Loss of his legs gave hero pilot Bader an advantage
SEP 5, 1982
“CRASHED slow-rolling near ground. Bad show.”
That was Douglas Bader’s typically laconic logbook entry after the 1931 aeroplane crash that resulted in both his legs being amputated.
You’d have thought that would have been that as far as flying was concerned, but Bader was made of sterner stuff and, ironically, it’s now thought the loss of his legs actually helped him become one of the RAF’s foremost aces in the early years of the Second World War.
Fighter pilots in dogfights often pull high G-forces during tight turns, and black out as gravity forces the blood from the brain into the body’s extremities, usually the legs.
Bader, now having artificial legs, could keep conscious for longer and thus had a vital advantage over his more ablebodied Luftwaffe opponents.
As a result, before, during and after the Battle of Britain, he racked up 22 confirmed victories, several awards for gallantry and was rapidly promoted to Wing Commander.
It was a fitting riposte to those in the RAF who had invalided Bader out of the service after his crash, despite him proving he could fly perfectly well with his artificial legs.
Bader had been to blame for the accident, though. A daredevil, he’d been threatened with expulsion from the RAF College at Cranwell for taking part in illicit motorcycling events, and had a reputation for performing illegal aerobatics.
The Bulldog fighter he was piloting that day was known to handle poorly at low speeds but, characteristically, Bader paid no heed and paid a heavy price.
After the accident, he took a job with the Asiatic Petroleum Co – now Shell – but with war approaching, Bader badgered the RAF to be allowed back into the cockpit, and he swiftly showed his skills flying Spitfires and Hurricanes.
But Bader’s luck ran out again in 1941 when he was shot down over France, possibly by “friendly fire” from another Spitfire.
He managed to bail out only after the restraining strap of his right prosthetic leg, which had become trapped, broke and he was captured.
He was treated with respect and Luftwaffe fighter legend Adolf Galland notified the British about the damaged leg, arranging safe passage for an RAF bomber to drop a replacement one by parachute.
Again not letting his disability inhibit him, Bader made several escape attempts and was such a thorn in the Germans’ side, he was sent to the “escape-proof” Colditz castle.
On leaving the RAF, he rejoined Shell and became a campaigner for disabled people.
Bader, played by Kenneth More in the 1956 biopic Reach For The Sky, was knighted in 1976, but his heavy workload as a consultant and after-dinner speaker took its toll and he died of a heart attack six years later.
He racked up 22 victories and several awards for gallantry