Sorry late reply to this post…yes this is an interesting and enjoyable book.
After his P51B engine cut out over france Steve tried to bale out but his dinghy cord ‘snagged’ in the cockpit,by the time he got it free he was too low to jump,so he made an incredible forced landing kneeling on the port wing root and reaching in to operate the control column….!!!!
Good landing too…the a/c remained upright.

cheers baz