Originally Posted by
megan
As my post said he didn't use the seat, in fact his straps were severed by the forces involved in the aircrafts break up thus separating him from the seat, the two crew were thrown clear as the aircraft broke up, Jim having his neck broken and thus dying from the break up g forces involved.
All agreed, and acknowledged as a matter of record, So, whilst Bill and Jim were "ejected", they did not choose to "Eject!" ( a word which forms half the title of the book in question) and therefore a technical "ejection", in the modern sense and current context of using the ejection seat, did not occur. Just my view; a matter of conceptual semantics, I suppose!
Back to the book.....how about Bill Tollitt? - first RAF aircrew to eject from an RAF aircraft (Meteor Mk8 VZ569, 65 Sqn, Jul 1951; out of Linton following a mid-air collision during interception practice)...a Mk1 seat again, so entirely manual seat initiation, harness release and parachute inflation to be carried out separately by the occupant of the seat...Bill had frostbite to his fingers after descending from 30,000ft, so was unable to release the harness; he landed unconscious with a fractured skull, still attached to seat and with the parachute between his legs; but survived and recovered to transfer to the RCAF (Sabres, 427 Sqn) and later flew civil airliners. Respect!