About Douglas Bader

Douglas Bader is well-known as an “ace” fighter pilot from World War II. He was a key figure in the Battle of Britain and shot down 23 enemy aircraft during the course of the war, making him number 11 in the RAF’s tally of top fighter pilots. However, the really astonishing thing about this man is that he achieved this success despite the fact that he had lost both his legs in a much earlier air accident. It is his determination to overcome adversity, prejudice and his own physical limitations, which have continued to inspire people right up to the present day.

Douglas Robert Stuart Bader was born on the 21st February 1910. At school, and in his early years as a cadet with the RAF, he excelled at all sports, including cricket, rugby, hockey and boxing. He also excelled at flying, but during a daredevil stunt in December 1931, his plane crashed and he was rushed to hospital where both his legs had to be amputated. Despite this terrible disability, he was determined that he would abandon neither his sporting interests nor his career in the RAF.

He was fitted with prosthetic “tin legs” and set about trying to live a normal life, despite the doubts of others. He learned to walk again and to drive a specially adapted car. He persevered with cricket (using a runner) but soon realised that he would never again excel at this sport. Later he took up tennis, squash and golf – which he became good at. However, his real passion was to fly with the RAF again. Some seven months after the accident, he had the opportunity to test his flying skills, thanks to a friend who owned a two-seater Avro 504. Bader proved that he could control an aircraft in flight but the RAF medical board were not so easily convinced and refused to pass him fit for flying, because the “King’s Regulations” did not allow for a pilot without legs. He was discharged from the RAF in 1933, on the grounds of ill health.

He never gave up his dreams of flying and when WWII broke out, he persuaded the RAF to allow him to rejoin – and to fly again. He flew his first combat mission in May 1940. At this time, his squadron (222 Sqn) was stationed at Martlesham Heath, Suffolk. From there, they provided defence for the beleaguered British army who were stranded on the beaches of Dunkirk.

In June 1940 he was made Acting Squadron Leader of 242 Sqn – a squadron suffering from poor morale, following the beating it had taken in the Battle of France. Bader immediately showed his leadership skills, leading “from the front” and being completely intolerant of any obstacles to success – especially petty bureaucracy. He won the respect of his men but frequently found himself in conflict with the RAF “top brass”.

On August 9, 1941, flying over northern France, he collided with a German plane and went down, to find himself a prisoner of war. Following several attempts to escape, hampered by his lack of legs, he was transferred to the infamous Colditz Prison where he remained until the end of the war. His captors cooperated in allowing the RAF to air-drop a pair of artificial legs to him whilst in captivity.
His decorations included the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and Bar, the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and Bar, the Legion d’Honneur, and the Croix de Guerre. He was knighted in 1976 for his services to amputees “so many of whom he had helped and inspired by his example and character.”

On 5th September 1982, Douglas Bader died of a heart attack at the age of 72 years. However, he continues to be an inspiration, through his example of courage and dogged determination to succeed despite adversity and physical disability.