Charles " Nish " Bruce Sergeant Charles " Nish " Bruce QGM ( 8 August 1956 – 8 January 2002 ) was a former British Army soldier and freefall expert of high altitude military parachuting who served in 22 ( SAS ) Special Air Service ( 1982 – 88 ) . He served with the 22 SAS in the Falklands War , on anti - drug operations in South & Central America and in Northern Ireland during Operation Banner for which he was awarded the Queen ' s Gallantry Medal in 1986 . He received the South Atlantic Medal in 1982 with B Squadron of the 22 Special Air Service and the General Service Medal with the 2nd Battalion , Parachute Regiment for services in Northern Ireland during The Troubles . Military career ( 22 SAS ) . 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 . Bruce joined the Parachute Regiment in 1973 at age 17 and in 1978 spent 4 years with the 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 SAS Author of Bravo Two Zero Andy McNab . In a November 2008 interview with the Daily Telegraph , Andy McNab described Bruce as " one of my heroes . " 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 close friend and 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 . Jim Davidson , Saad Hariri and Operation Lock . After leaving the SAS , as a result of a clash with his superiors , Bruce worked with comedian and close friend , Jim Davidson as a minder 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 former 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 a 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 and close SAS friend , 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 SAS Author 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 reoccurring mental illness and periods under section , Bruce committed suicide on 8 January 2002 at age 45 by leaping from a Cessna 172 from 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 . 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 ? " Parachuting & Flying . At the time of his death , with nearly 30 years in military and civilian parachuting , Bruce had logged over 8 , 500 parachute jumps . Although his first parachute jump was a static line jump on 12th October 1974 from Thruxton Airfield , 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 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 .