| Douglas Bader |
Article Index for Douglas |
Website Links For Douglas |
Information AboutDouglas Bader |
EARLY YEARS Bader was born in St John's Wood , London , but his first two years were spent in the Isle Of Man , staying with relatives. He then spent a year in India with his family, which moved back to London when he was 3. He went to Temple Grove Prep School, near Eastbourne , then to St Edward's School , Oxford , the same as Guy Gibson . Later, he was brought up in the rectory of the village of Sprotborough , near Doncaster in South Yorkshire . His step-father, Reverend Ernest William Hobbs, was the local vicar. His own father, Major Frederick Roberts Bader of the Royal Engineers , had died in 1922 of wounds from shrapnel he received in 1917 . His mother, Jessie, re-married shortly thereafter, when she was 32. JOINING THE RAF Bader joined the RAF as a Cranwell cadet in 1928 . He was an above-average pilot and an outstanding sportsman, coming close to national team selection in Rugby . He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in 1930 and posted to Kenley , Surrey . On December 14 1931 , while visiting Reading Aero Club, he attempted some low flying aerobatics at Woodley airfield in a Bristol Bulldog fighter, apparently on a dare. His plane crashed when the tip of the left wing touched the ground. Bader was rushed to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading , where both his legs were amputated - one above and one below the knee. Although he was still able to fly skillfully with artificial legs, he was invalided out of the RAF. WORLD WAR 2 When war broke out in 1939 , Bader used his Cranwell connections to rejoin the RAF, despite his disability and establishment reticence. His obstinacy in trying to regain a medical catagorisation for operational flying finally succeeded and led to a posting to 222 Squadron, flying Spitfires. After flying operations over Dunkirk, he was posted to command No. 242 squadron, a Hurricane unit mainly made up of Canadians, who had suffered high losses in the battle of France and were low on morale. Despite initial resistance to their new CO, the pilots were soon won over by Bader's sheer force of personality and bloody-mindedness, especially in cutting through red-tape in order to make the squadron operational once again. 242 Squadron were stationed in 12 Group at Duxford throughout the Battle Of Britain . As a friend and supporter of his 12 Group commander Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory the duo were an active exponents of the controversial Big Wing theory. Bader was an outspoken critic of the careful 'husbanding' tactics being used by 11 Group commander Keith Park and Bader vociferously campaigned for an aggressive policy of assembling large formations of defensive fighters north of London ready to inflict maximum damage on the massed bomber formations as they flew over South East England. As the battle progressed Bader often found himself at the head of a composite wing of fighters up to five squadrons strong. Achievements of the Big Wing were hard to quantify, as the large formations often overclaimed aircraft shot down, but there is no doubt that Bader and Leigh-Mallory contributed to the departure of both Fighter Command commander Air Marshal HCT Dowding and Air Vice Marshal Keith Park after the battle was over. In 1941 Bader was promoted to Wing Commander and become one of the first 'Wing Leaders'. Stationed at Tangmere, Bader led his wing of Spitfires on sweeps and CIRCUS Operations over North Western Europe in the summer campaign to tie down Luftwaffe fighter units that might otherwise serve on the Russian Front. By the summer of 1941 , Bader had claimed 22 German planes shot down, the fifth-most prolific record in the RAF. On August 9 1941 Bader collided in mid-air with a German ME 109 over Le Touquet . As he tried to bail out one of his prosthetic legs became trapped in the aircraft, and he only escaped when the straps broke. Bader was captured by German forces, who treated him with great respect for his flying prowess. , a Luftwaffe base in occupied France. The Germans were less impressed when, task done, the bomber proceeded onto its bombing mission over Germany. Amazingly Bader had the audacity to attempt to escape from the hospital where he was recovering, and over the next few years proved as big a thorn in the side of the Germans as he had been to the RAF establishment. He made so many attempts at escape the Germans threatened to take away his legs if he did not desist. Initially held at Stalag Luft III at Sagan, his 'goon-baiting' of the camp guards reached such heights that was finally despatched to the "escape proof" Colditz Castle prison, where he remained until the end of the war. After returning to England, Bader stayed in the Air Force for a short period. In June 1945, Bader was given the honour of leading a victory flypast of 300 aircraft over London. He left to take a job at Royal Dutch/Shell . He resumed playing golf, an enthusiasm developed after his amputation, achieving a handicap in the low single figures - a level that only a very few able-bodied golfers reach. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Bader was knighted in 1976. Bader's biography, '' Reach For The Sky '', was written after the war by Paul Brickhill and became a best seller. A movie of the same title was made in 1956 and starred Kenneth More as Bader. During 1941 his wing were re-equipped with Spitfire Vb's, utilising two Hispano 20mm cannon and four .303 machine guns. However, Bader flew a Spitfire Va equipped with just eight .303 machine guns, as he dogmatically insisted that these guns were more effective against fighter opposition. A pub has been named in his honour in the village of Martlesham Heath . It was built on the site of an RAF Airfield where Bader was briefly stationed in 1940. The Douglas Bader Memorial Garden in Cupar , Fife was opened by Sir Douglas in 1982. REFERENCES
|
|
|