Anan Anwar, a British military aviator, was hovering over Italy one night in March 1944 when plane was hit by enemy fire. Flaming gasoline shot down the whole length of the plane. Anwar reached to find it a mass of fire. What could he do? The parachute was obviously too far gone to be usable even if he could put out the rising flames. His boots were already beginning to burn. He decided to jump, preferring sudden death on the ground to being burned alive in the sky. This is the end, he thought, as he jumped into black space 18,000 feet from ground.