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Sir Douglas Steuart Bader
(1910 - 1982)

Date of Birth: 21/02/1910
Nationality: English
Nickname: 'Dogsbody'
Career Rank: Group Captain
BoB Kills: 11
Total Kills: 20

Sir Douglas Steuart Bader was born in St John's Wood, London on the 21st February 1910. In 1928, Bader joined the Royal Air Force as an officer cadet at Cranwell. Bader excelled in sports but also took part in banned activities such as speeding, motorcycle pillion racing and racing motorcars which led to a private warning from his C.O., with the threat of expulsion if his conduct didn't improve.

On the 13th September 1928, Bader flew for the first time with Flying Officer W.J. "Pissy" Pearson in an Avro 504 and after only 11 hours and fifteen minutes he took his first solo flight on the 19th of February 1929.

On the 26th July 1930, Bader was commissioned as a Pilot Officer and posted to 23 Squadron based at Kenley, Surrey, equipped with Gloster Gamecocks and shortly after Bristol Bulldogs. Bader was very headstrong and became known as a daredevil whilst training there and would often fly dangerous and 'illegal' stunts. The Bulldog was fast for its time but it had directional stability problems at low speeds making low level stunts exceptionally dangerous resulting in strict orders forbidding unauthorised low level aerobatics.

23 Squadron won the Hendon Air Show 'pairs' event in 1929 and 1930. In 1931 Bader, teamed with a pilot named Harry Day, successfully defended the Squadron's title in the spring of that year. In late 1931 Bader started training for the 1932 Hendon Air Show in an attempt to win a second consecutive title. The pilots were warned not to practice the acrobatics below 2,000 feet and to keep above 500 feet at all times.

Bader, Day and Stephenson during training for 1932 Hendon Airshow.

On the 14th December 1931 at Reading Aero Club, Bader was flying low level aerobatics, apparently as a dare, when his Bulldog Mk. IIA's left wing tip touched the ground and he crashed. Bader was rushed to Royal Berkshire Hospital with severely crushed legs which had to be amputated, the right leg above the knee and the left leg below the knee.

After a long convalescence Bader was transferred to the hospital at RAF Uxbridge in 1932 and worked hard to walk again with his artificial legs. In June 1932, Air Under-Secretary Phillip Sassoon gave Bader the chance to prove he could still fly by arranging a test flight in an Avro 504. Douglas piloted the aircraft competently and a subsequent medical found him fit for service, however, in April 1933 he received notification that the RAF had reversed this medical decision based upon his handicap and that he was to be invalided out of the RAF.

As war was becoming increasingly likely, Bader persisted in requesting a posting from the Air Ministry and eventually he was asked to attend Adasral House for a selection board meeting. Bader was disappointed to discover that the only 'jobs' on offer were ground positions; however, he was personally endorsed by Air Vice-Marshall Halahan to attend Central Flying School to assess his flying capabilities.

On 14th October 1939, Bader was requested to attend the Central Flying School for flight tests on the 18th October. Bader drove down the next day and took refresher courses and his persistence finally paid off when in November 1939 he regained a medical certificate for operational flying.

On the 27th of November 1939, eight years after his accident, Bader flew solo again in an Avro Tutor progressing to the Fairey Battle and Miles Master - the last training before experiencing the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire.

Bader was posted to 19 Squadron, based at RAF Duxford in January 1940 and at the age of 29 he was considerably older than his fellow pilots. The Commanding Officer was Squadron Leader Geoffrey Stephenson, a close friend from his Cranwell days.

Between February and May 1940 Bader practised formation flying, air tactics, and undertook flights over sea convoys. Bader found opposition to his ideas about aerial combat, he favoured using the sun and altitude to ambush the enemy but the RAF did not share his opinions. Official orders dictated that pilots should fly line-astern and attack singly. Despite this being at odds with his preferred tactics, Bader obeyed orders and his skill saw him rapidly promoted to section leader.

Leigh-Mallory promoted Bader to Flight Commander of 222 Squadron, based at Duxford, with the rank of Flight Lieutenant. During the evacuation of Dunkirk the RAF were ordered to provide Air Cover during Operation Dynamo and whilst patrolling the coast on the 1st June 1940, he came across a Messerschmitt Bf 109 in front of him and shot him down.

