Bader, Douglas

Bader, Douglas (1910–1982) British aviator hero For Britons, standing alone against Germany during after the Battle of France and during the Battle of Britain, Douglas Bader was one of the great heroic figures of the war and the embodiment of resistance against all odds. Born in London, the son of a soldier killed in World War I, Bader studied at Oxford and at the Royal Air Force (RAF) College in Cranwell. Commissioned an officer in the Royal Air Force in 1930, he was severely injured in a crash in 1931 and lost both his legs. Discharged from the RAF, he made a career with the Asiatic Petroleum Company. However, at the outbreak of World War II, he appealed for readmission to the RAF and, despite his double amputation, flew and fought as a pilot in the 222 Squadron, taking part in operations at Dunkirk and scoring two kills there, shooting down a Messerschmitt Bf109 and a Heinkel He111. After this action, Bader was given command of 242 Squadron, a unit that had just suffered catastrophic 50 percent casualties. In an effort to rebuild morale, Bader radically reorganized the squadron, thereby incurring the wrath of higher command. His leadership was vindicated, however, when, in its first sortie during the Battle of Britain, on August 30, 1940, the 242 Squadron shot down a dozen German aircraft over the English Channel in the space of an hour, Bader personally downing a pair of Messerschmitt 110s. Despite the results he achieved, Bader was repeatedly rebuffed by higher command over tactical issues, particularly his outspoken belief that RAF fighters should sortie out to intercept German planes before they reached Britain. This tactic was rejected on the grounds that it would take too long to organize properly. Others pointed out that Bader's overly aggressive tactics left RAF air bases exposed and vulnerable to Luftwaffe attack. Eventually, however, a version of Bader's tactics was adopted in the so-called Big Wing strategy, whereby large RAF fighter formations were deployed against German aircraft over the English Channel and even over northern Europe. This resulted in many kills, but did leave some prime homeland targets vulnerable. Nevertheless, Bader embraced the Big Wing and, during the summer of 1941, downed 12 German aircraft, for a total of 23—making him the fifth-highest-ranking ace in the RAF. Bader's luck ran out on August 9, 1941, when he collided in midair with another aircraft over Le Touquet, France. He was able to parachute out of his plane, but his landing broke both of his prosthetic legs. Taken to a hospital, he enlisted the aid of a French nurse to escape but was caught, arrested, and sent to a prisoner of war camp. After several additional escape attempts, he was sent to a camp in Germany itself. There he spent the rest of the war. Liberated after the German surrender, Bader was promoted to group captain but left the RAF in1946 for a career as managing director of Shell Aircraft. In 1969, he become a member of the Civil Aviation Authority Board, published a memoir of the Battle of Britain in 1973, and was knighted in 1976.