Douglas Bader

1. Lead

Douglas Bader (21 February 1910 – 5 September 1982) was a Royal Air Force fighter ace who flew in the Battle of Britain with two artificial legs, having lost both legs in a flying accident in 1931. He was credited with 22 aerial victories, and he was one of the most famous British airmen of the Second World War: a squadron leader, then a wing leader, who commanded the Duxford Wing of five squadrons during the Battle of Britain and who was, after his capture in August 1941, one of the most determined escapers among the prisoners of war at Colditz Castle.

After the war he became a campaigner for disabled people and a public figure in Britain, and his life was told in the bestselling biography Reach for the Sky (1954) and in the film of the same name (1956).

Bader’s story is often told as a simple tale of courage, and it is a story of courage, but it is also a more complicated one. He was a difficult man: arrogant, outspoken, and impatient with anyone who disagreed with him, and his advocacy of the “Big Wing” tactic in the Battle of Britain brought him into conflict with the two men who were actually fighting the battle, Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park and Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding.

His refusal to accept that his legs made him unfit to fly was heroic, but it was also, in the judgement of some of his contemporaries, an act of stubbornness that the RAF indulged because it needed heroes. This article tells the story as the records show it, including the controversies as well as the triumphs.

2. Key Facts

Born	21 February 1910, St John’s Wood, London, England
Died	5 September 1982 (aged 72), Chiswick, London, England
Nationality	British
Role / Office	Fighter ace; Wing Leader, Duxford Wing, 1940–1941; prisoner of war, Colditz Castle, 1941–1945
Known for	22 aerial victories; flying with two artificial legs; the Duxford Wing and the Big Wing controversy; escapes from Colditz; Reach for the Sky (1954)
Spouse / Family	Married Thelma Edwards in 1933; no children
Military rank	Group Captain

3. Early Life and Education

A London childhood and Cranwell

Douglas Bader was born on 21 February 1910 in St John’s Wood, London, the second son of Frederick Roberts Bader, a civil engineer, and his wife Jessie. His father was killed in France in 1917, when Douglas was seven, and his mother later remarried.

Bader was educated at Temple Grove School and at St Edward’s School, Oxford, where he was a keen sportsman — he played rugby and cricket — and a mediocre student. In 1928 he entered the Royal Air Force College at Cranwell, the RAF’s officer training school, where he was commissioned as a pilot officer in 1930.

He was, from the start, a natural pilot and a reckless one: he loved aerobatics, he flew close to the ground, and he was warned more than once about his low flying. The warnings did not take effect, and on 14 December 1931, while performing low-level aerobatics in a Bristol Bulldog fighter at Woodley airfield near Reading, he crashed and lost both legs — the right leg above the knee and the left leg below the knee.

Losing both legs

The accident of 14 December 1931 should have ended Bader’s flying career, and for two years it did. He was fitted with artificial legs — tin legs, as he called them — and he learned to walk, to dance, to play golf, and, in time, to drive a car.

He was determined to fly again, and in 1932 he passed the RAF’s medical tests for flying, but the Air Ministry refused to allow him to return to flying duties, and in 1933 he retired from the RAF on medical grounds. He married Thelma Edwards in 1933 and went to work for the Asiatic Petroleum Company, the Shell oil company, in London.

He was a successful businessman, but he was not happy: he wanted to fly, and he spent the next six years trying to persuade the RAF to take him back. The outbreak of war in September 1939 gave him his chance.

The RAF, short of pilots, agreed to reassess him, and in November 1939 he was accepted back into the service as a flying officer, on the condition that he could pass the flying tests — which he did, to the astonishment of the examiners.

4. Rise to Prominence

Return to the RAF and the first victories

Bader’s return to the RAF in November 1939 was the beginning of one of the most remarkable comebacks in military history. He was posted to No. 19 Squadron, flying Spitfires, and then to No. 222 Squadron, and in the Battle of France in May–June 1940 he scored his first victories. In June 1940 he was given command of No.

242 (Canadian) Squadron, a Hurricane squadron manned largely by Canadians, and he led it in the Battle of Britain. The squadron’s pilots, who had at first been sceptical of a legless commander, came to admire him: he flew with them, he fought with them, and he demanded the highest standards. By September 1940 he had 12 victories, and he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

His leadership of 242 Squadron, and his personal example, made him one of the best-known fighter pilots in Britain.

