70-583: Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader , CBE , DSO & Bar , DFC & Bar , DL , FRAeS ( / ˈ b ɑː d ər / ; 21 February 1910 – 5 September 1982) was a Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War . He was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared probable and 11 enemy aircraft damaged. Bader joined
140-468: A Messerschmitt Bf 109 . Bader almost baled out, but recovered the Hurricane. Other pilots witnessed one of Bader's victims crash. On 7 September, Bader claimed two Bf 109s shot down, followed by a Junkers Ju 88 . On 9 September, Bader claimed another Dornier. During the same mission, he attacked a He 111 only to discover he was out of ammunition. Enraged, he thought about ramming it and slicing off
210-469: A prefect despite what others saw as a strong streak of conceit in the boy. Fellow RAF pilots Guy Gibson and Adrian Warburton also attended the school. In later life, Bader's prowess on the rugby pitch was such that he was invited to play a trial (or friendly game) with the Harlequins , but it is not clear whether he actually played. Bader's sporting interests continued into his military service. He
280-537: A Bulldog Mk. IIA, K1676 , of 23 Squadron, apparently on a dare. His aircraft crashed when the tip of the left wing touched the ground. Bader was rushed to the Royal Berkshire Hospital , where, in the hands of the prominent surgeon J. Leonard Joyce (1882–1939), both his legs were amputated—one above and one below the knee. Bader made the following laconic entry in his logbook after the crash: Crashed slow-rolling near ground. Bad show. In 1932, after
350-496: A friend and supporter of his 12 Group commander, Air Vice Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory , Bader joined him as an active exponent of the controversial " Big Wing " theory which provoked much debate in the RAF during the battle . Bader was an outspoken critic of the careful "husbanding" tactics being used by Air Vice Marshal Keith Park , the commander of 11 Group. Park was supported by Fighter Command Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding ,
420-510: A heart attack. Bader was born on 21 February 1910 in St John's Wood , London, the second son of Major Frederick Roberts Bader (1867–1922), a civil engineer, and his wife Jessie Scott MacKenzie. His first two years were spent with McCann relatives on the Isle of Man while his father, accompanied by Bader's mother and older brother Frederick (named after his father but called 'Derick' to distinguish
490-442: A long convalescence, throughout which he needed morphine for pain relief, Bader was transferred to the hospital at RAF Uxbridge and fought hard to regain his former abilities after he was given a new pair of artificial legs. In time, his agonising and determined efforts paid off, and he was able to drive a specially modified car, play golf, and even dance. During his convalescence there, he met and fell in love with Thelma Edwards,
560-430: A mixed free school for students between 4 and 19 years old, Gildredge House Free School. By the 1930s the new Eastbourne site was proving expensive to maintain, so a search was begun for a new site, and dozens of possibilities were explored. In September 1935, Temple Grove moved again to Heron's Ghyll, a country house with thirty acres of land near Uckfield. In 1957, with the departure of a headmaster, Meston Batchelor,
630-481: A number of shortcomings that precluded a widespread acceptance of the armament. Bader's combat missions were mainly fought against Bf 109s over France and the Channel . On 7 May 1941 he shot down one Bf 109 and claimed another as a probable victory. The German formation belonged to Jagdgeschwader 26 (JG 26 – Fighter Wing 26), which on that date was led in action by German ace Adolf Galland , and
700-495: A rival squadron ( No. 25 Squadron RAF ), Bader took off to perform aerobatics and show off his skill. It was against regulations, and seven out of 23 accidents caused by ignoring regulations had proven fatal. The CO of No. 25 Squadron remarked that he would order Bader to face a court-martial if Bader was in his unit. The COs of Bader's unit, Harry Day and Henry Wollett, gave the pilots more latitude, although Day encouraged them to recognise their own limits. No. 23 Squadron had won
770-480: A school holiday trip to visit his aunt, Hazel, who was marrying RAF Flight Lieutenant Cyril Burge, adjutant at RAF Cranwell . Although he enjoyed the visit and took an interest in aviation, he showed no signs of becoming a keen pilot. Still very sports minded, an interest which dominated Bader's formative years, he took less of an interest in his studies. However, Bader received guidance from Warden Kendall and, with Kendall's encouragement, he excelled at his studies and
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#1732786932074840-690: A waitress at a tea room called the Pantiles on the A30 London Road in Bagshot, Surrey. Bader got his chance to prove that he could still fly when, in June 1932, Air Under-Secretary Philip Sassoon arranged for him to take up an Avro 504 , which he piloted competently. A subsequent medical examination proved him fit for active service, but in April 1933 he was notified that the RAF had decided to reverse
910-687: The Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for his services during the Battle of Britain. His unit, No. 242 Squadron, had claimed 62 aerial victories. Bader was gazetted on 7 January 1941. By this time, he was an acting squadron leader . On 18 March 1941, Bader was promoted to acting wing commander and became one of the first " wing leaders ". Stationed at Tangmere with 145 , 610 and 616 Squadrons under his command, Bader led his wing of Spitfires on sweeps and "Circus" operations (medium bomber escort) over north-western Europe throughout
