12/09/2023
"The Fields in Malta are so small that it is impossible to carry out a forced landing and, as I had so little control over the aircraft, I decided to bale out. [...]
I quite enjoyed the drop without having the canopy open. There was no sensation of falling whatsoever, rather of lying in a luxuriously comfortable feather bed, and I was able to watch the ground coming up to meet me and even move my arms and legs.
After falling for some 9-10,000 feet I decided the ground was close enough and pulled the rip-cord which opened the parachute. From a head-down position I was suddenly je**ed into a sitting position, but the jerk was by no means comfortable. The anti-aircraft people told me that I was about 3,000 feet above ground when my parachute opened, and certainly it did not take long before I hit the ground.
It is said that the sensation is similar to jumping off a 10 feet high wall, but in my case I felt as though I had never opened the parachute at all, as I hit the ground with considerable force."
-G.A. Walker in 'Atlas at War' by J.W.J. Levien.
Photo: 'A Hawker Hurricane Mark II of No. 261 Squadron RAF, taxying at Ta Kali, Malta, following a sortie.', © IWM CM 6457.
