploying the main canopy at 26,000 feet into high airspeed and drifting down with 20–30 minutes descent time.

In November and December 1984 Bruce was involved in two SAS covert counter terrorist operations against the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Kesh, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. These operations led to him being awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal "for exemplary acts of bravery", the subsequent death of his colleague Al Slater and the high profile deaths of IRA Members Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde and Kieran Fleming. Slater was posthumously awarded the Military Medal for his role and bravery in the action.

Parachuting and flying

At the time of his death, with nearly 30 years in military and civilian parachuting, Bruce had logged over 8,500 parachute jumps. His first parachute jump was a static line jump on 12 October 1974 from Thruxton Airfield, and his parachute log books show that he learnt his basic parachuting skills at Sibson Airfield, Peterborough from 1974 to 1978 prior to joining The Red Devils (Parachute Regiment) Display Team and achieving his D Rating in April 1979. Bruce obtained his BPA Approved Instructor rating in March 1983 and became a Tandem skydiving Pilot/Master in 1987.

Bruce was an experienced pilot. He held South African, American and British pilot licences as well as a commercial pilot licence which enabled him to fly both single engine fixed wing aircraft and helicopters. In July 1992 he piloted his single engine Cessna 172 Skyhawk from Washington D.C. across the Atlantic Ocean via Greenland and Iceland back to the UK. At the time of his death, Bruce had logged 488 hours in single engined planes; 41 hours in multi-engine planes and 203 hours in Robinson R22 and Jet Ranger Bell 206 helicopters.

Jim Davidson, Saad Hariri and Operation Lock

After leaving the SAS, as a result of a clash with his superiors, Bruce worked with comedian Jim Davidson before taking the role of second in command in an undercover operation codenamed Operation Lock, a WWF sponsored Anti-Poaching operation in Southern Africa (1988–1989) led by SAS Founder David Sterling and former SAS Colonel Ian Crooke. Following Operation Lock, Bruce worked for Lebanese billionaire and former Prime Minister of Lebanon Saad Hariri in Washington DC as his professional bodyguard (1990–92).

Skydive from space and 1993 Everest expedition

In the early 1990s Bruce trained with Loel Guinness' High Adventure Company and Joe Kittinger to skydive from the edge of space from 130,000 feet and break the highest altitude freefall record previously set by Joe Kittinger himself in the 1960s. With extensive experience in tandem skydiving, in 1991, while undertaking high altitude parachuting training over Badajoz, Spain, Bruce as Tandem Master made the highest tandem skydive ever attempted from 27,000 feet with oxygen. His tandem passenger was the experienced mountaineer Harry Taylor. In return for NASA support on the 'Skydive from Space' project, Nish Bruce, Harry Taylor and experienced mountaineers from High Adventure joined renowned NASA scientist and Space Shuttle Challenger crew member Karl Gordon Henize in a joint expedition to climb the North Ridge Route of Mount Everest in late 1993. The purpose of this expedition was to assist NASA to test a meter called a "tissue equivalent proportional counter" (TEPC) at different altitudes (17,000 ft, 19,000 ft and 21,000 ft) as with plans for longer duration space missions it was important to know how people's bodies would be affected, including the way bodily tissues behaved when struck by radiation.

It was not the aim of the expedition to go to the summit. Having reached the Advanced Base Camp at 21,300 feet, the expedition was cut short following the death of Karl Henize, who died of high altitude pulmonary edema on 5 October 1993. Although the expedition was marred by the death of Henize, the TEPC meter had done its job, and when it was later analysed at NASA Headquarters, an increment was added to the human physiology database.

Illness

The High Adventure 'Skydive from Space' Project was suspended and subsequently closed following Bruce's nervous breakdown in February 1994 in Chamonix, France.

Autobiography: Freefall (1998)

Bruce first came into public prominence in 1998 when his autobiography Freefall was published by Little, Brown and Company under the pseudonym 'Tom Read'. Freefall was ghost written by Michael Robotham over a period of 12 months. The book fully documents Bruce's military career with 22 SAS, the Skydive From Space project and Everest ascent, his descent into madness and subsequent recovery. Freefall is described by Andy McNab as "This is Bravo Two Zero meets One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Read's story had me on the edge of my seat – and it also made me cry". Tracey Edwards, a renowned sailor, stated that "Freefall is shattering. Tom Read has led at least 9 lives in the space of one lifetime. His book grabs hold of you and won't let you go until the last page – and even then, you can't help wondering what happens next. I hope he gives us the chance to find out".

Death

Despite bouts of recovery, after eight years of consistent recurring mental illness and periods sectioned in hospital, Bruce killed himself on 8 January 2002 at the age of 45 years. He jumped from a Cessna 172 at 5000 feet over Fyfield, Oxfordshire, without a parachute while on a private flight home from Spain to Hinton Skydiving Centre. His military history and the manner of his death resulted in extensive media coverage. Some have looked to attribute his breakdown and suicide to posttraumatic stress disorder.

Bruce was survived by his son, Jason, his only child. On 16 January 2002, Bruce was cremated at Banbury Crematorium in Oxfordshire and his ashes were subsequently scattered by his son and former colleagues during a memorial skydive in April 2002 at Hinton Skydiving Centre. On 16 January 2002, The Daily Telegraph published a double spread obituary article written by author Michael Robotham titled "Isn't he afraid he'll miss the world?"

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