980-667: The Hendon Air Show "pairs" event in 1929 and 1930. In 1931 Bader, teamed with Harry Day, successfully defended the squadron's title in the spring that year. In late 1931, Bader undertook training for the 1932 Hendon Air Show , hoping to win a second consecutive title. Two pilots had been killed attempting aerobatics. The pilots were warned not to practise these manoeuvres under 2,000 feet (610 m) and to keep above 500 feet (150 m) at all times. Nevertheless, on 14 December 1931, while visiting Reading Aero Club, Bader attempted some low-flying aerobatics at Woodley Airfield in
1050-644: The Royal Air Force . The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence . Group captain is immediately senior to wing commander and immediately below air commodore . It is usually equivalent to the rank of captain in the navy and of the rank of colonel in other services. The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force , Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force , Women's Royal Air Force (until 1968) and Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (until 1980)
1120-531: The Western Allies and soon they were evacuating from Dunkirk during the battle for the port . RAF squadrons were ordered to provide air supremacy for the Royal Navy during Operation Dynamo . While patrolling the coast near Dunkirk on 1 June 1940 at around 3,000 ft (910 m), Bader happened upon a Messerschmitt Bf 109 in front of him, flying in the same direction and at approximately
1190-771: The rudder with his propeller, but turned away when he regained his composure. On 14 September, Bader was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his combat leadership. On 15 September, known as the Battle of Britain Day , Bader damaged a Do 17 and a Ju 88, while destroying another 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. The Dornier's gunner attempted to bale out, but his parachute
1260-534: The " Duxford Wing ". Achievements of the Big Wing were hard to quantify, as the large formations often took too long to form up, over claimed victories, and too often did not provide timely support of the over-committed 11 Group. The episode probably contributed to the departure of Park, who was replaced with Leigh-Mallory in November 1940, and Dowding. While it is not known whether Mallory and Bader were aware that
1330-493: The "Sword of Honour" award at the end of his two-year course, but lost to Patrick Coote , his nearest rival. Coote went on to become the Wing Commander of Western Wing, British Air Forces Greece, and was killed on 13 April 1941 while flying as an observer in a No. 211 Squadron Bristol Blenheim , L4819 , flown by Flying Officer R. V. Herbert when six of the squadron's aircraft were shot down over Greece . Coote's aircraft
1400-474: The Bulldog had directional stability problems at low speeds, which made such stunts exceptionally dangerous. Strict orders were issued forbidding unauthorised aerobatics below 2,000 feet (610 m). Bader took this as an unnecessary safety rule rather than an order to be obeyed. After one training flight at the gunnery range, Bader achieved only a 38 percent hit rate on a target. Receiving jibes from members of
1470-483: The Central Flying School requested Bader report for flight tests on 18 October. He did not wait; driving down the next morning, Bader undertook refresher courses. Despite reluctance on the part of the establishment to allow him to apply for an A.1.B. (full flying category status), his persistent efforts paid off. Bader regained a medical categorisation for operational flying at the end of November 1939 and
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#17327869320741540-401: The RAF in 1928, and was commissioned in 1930. In December 1931, while attempting some aerobatics , he crashed and lost both his legs. Having been on the brink of death, he recovered, retook flight training, passed his check flights and then requested reactivation as a pilot. Although there were no regulations applicable to his situation, he was retired against his will on medical grounds. After
1610-562: The RAF might base many of its officer rank titles on naval officer ranks with differing pre-modifying terms. It was also suggested that RAF colonels might be entitled "bannerets" or "leaders". However, the rank title based on the Navy rank was preferred and as RAF colonels typically commanded groups the rank title group captain was chosen. The rank of group captain was introduced in August 1919 and has been used continuously since then. Although in
1680-457: The RAF. In response to the proposal that the RAF should use its own rank titles, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navy 's officer ranks, with the word "air" inserted before the naval rank title. For example, the rank that later became group captain would have been "air captain". Although the Admiralty objected to this simple modification of their rank titles, it was agreed that
1750-493: The aircraft careering down the runway at 80 mph before crashing. Despite a head wound, Bader got into another Spitfire for a second attempt. On the way to his room after the flight, he thought he had injured himself as he found it difficult to walk. He soon discovered that his artificial legs had been buckled from having been forced beneath the rudder pedals during the crash. He realised that if he had not lost his legs previously, he would have definitely lost them this time. Bader
1820-600: The bomber before it vanished into cloud. The Dornier, which crashed into the sea off Cromer , was later confirmed by a member of the Royal Observer Corps . On 21 August, a similar engagement took place. This time, a Dornier went into the sea off Great Yarmouth and again the Observer Corps confirmed the claim. There were no survivors. Later in the month, Bader scored a further two victories over Messerschmitt Bf 110s . On 30 August 1940, No. 242 Squadron
1890-402: The claims of the RAF and Big Wings were exaggerated, they certainly tried to use them as a potent tool with which to remove Park and Dowding from command and pursue the Big Wing tactic. After the war, Bader insisted that both he and Leigh-Mallory wanted the Big Wing tactic enacted in 12 Group only. They both believed, according to Bader, that it was impractical to use it in 11 Group, as the command