The Duxford Wing

In the autumn of 1940 Bader was promoted to wing leader, commanding the Duxford Wing — a formation of five squadrons based at Duxford, in Cambridgeshire — and he became the RAF’s leading advocate of the “Big Wing” tactic: the idea that fighter squadrons should be massed into large formations to meet the German bomber streams, rather than being sent up in small numbers.

The tactic was championed by Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, the commander of 12 Group, and it was opposed by Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park, the commander of 11 Group, who was actually fighting the battle over London and the south-east. Park argued that the Big Wing took too long to form up and arrived too late to intercept the bombers, and that it left 11 Group’s airfields undefended.

The argument became one of the great controversies of the Battle of Britain, and it contributed to the removal of both Dowding and Park from their commands in the autumn of 1940. Bader’s part in the controversy was to support Leigh-Mallory, and his support carried weight because he was a fighting pilot, not a staff officer.

5. Douglas Bader’s Role in World War II

The Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain, fought from July to October 1940, was the first great air battle in history, and it was the battle in which Bader made his reputation. The German Luftwaffe, which had defeated the air forces of Poland, France and the Low Countries, attempted to destroy the Royal Air Force and to win air superiority over southern England, as a prelude to an invasion.

The RAF, outnumbered and fighting over its own territory, defeated the Luftwaffe, and the invasion was postponed and then abandoned. Bader’s part in the battle was as a squadron leader and then as a wing leader, commanding first No. 242 Squadron and then the Duxford Wing, and his leadership, his courage and his advocacy of the Big Wing tactic made him one of the best-known fighter pilots in Britain.

The battle was, in the judgement of historians, the first defeat of the German war machine, and it was a victory that owed much to the fighter pilots who fought it.

The Duxford Wing in action

Bader’s Duxford Wing flew in the Battle of Britain from September 1940, and it claimed a large number of German aircraft. The Wing’s most famous action was on 15 September 1940 — Battle of Britain Day — when the Duxford Wing, with five squadrons, intercepted a large German bomber formation over London and claimed many victories.

The claims were later shown to have been exaggerated, as fighter claims often were, but the Wing’s presence over London on that day was real, and it contributed to the German decision to abandon the daylight bombing campaign. Bader’s personal score rose steadily: by the end of 1940 he had 12 victories, and by the summer of 1941 he had 22, including two shared.

He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Bar, and the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar, and he was promoted to wing commander. He was, by the summer of 1941, one of the most decorated and best-known pilots in the RAF.

The Big Wing controversy

The Big Wing controversy has been debated ever since, and the judgement of historians has generally favoured Park. The Big Wing took too long to assemble, it arrived over London after the bombers had already dropped their bombs, and it left the airfields of 11 Group undefended while the Wing was forming up.

Leigh-Mallory’s claims for the Wing’s successes were exaggerated, and the figures he presented to the Air Ministry were, in the judgement of later historians, misleading. Bader’s support for the Big Wing was understandable — he was a fighter pilot who wanted to fight in strength — but it was, in the view of most historians, wrong.

The controversy cost Dowding and Park their commands, and it remains a warning about the dangers of allowing a tactical debate to become a matter of service politics.

Shot down and captured

On 9 August 1941, during a fighter sweep over northern France, Bader was shot down. The circumstances are still disputed: Bader believed that he had collided with a German fighter, while German records suggest that he was shot down by a Messerschmitt Bf 109.

What is certain is that he baled out over France, that one of his artificial legs was trapped in the cockpit and had to be released, and that he was captured by German troops on landing. The Germans treated him with respect, and they allowed the RAF to drop a replacement leg by parachute — an episode that became famous in Britain.

Bader was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp, and after several escape attempts he was transferred to Colditz Castle, the high-security camp for persistent escapers, where he remained until the end of the war. At Colditz he made further escape attempts, including one in which he tried to escape in a German uniform, and he was a leading figure among the prisoners.

6. Key Decisions

Refusing to accept disability

Insisting on returning to flying (1932–1939). Bader’s decision to fight for seven years to return to flying, after the RAF had retired him on medical grounds, was the defining decision of his life. He refused to accept that the loss of his legs made him unfit to fly, and he proved, by passing the flying tests, that he could fly as well as any pilot with two legs.

The decision was heroic, but it was also stubborn: the RAF’s medical officers had genuine reasons for doubting whether a legless pilot could bale out of a damaged aircraft, and Bader’s eventual capture showed that the doubt was not unreasonable — his leg was trapped in the cockpit when he tried to bale out.

