Bader Hurricane from 242 Squadron
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Posted on 12/16/2004 4:47:42 PM PST by tophat9000
Douglas Bader has become a household name in World War 2 because not only was he an exceptional pilot and leader, upholding the strongest of British Traditions, but he was also a double leg amputee.
Douglas Robert Steuart Bader was born on February 10, 1910, in London, England, son of Frederick Roberts Bader and Jessie Bader. The young Douglas had been an adequate, rather than outstanding, scholar, concentrating on his attention rather less than was wise on his academic ability, and rather more enthusiastically in developing his sporting skills, an area in which he was to excel.
In 1923 when he was 13, Douglas stayed with his aunt and uncle (who was the RAF College's Adjutant) and he quickly identified that the cadet's lifestyle was for him. At the end of his stay he had made up his mind that he wanted to become a flight cadet, and five years later he won one of six King's Cadetships, taking his place on the course in 1928. Although sport still dominated Bader's life (he represented Cranwell College at boxing, cricket, hockey and rugby), his routine academic work had developed to the point that he was narrowly beaten into second place for the Sword of Honour when passing out of Cranwell in 1930. When he left, one of the first year students said 'To us Bader was a sort of God who played every conceivable game and was the best player in every team'.
From here he was posted to Kenley where he honed bis flying skills. he quickly demonstrated a natural ability as an aviator and by early 1931 he had gained a place in 23 Squadron' aerobatics Paris team. After Bader and his partner won the pairs title at the 1931 Hendon Air Pageant, the Times reported their display as 'the event of the day'. Later in the year, on 14th December, Douglas Bader was to suffer a fate that would change his whole way of life. Following an excursion to Woodley airfield near Reading, the ever exuberant bader was displaying his skills with a series of low rolls when his left wing brushed the ground. In that split second of misjudgement the life of the 21 year old was transformed form that of a young man standing on the threshold of international rugby honours and possibly country cricket, to one of facing life as a double amputee. The accident was to result in the amputation of Douglas's right leg above the knee and the left below the knee.
Bader never tried to find an excuse for the accident. In his flying-log he later entered a simple account. X-country Reading. Crashed slow rolling near ground, bad show'. When quizzed in later life as to what had gone wrong, a philosophical Douglas, after a brief thought, merely stated 'Just made a b***s of it old boy. that's all there is to it.'
All there was to it, perhaps, but this was just the beginning of another chapter in this remarkable man's life. Having survived the accident and clinging to life by a thread, Douglas began to rebuild his life. First he had to overcome the problems that his new artificial limbs were to present. In his own words, Douglas held the view that 'having been of an athletic nature and knowing nothing about artificial legs, I thought that during my convalescence that once I got them I should wander around after a day or two quite normally, When I went for my first fitting of these legs and actually put them on and tried to stand up in them I never though I would move them.
With a strong man on each side of me, having been levered to my feet, I stood there as far as I was concerned nailed to the ground with no conscious balance if I let go of my two supporters. After a certain amount of time, trouble, and a great deal of sweat, I began to get some inkling of how to operate the artificial knee of the right leg. After battling away for several days, during the course of which I spent a good deal of time on the ground, my mind and my reflexes gradually acquired the method of movement needed and then, as always, it suddenly came with a rush and did not seem so difficult'.
Having been informed by the doctors looking after him that he was doing remarkably well but should use 'sticks' as he would never walk without them, he retorted 'on the contrary, I will never b***dy well walk with them'. He never did!
Douglas was discharged from the service and divorced from his first passion - flying - by got his thrills from his sports car, which he apparently drove in the same way as he flew. With the onset of WW2 he recognised the opportunity of getting back into the air and joining the action, It wasn't easy and he had to be persistent, calling in quite a few favours along the way. He was constantly being told 'there is nothing in King's Regulations allowing a man in his condition to fly' but, as he was quick to point out, 'there was nothing in Kings Regs to say a man in his condition couldn't fly!'. Eventually due to the nation's overwhelming need for experienced pilots, and with considerable support from those officers under whom Douglas had served in the early 30's, the way was cleared and soon Douglas was back where he considered he belonged.
By April 1940 Douglas was promoted taking command of 'A' Flight of 222 Squadron. His skills s a pilot and his inspirational leadership qualities soon became well known throughout the service and when, in June 1940, the totally demoralised Canadian 242 Squadron were withdrawn after the fall of France, Bader was quickly identified as the ideal candidate to take charge. Within a very short period of time Bader's leadership had transformed the Squadron. Group Capt woodhall, CO Duxford said '242 Squadron soon became an enthusiastic team led by their single minded and swashbuckling CO Douglas Bader.
Air Marshal Sir Denis Crowley Milling, a young pilot officer at the time, remembered that 'Less than a month after he took command of the Squadron, morale was very high. Fear was ever present of course, but Bader was afraid of nothing and through both example and constant encouragement he helped us all conquer our own anxieties'.
The catalogue of testaments reflecting similar sentiments to those of Sir Denis in respect of Douglas Bader throughout his active WW2 service is endless. However even the seemingly indestructible Douglas Bader's luck ran out on 9 August 1941, when his aircraft was brought down and Bader taken prisoner.
