麻豆APP

This image is a digitized photograph of Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader. Photo unattributed –

Top 10 Sensational Facts about Sir Douglas Bader

 Douglas Bader was a British military hero who was renowned for his daring RAF raids during World War Two.  He was known for his repeated escape attempts from Nazi captivity later in the conflict.

After overcoming the loss of both legs in a flight crash aged 21, Bader stayed in the military, making a name for himself as a fearsome and effective fighter pilot.

Bader鈥檚 combat career was cut short when he was forced to bail out of his badly damaged Spitfire. This happened over the coast of France in 1941. He would remain in a Nazi POW camp until the end of the war.

1. Bader鈥檚 Childhood life and education

Sir Douglas Bader 1910-1982 RAF Fighter Pilot lived here 1955-1982. Photo by Spudgun67 –

Bader was born on 21 February 1910 in St. John鈥檚 Wood, London, the second son of Major Frederick Roberts Bader (1867鈥�1922), a civil engineer, and his wife Jessie Scott MacKenzie.

 His first two years were spent with McCann relatives in the Isle of Man while his father, accompanied by Bader’s mother and older brother Frederick (named after his father but called ‘Derick’ to distinguish the two), returned to his work in India after the birth of his son.

2. Bader lost both legs in a misjudged plane maneuver

Douglas Bader. Photo by Devon S A (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer –

Just 18 months into his RAF career, in 1931, Bader lost both legs while training to defend his Hendon Air Show 鈥楶airs鈥� title.

Despite warnings not to attempt acrobatics below 500 feet, Bader performed a slow roll at low altitude and caught the tip of his Bristol Bulldog鈥檚 left-wing on the ground.

3. Bader worked in the oil industry

Squadron Leader Douglas Bader DSO DFC CO of 242 Squadron, Royal Air Force seated on the cockpit of his Hawker Hurricane at Duxford. Photo by Devon S A (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer –

Following his devastating crash, Bader was discharged from the RAF and, aged 23, found employment at the Asiatic Petroleum Company, a joint venture between Shell and Royal Dutch.

Though Bader would rejoin the RAF and serve during World War Two, he returned to Shell after the war. He worked there until 1969 when he joined the Civil Aviation Authority.

4. Bader was a hugely successful air fighter

Douglas Bader, group.capt pa Sophies minde. N脜 nr. 36, 1955. Photo by Ragge Strand –

Throughout his military career, Bader was credited with 22 aerial victories, 4 shared victories, 6 probable, 1 shared probable and 11 enemy aircraft damaged.

Bader鈥檚 heroism is unquestioned. But it is hard to precisely quantify his aerial success due to the unreliability of his favored 鈥楤ig Wing鈥� approach; this was the tactic of uniting multiple squadrons to outnumber enemy aircraft, the results of which were often embellished to convince others of its effectiveness.

5. He may have been the victim of friendly fire

Douglas Bader, group.capt. p氓 Sophies minde. N脜 nr. 36, 1955. Photo by Ragge Strand –

On 9^th August 1941, while on a raid over the French coast, the fuselage, tail, and fin of Bader鈥檚 Spitfire were destroyed, forcing Bader to bail out into enemy territory, where he was captured.

Bader himself believed he collided with a Bf 109, however German records state no Bf 109 was lost that day. Neither of the 2 Luftwaffe pilots who claimed victories on 9 August, Wolfgang Kosse and Max Meyer, asserted they shot down Bader.

However, RAF Flight Lieutenant 鈥淏uck鈥� Kasson did claim to have hit a Bf 109鈥檚 tail that day, forcing the pilot to bail out. It has been suggested that this could have been Bader鈥檚 Spitfire, rather than a German Bf 109, hinting that friendly fire may have ultimately destroyed Bader鈥檚 plane.

6. Bader was captured in France near his father鈥檚 grave

Squadron Leader Douglas Bader DSO (front center) with some of the Canadian pilots of his Squadron, 242 (Canadian) Squadron, grouped around his Hurricane fighter aircraft at Duxford. Photo by Devon S A (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer –

In 1922, Bader鈥檚 father, Frederick, a Major in the British Army, was buried in Saint-Omer having stayed in France after being wounded during World War One.

It was 19 years later that Bader was forced to bail out of his destroyed Spitfire, he was captured by 3 German officers and taken to the nearest hospital. This just happened to be in Saint-Omer.

7. German officers allowed the British to send a new prosthetic leg for Bader

British Personalities: Squadron Leader Douglas Bader and fellow pilots, F/Lt Ball and P/O McKnight DFC, study an emblem of Hitler painted on a Hawker Hurricane of 242 Squadron, Royal Air Force. Photo by Devon S A (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer –

During Bader鈥檚 bailout in 1941, his right prosthetic leg was trapped and ultimately lost when he deployed his parachute. Such was the high regard in which German officers held Bader, they arranged for British officials to send him a new prosthetic leg.

With Reichsmarschall Goering鈥檚 approval, the Luftwaffe provided unrestricted access over Saint-Omer, allowing the RAF to deliver the leg along with socks, powder, tobacco, and chocolate.

8. Bader repeatedly attempted to escape captivity

Squadron Leader Douglas Bader, commanding No. 242 (Canadian) Squadron, with Major Alexander ‘Sasha’ Hess, CO of No. 310 (Czechoslovak) Squadron, Duxford, September 1940. Photo by Royal Air Force official photographer –

While held prisoner, Bader saw it as his mission to frustrate the Germans as much as possible (a practice called 鈥榞oon-baiting鈥�). This frequently involved planning and attempting escapes.

Bader鈥檚 initial attempt involved tying bedsheets together and fleeing out of the window of the Saint-Omer hospital he was originally treated鈥� a plan foiled by a hospital worker鈥檚 betrayal.

In 1942, Bader escaped from the camp at Stalag Luft III in Sagan before eventually being transferred to the 鈥榚scape-proof鈥� facility of Colditz, where he remained until liberation in 1945.

9. Bader led the RAF鈥檚 victory flypast in June 1945

Three decorated fighter pilots of No. 242 (Canadian) Squadron RAF, standing outside the Officers’ Mess at Duxford, Cambridgeshire. They are (left to right): Pilot Officer W L McKnight, Acting Squadron Leader D R S Bader (Commanding Officer), and Acting Flight Lieutenant G E Ball. By the date this photograph was taken these pilots had, between them, shot down over thirty enemy aircraft. Photo by Devon S A (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer –

After his release from Colditz, Bader was promoted to Group Captain and given the honor of leading a victory flypast of 300 aircraft over London in June 1945.

This befitted the reputation he had developed both within the RAF and with the general public for his heroism during World War Two, particularly the Battle of Britain.

In the 1950s, Bader wrote the foreword to the biography of Hans-Ulrich Rudel, the most decorated German pilot of World War Two. In Stuka Pilot, Rudel defended Nazi policy, criticized the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht for 鈥渇ailing Hitler鈥� and prepared the ground for his subsequent Neo-Nazi activism.

10. Bader became a prominent campaigner for people with disabilities before his passing on in 1982

Blue plaque erected in 2009 by English Heritage at 5 Petersham Mews, Kensington, London SW7 5NR, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Photo by Spudgun67 –

In later life, Bader used his position to campaign for people with disabilities, particularly in employment settings. He famously said, 鈥渁 disabled person who fights back is not disabled, but inspired鈥�.

Bader was awarded a Knight Bachelor (a rank in the British honors system typically awarded for public service) in recognition of his commitment to the cause, in 1976.

Shortly after he died in 1982, The Douglas Bader Foundation was formed in his honor by family and friends, several of whom had flown alongside him in World War Two.