After Dunkirk, Bader was posted to 242 Squadron based at RAF Coltishall as Squadron Leader on 28th June 1940. The Squadron was mainly made up of Canadians who had retreated hastily from France after high casualties. Bader transformed the Squadron into an effective fighting unit and gained the respect of the pilots through his strong leadership. 242 Squadron was then assigned to 12 Group and became fully operational on the 9th of July 1940.

Squadron Leader Douglas Bader, CO 242 Squadron RAF, Duxford September 1940

On the 11th July 1940, Bader scored his first kill with his new Squadron by shooting down a Dornier Do 17 whilst on lone patrol flying North of the Norfolk coast. Bader shot down another Dornier on the 21st August with the enemy aircraft crashing into the sea off Great Yarmouth. Later in August, Bader shot down 2 Messerschmitt Bf 110's and on the 30th August 1940 242 Squadron was moved back to Duxford.

On the 30th August, Bader shot down 2 Messerschmitt Bf 110's and on the 7th September he repeated the feat but his Hurricane had been badly damaged in the combat by a Messerschmitt Bf 109 and he almost decided to bail out but he managed to regain control and land.

On 7 September, Bader claimed two Messerschmitt Bf 109s shot down followed by a Junkers Ju 88. On the 9th September, Bader claimed another Dornier and during the same mission he attacked a Heinkel He 111 only to discover he was out of ammunition. Enraged, he thought about ramming it and succeeded in slicing off the rudder with his propeller, but broke off the attack when he regained his composure, the Heinkel He 111 continued onward badly damaged. On the 14th September 1940, Bader was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his combat leadership.

On 15 September 1940, known as 'Battle of Britain Day', Bader damaged a Dornier Do 17 and a Junkers Ju 88 while destroying another Dornier Do 17 in the afternoon. Bader flew several missions that day, which involved heavy air combat. The original combat report states that he destroyed one enemy aircraft, claimed no probable, but did claim several damaged. Another Dornier Do 17 and a Junkers Ju 88 were claimed on 18th September and a Messerschmitt Bf 109 on the 27th of September.

On 12 December 1940, Bader was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for his service during the Battle of Britain with his unit, 242 Squadron, claiming 62 aerial victories.

On 18 March 1941, Bader was promoted to Wing Commander becoming one of the first 'Wing Leaders'. Stationed at Tangmere he had 145, 610 and 616 Squadrons under his command and Bader led his wing of Spitfires on sweeps over north-western Europe throughout the summer campaign. These were missions combining bombers and fighters designed to lure out and tie down German Luftwaffe fighter units that might otherwise serve on the Russian front. One of the Wing Leader's "perks" was permission to have his initials marked on his aircraft as personal identification, thus "D-B" was painted on the side of Bader's Spitfire, giving rise to his radio call-sign "Dogsbody".

During 1941 his Wing was re-equipped with Spitfire Vb's, which had two Hispano 20 mm cannon and four .303 machine guns. Bader flew a Mk Va equipped with eight .303 machine guns, as he insisted that these guns were more effective against fighter opposition. His tactics required a close-in approach in which he felt the lower calibre weapons had a more devastating effect. At the time, RAF trials with wing-mounted cannons had also revealed a number of shortcomings that precluded a widespread acceptance of the armament.

On the 7th of May 1941 Bader shot down one Messerschmitt Bf 109 and claimed another as a probable victory. On the 21st of June 1941, Bader shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109E off the coast of Deservres. His victory was witnessed by two other pilots who saw the Bf 109 crash and the German pilot bale out. On the 25th of June 1941, Bader shot down two more Messerschmitt Bf 109Fs and in the same action he shared in the destruction of another Messerschmitt Bf 109F.

On the 2nd of July 1941, Bader was awarded the Bar to his DSO and later that day he claimed one Messerschmitt Bf 109 destroyed and another damaged. On the 4th of July, Bader fired on a Messerschmitt Bf 109E which slowed down so much that he nearly collided with it, the Bf 109 "fell away in a sloppy fashion", "as though the pilot had been hit" - it was claimed as a probable. On the 6th of July another Messerschmitt Bf 109 was shot down with the pilot bailing out, this kill was witnessed by Pilot Officers Johnson and Smith.