Despite the confinement of a POW camp (Douglas eventually ended up in Colditz) his positive attitude towards escape and returning to action continued to inspire his fellow POWs and it is clear from accounts of the time that his spirit never deserted him. Douglas saw it as his duty to escape and instilled a similar attitude among his comrades; if he couldn't get away then he certainly wasn't going to make life easy for his captors.
In April 1945 liberation arrived. Douglas returned home but soon realised that there was now little place for him in the RAF. He rejoined the civilian ranks and carved himself a career as Managing Director of Shell Aircraft Operations as well as serving on the CAA. However it was in his civilian role that he soon realised that there were may people in a not dissimilar position to himself, recognising that most were in a less fortunate position than him and that something must be done to help. Douglas Bader appreciated that he enjoyed an elevated position throughout the UK. His story was legendary his direct attitude and forthright nature made people take note of what he said. He was much admired by the Nation as a whole and possess enormous energy. Of all his attributes his ability to inspire people to take action and get on with this was probably his greatest gift. He dedicated himself to improving the plight of disabled people everywhere and over the years supported and raised funds for countless charities and projects. In 1976 he was knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for his inspirational work for and amongst the disabled community.
I've read about him before and his story is an inspiration to everyone. Unfortunatly the hero's of kids today are degenerates, thugs, and tattooed morons. What a difference a few generations make!
Nice post. Inspirational.
BUMP
Thing is, you didn't get sent to Colditz unless you were considered an incorrigible escape risk. Bader didn't give up even as a POW.
One of our family library books was Brickhill's biography of Bader...
Thanks for the post.
Bader Hurricane from 242 Squadron
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Why did you use the word "ace" in the title?
I thought that one had to have so many "kills" to be called an "ace." There is no mention made of any "kills" whatsoever in the article.
Just curious.
Ever heard of a search engine?
"..In the “Battle of Britain” . Bader was in the thick of it, his first “kill” was in May, 1940, when he downed a German Messerschmitt 109 - altogether he had 22 “kills” within 12 months."
Thank you for this post. Bader was a childhood hero of mine. When he was in Colditz, I seem to recall that the Germans actually allowed a RAF bomber to fly by and drop an artificial leg for him. Their respect for him extended to allowing him to inspect a ME109...although they would not let him get into it!
Paul Brickhill, Royal Australian Air Force officer, also a POW at Colditz, wrote e gripping book about Bader called "Reach for the Sky".This was later made into a movie with Kenneth Moore.Among Brickhill's books were Coditz Castle, and the book that inspired The Great Escape.
Thank you for this post. Bader was a childhood hero of mine. When he was in Colditz, I seem to recall that the Germans actually allowed a RAF bomber to fly by and drop an artificial leg for him. Their respect for him extended to allowing him to inspect a ME109...although they would not let him get into it!
Paul Brickhill, Royal Australian Air Force officer, also a POW at Colditz, wrote e gripping book about Bader called "Reach for the Sky".This was later made into a movie with Kenneth Moore.Among Brickhill's books were Coditz Castle, and the book that inspired The Great Escape.
Actually he had 23 kills. The last one was the Bf-109 he collided with that put him down behind enemy lines.
Thanks for a great post about a great individual.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
You are quite right.Thanks for the clarificaation..
I believe his prosthetics were damaged when he was shot down. I also seem to recall that they ended up taking them away from him because he soon made his first escape attempt soon after receiving the new legs.
poing
Dogsbody Bump.
Also "Wing Leader" by J.E. Johnson.
I'm glad you spoke out about this. I'm sorry you have to deal with sorry attitudes from other people. There's one pro-death lawyer who actually used the hypothetical situation of having both legs amputated as a basis for whether one woman's life would be worth living. Those types who think like that will get theirs one day. Every life has a purpose, we don't understand why we go through some things but noone should try to tell any of us what our quality of life is!
God bless all our heroes who fought and still fight for freedom!!!
Another Bader story that was told if not true. After the crash that cost him his legs he had a lengthy operation. On coming to after the operation he began to groan. Coming further into consciousness he realized that he was in a hospital and overheard one orderly admonish another to be quiet and not disturb the dying man. Bader immediately stopped groaning because he didn't want to disturb the poor dying chap either. Of course he was the "dying" chap, at least as far as the orderly was concerned.
Why the sarcastic question, jerk?
I guess you get your jollies feeling superior, huh?
Take a hike.
I remember seeing a picture of Bader sitting in the cockpit of a Bf-109 with a German officer pointing a Luger at him just in case he had thoughts of flying home. Bader said he never knew aout the Luger until he saw the picture, but escape had never occured to him anyway.
I also remember reading that one of his legs got caught in the cockpit after the collision that brought him down. He pulled free minus the leg and bailed out, which probably unnerved one German pilot intent on shooting Bader in his chute who saw him floating down minus a leg. The replacement leg was dropped by a British bomber, but some German flak units weren't informed of the nature of the object parachuting down and began shooting at it.
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