Flying with artificial legs in combat. Bader’s decision to fly in combat with two artificial legs was, in the judgement of his contemporaries, both inspiring and reckless. His artificial legs gave him an advantage in one respect: he could withstand higher G-forces than a pilot with natural legs, because his legs could not be drained of blood in a tight turn. But they were also a liability: if he was shot down, he could not run, and if he had to bale out, his legs could trap him in the cockpit. Bader accepted the risk, and the RAF accepted it with him.

The Big Wing and Colditz

Supporting the Big Wing. Bader’s support for the Big Wing tactic was a decision with consequences far beyond his own squadron. It aligned him with Leigh-Mallory against Park and Dowding, and it contributed to the removal of the two men who had won the Battle of Britain. Historians have debated whether Bader understood the operational argument or whether he was simply loyal to Leigh-Mallory, but the decision shows that Bader was not only a fighter pilot but a political figure within the RAF, and that his opinions carried weight.

Escaping from Colditz. At Colditz, Bader made repeated attempts to escape, despite the fact that his artificial legs made escape far more difficult than for other prisoners. The attempts were, in the judgement of his fellow prisoners, an act of defiance rather than a realistic plan: Bader knew that he was unlikely to reach Switzerland or the Allied lines, but he believed that a prisoner of war had a duty to try to escape, and that the attempt itself was a form of resistance. The Germans, who respected his determination, treated him as a special case, and his escapes became part of the legend of Colditz.

7. Controversies

The Big Wing: right or wrong?

The Big Wing controversy is the central controversy of Bader’s career, and it has been argued over by historians for more than eighty years. The case for the Big Wing is that it was a morale-raising tactic, that it gave the RAF a way to meet the German bomber streams in strength, and that it contributed to the German decision to abandon daylight bombing.

The case against it is that it was operationally unsound: it took too long to form up, it arrived too late, and it left 11 Group’s airfields undefended. The balance of historical opinion is against the Big Wing, and against Bader’s part in promoting it.

The controversy also raises a wider question: whether a fighting pilot, however brave, is the right person to judge a question of operational art, and whether Bader’s fame gave his opinions a weight they did not deserve.

The score and the legend

Bader’s score of 22 victories is documented in RAF records, and it is not in serious dispute, though, like all fighter scores, it contains a margin of over-claiming. The more serious question about Bader is the legend that grew up around him: the biography Reach for the Sky and the film of the same name presented him as a hero without flaws, and they omitted the Big Wing controversy, his difficult personality, and the fact that his legs were a liability as well as an inspiration.

Later biographers have presented a more balanced picture, and Bader himself, in his later years, was more candid about his failings than the film allowed. The legend was useful to Britain in the 1950s, when the country needed heroes, but it is not the whole story, and this article has tried to tell the whole story.

8. Later Life and Death

Liberation and Shell

Bader was liberated from Colditz by American troops in April 1945, and he returned to Britain a hero. He was promoted to group captain, and he led the flypast over London on Victory Day, 8 May 1945 — a fitting end to his wartime career.

He retired from the RAF in 1946 and returned to Shell, the oil company he had worked for before the war, where he became a senior executive and travelled the world on the company’s business. He was a successful businessman, and he used his position to campaign for disabled people, founding the Douglas Bader Foundation in 1976 to help disabled people to lead full lives.

He was knighted in 1976 for his services to disabled people, and he became a public figure in Britain, known to a generation that had grown up with Reach for the Sky.

Death in London

Bader died on 5 September 1982 in Chiswick, London, at the age of 72, after a heart attack. He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered over the English Channel, the scene of his greatest battles. His death was reported in newspapers around the world, and the obituaries reflected the affection in which he was held in Britain: a hero of the Battle of Britain, a man who had refused to let disability define him, and a campaigner who had used his fame to help others.

His wife Thelma, whom he had married in 1933, survived him. The Douglas Bader Foundation, which he had founded, continues his work for disabled people, and his name is remembered in Britain as a symbol of courage and determination.

9. Legacy

The legless ace

Bader’s legacy as a pilot is secure: 22 victories, a wing leader in the Battle of Britain, and a man who flew with two artificial legs when the Air Ministry had told him he could never fly again. His story has inspired generations of disabled people, and it is still told in schools in Britain as an example of what determination can achieve. The phrase “Reach for the Sky”, the title of his biography, has entered the English language as an exhortation to aim high, and Bader’s name is inseparably linked to it. His artificial legs are preserved in museums, and his Spitfire and Hurricane are remembered as the aircraft of a man who refused to be grounded.