On the 10th of July, Bader claimed a Messerschmitt Bf 109 over Bethune and later, Bader destroyed a Messerschmitt Bf 109E which blew up south of Calais. On the 12th of July, Bader found further success shooting down one Messerschmitt Bf 109 and damaging three others between Bethune and St Omer. On the 23rd of July, Bader claimed another Messerschmitt Bf 109 damaged and possibly destroyed.

On 9 August 1941, Bader was flying his Spitfire Mk Va serial W3185 "D-B" on an offensive patrol looking for Messerschmitt Bf 109's from Abbeville or Wissant. Just after Bader's section of four aircraft crossed the coast, a formation of Messerschmitt Bf 109s was spotted flying in formation below them and travelling in the same direction. Bader dived on them too fast and barely avoided colliding with one of them, after levelling out at 24,000ft he found that he was now separated from his section and that three pairs of Messerschmitt Bf 109s were a couple of miles in front of him. He dropped down below them and closed up before destroying one of them with a short burst of fire from close range and was just opening fire on a second Messerschmitt Bf 109 when he noticed two on his left turning towards him so at this point he decided to return home. However, making the mistake of banking away from them, Bader believed he had a mid-air collision with the second of the two Messerschmitt Bf 109s.

Bader's fuselage, tail and fin were gone from behind him, and he lost height rapidly at what he estimated to be 400 mph in a slow spin. When he attempted to bail out, Bader's right prosthetic leg became trapped in his Hurricane and he escaped only when the leg's retaining straps snapped after he pulled the ripcord on his parachute.

Bader was captured in occupied France by the Germans and sent to St Omer Hospital to recover. The Germans requested a spare right prosthetic leg for Bader which, on the 19th of August 1941, was dropped by a British Bomber over St Omer, a Luftwaffe base in occupied France. A French maid at the hospital attempted to get in touch with British agents to enable Douglas to escape back to Britain and she brought a letter from a peasant couple who promised to shelter him outside St Omer until he could be passed further down the line. Until then, their son would wait outside the hospital every night until there was a chance of escape.

Eventually Bader was able to escape out of a window and complete the long walk to the safe house despite wearing his uniform. Unfortunately the plan was betrayed by another woman at the hospital and when a German staff car arrived at the 'Safe House' Bader hid in the garden but was found. Bader denied that the couple had known he was there but along with the French woman at the hospital the couple were sent to a forced labour camp in Germany.

Over the next few years as a prisoner, Bader caused as much trouble for the Germans as he possibly could. He often practiced what the RAF personnel called "goon-baiting" as Bader considered it was his duty to cause as much disruption to the enemy as possible, including escape attempts. He made so many attempts at escape that the Germans threatened to take away his legs.

In August 1942 Bader escaped with four others from the camp at Stalag Luft III B in Sagan, unfortunately a Luftwaffe officer of Jagdgeschwader 26 was in the area and keen to meet the Tangmere wing leader, he dropped by to see him but when he knocked on Bader's door there was no answer. The alarm was raised and a few days later Bader was recaptured. A short time later Bader was incarcerated in Colditz Castle Oflag IV-C on 18 August 1942, where he remained until 15 April 1945 when it was liberated by the First United States Army.

Colditz Castle, April 1945

After his return to England Bader led a victory flypast of 300 aircraft over London in June 1945. Bader was looking for a position in the RAF and Bader was given the post of the Fighter Leader's School commanding officer and promoted to Group Captain.

After the death of Leigh-Mallory in an air crash in November 1944 Bader's enthusiasm for continued service had begun to wane and he eventually left the Royal Air Force in July 1946.

Bader decided to join Shell, his decision was not motivated by money but because Shell had been ready to take him on after his accident. Also, Joining Shell would allow him to continue flying as he would travel as an executive and it meant he could fly a light aircraft. He spent most of his time abroad flying around in a company-owned Percival Proctor.

Douglas Bader 1955

Baders workload was exhausting for a legless man, especially with his worsening heart condition, on the 5th of September 1982 after a dinner honouring Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris at the Guildhall, Bader died of a heart attack while on his way home.

"Lest we forget"