Douglas Bader

Douglas Bader
Douglas Bader, often called "The Legless Wonder," stands out as a remarkable figure, even among the unique characters in the Royal Air Force. An early convert to aviation, Bader graduated from the RAF College at Cranwell in 1930. In 1931 he crashed while performing aerobatics and had both legs amputated below the knee. When the war started he campaigned to re-enter the RAF as a combat pilot. His extraordinary persistence paid off, and by July 1940 he was a combat veteran flying Spitfires as commander of 242 Squadron. By late August he was an Ace, earning the DSO with eight victories. By the end of the Battle of Britain his score was more than a dozen. Early in 1941 he earned a DFC and took command of the Tangmere Wing's three Spitfire squadrons. Sweeps over France added to his tally of Messerschmitts, but Bader's luck ran out immediately after his twentieth victory.

On August 9, 1941, he shot down his last two Bf 109s, but a collision with a third forced him to bail out. He lost one artificial leg in the process, and damaged the other upon landing. Hearing of the celebrity prisoner, German Ace Adolf Galland of JG 26 sent a car so that the recuperating Bader could visit his adversaries. Soon thereafter Bader briefly escaped, but the Germans recaptured him. Such was his status among fliers that his German hosts informed the RAF of his capture and allowed a substitute set of legs to be dropped for him. After further escape attempts Bader spent the remainder of the war--until April 1945--in the high-security camp at Kolditz.

Wing Leader Douglas Bader
(1910-1982)
Final Tally: 20
Fighter Aircraft Flown: Supermarine Spitfire
Rank at End of War: Wing Leader
Medals and Awards: DSO, DFC
Campaign Flown: Battle of Britain