The campaigner

Bader’s second legacy is as a campaigner for disabled people. The Douglas Bader Foundation, which he founded in 1976, has helped thousands of disabled people to live independent lives, and his knighthood in 1976 recognised that work. He was, in his later years, a familiar figure on British television, where he spoke plainly about disability and about the need for society to give disabled people the same opportunities as everyone else. His campaigning was, in the judgement of those who worked with him, as important as his flying: it used his fame for a purpose, and it changed the lives of people he never met.

10. Assessment by Historians

The military assessment

Historians rate Bader as a brave and inspiring fighter leader, but not as a great tactician. His leadership of 242 Squadron and of the Duxford Wing was marked by courage and by personal example, and his pilots admired him; but his advocacy of the Big Wing was, in the judgement of most historians, a mistake, and his score of 22 victories, while impressive, was achieved in a period when the RAF was fighting a defensive battle and the opportunities for combat were frequent. The British official history of the Battle of Britain gives Bader credit for his leadership and for his courage, but it does not endorse the Big Wing, and later historians have generally agreed with that judgement.

The human assessment

The human assessment of Bader is more generous than the military one. He was a difficult man — arrogant, impatient, and unwilling to admit that he was wrong — but he was also a man of extraordinary determination, who refused to let the loss of his legs define his life, and who used his fame to help disabled people.

His biographer, Paul Brickhill, who wrote Reach for the Sky, presented him as a hero, and later biographers, who have been more critical, have not taken away the central fact: that a man with two artificial legs flew in the Battle of Britain, fought the Luftwaffe, and refused to be beaten. That fact, and the life that followed it, is the reason Bader is still remembered.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Douglas Bader?
Douglas Bader (1910–1982) was a Royal Air Force fighter ace with 22 aerial victories, who flew in the Battle of Britain with two artificial legs after losing both legs in a flying accident in 1931. He commanded the Duxford Wing and was a prisoner of war at Colditz Castle from 1941 to 1945.

How did Douglas Bader lose his legs?
He lost both legs in a flying accident on 14 December 1931, when his Bristol Bulldog fighter crashed during low-level aerobatics at Woodley airfield near Reading. His right leg was amputated above the knee and his left leg below the knee.

How many aircraft did Bader shoot down?
He was credited with 22 aerial victories, including two shared. He scored his victories in the Battle of France, the Battle of Britain and the fighter sweeps over France in 1941.

What was the Big Wing controversy?
The Big Wing was the tactic of massing fighter squadrons into large formations to meet German bombers. Bader and Air Vice-Marshal Leigh-Mallory supported it; Air Vice-Marshal Park, who commanded the battle over London, opposed it, arguing that the Wing took too long to form up and arrived too late. Most historians now agree with Park.

How was Bader captured?
He was shot down over northern France on 9 August 1941 during a fighter sweep. He baled out, was captured by German troops, and was eventually sent to Colditz Castle after several escape attempts from other camps.

What did Bader do after the war?
He retired from the RAF in 1946, returned to Shell as a senior executive, and campaigned for disabled people. He founded the Douglas Bader Foundation in 1976 and was knighted in the same year. He died on 5 September 1982, at the age of 72.

Related articles

• Adolf Galland
• Erich Raeder
• Ernest King

Sources

1. Wikipedia, “Douglas Bader” — birth 21 February 1910, death 5 September 1982, 22 victories, the accident of 14 December 1931, the Duxford Wing, Colditz.
2. Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Douglas Bader” (britannica.com) — biography, fighter ace, Battle of Britain, Colditz.
3. Paul Brickhill, Reach for the Sky: The Story of Douglas Bader (Collins, 1954) — the bestselling biography; the accident, the Battle of Britain, Colditz.
4. John Frayn Turner, Douglas Bader: A Biography (Airlife, 1995) — later biography; the Big Wing controversy, post-war life.
5. Richard Overy, The Battle of Britain: The Myth and the Reality (W. W. Norton, 2000) — the Big Wing controversy, Dowding and Park.
6. Patrick Bishop, Fighter Boys: The Battle of Britain, 1940 (HarperCollins, 2003) — the Battle of Britain, 242 Squadron, the Duxford Wing.