1960-593: The decision on the grounds that this situation was not covered by King's Regulations. In May, Bader was invalided out of the RAF, took an office job with the Asiatic Petroleum Company (now Shell ) and, on 5 October 1933, married Thelma Edwards. Against a background of increasing tensions in Europe in 1937–39, Bader repeatedly requested that the Air Ministry accept him back into the RAF and he
2030-407: The early years of the RAF groups were normally commanded by group captains, by the mid-1920s they were usually commanded by an air officer . In the post-World War II period the commander of an RAF flying station or a major ground training station has typically been a group captain. More recently, expeditionary air wings have also been commanded by group captains. The rank insignia is based on
2100-420: The elusiveness of Fighter Command and Park's brilliance was that by refusing to concentrate his force he preserved it throughout the battle. This does not mean, as Bader pointed out at the time, that two or three Balbos from 10 and 12 Groups, gaining height beyond the range of the 109s, would not have played a terrific part in the fighting. During the Battle of Britain, Bader used three Hawker Hurricanes. The first
2170-552: The entire combat and noted the Bf ;109 "fell away in a sloppy fashion", "as though the pilot had been hit". It was marked as a probable. On 6 July another Bf 109 was shot down and the pilot baled out. This victory was witnessed by Pilot Officers Johnnie Johnson and Alan Smith (Bader's usual wingman). Group Captain Group captain ( Gp Capt or G/C ) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from
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2240-474: The father figure he needed. His mother showed little interest in Bader and sent him to his grandparents on occasion. Without guidance, Bader became unruly. During one incident with an air gun , Bader shot a noted local lady through a bathroom window, as she was about to enter a bath. Later, an argument with Derick about the suffering inflicted by a pellet saw him being shot in the shoulder at point-blank range. Bader
2310-413: The flow of blood from the brain drained to the lower parts of the body, especially the legs. As Bader had no legs he could remain conscious longer, and thus had an advantage over opponents with legs. Between February and May 1940 Bader practised formation flying and air tactics, as well as undertaking patrols over convoys out at sea. Bader found opposition to his ideas about aerial combat. He favoured using
2380-713: The formation of No. 12 Group RAF , No. 242 Squadron was assigned to the group while based at RAF Duxford. No. 242 Squadron became fully operational on 9 July 1940. After the French campaign, the RAF prepared for the coming Battle of Britain in which the Luftwaffe intended to achieve air supremacy . Once attained, the Germans would attempt to launch Operation Sea Lion , the codename for an invasion of Britain. The battle officially began on 10 July 1940. On 11 July, Bader scored his first victory with his new squadron. The cloud base
2450-461: The four gold bands of captains in the Royal Navy, comprising four narrow light blue bands over slightly wider black bands. This is worn on both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flying suit or the casual uniform. Group captains are the first rank in the RAF hierarchy to wear gold braid on the peak of their cap, informally known as ' scrambled egg '; however, they still wear
2520-576: The oil industry. During the 1950s, a book and a film, Reach for the Sky , chronicled his life and RAF career to the end of the Second World War. Bader campaigned for disabled people and in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1976 was appointed a Knight Bachelor "for services to disabled people". He continued to fly until ill health forced him to stop in 1979. Bader died, aged 72, on 5 September 1982, after
2590-420: The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, however, Bader returned to the RAF and was accepted as a pilot. He scored his first victories over Dunkirk during the Battle of France in 1940. He then took part in the Battle of Britain and became a friend and supporter of Air Vice Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory and his " Big Wing " experiments. In August 1941, Bader bailed out over German-occupied France and
2660-400: The overall commander. Bader vociferously campaigned for an aggressive policy of assembling large formations of defensive fighters north of London ready to inflict maximum damage on the massed German bomber formations as they flew over South East England . As the Battle progressed, Bader often found himself at the head of a composite wing of fighters consisting of up to five squadrons, known as
2730-570: The rank of major , he died in 1922 of complications from those wounds in a hospital in Saint-Omer , the same area where Bader baled out and was captured in 1941. Bader's mother was remarried shortly thereafter to the Reverend Ernest William Hobbs. Bader was subsequently brought up in the rectory of the village of Sprotbrough , near Doncaster , West Riding of Yorkshire . Bader's mild-mannered stepfather did not become
2800-429: The same action he shared in the destruction of another Bf 109F. The second Bf 109 was shot down in the afternoon. The following month was more successful for Bader. On 2 July 1941 he was awarded the bar to his DSO. Later that day he claimed one Bf 109 destroyed and another damaged. On 4 July, Bader fired on a Bf 109E which slowed down so much that he nearly collided with it. Squadron Leader Burton saw
2870-473: The same speed. He believed that the German must have been a novice, taking no evasive action even though it took more than one burst of gunfire to shoot him down. Bader was also credited with a Messerschmitt Bf 110 damaged, despite claiming five victories in that particular dogfight. In the next patrol Bader was credited with a Heinkel He 111 damaged. On 4 June 1940, his encounter with a Dornier Do 17 , which
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2940-500: The school was formed into a charitable trust. Since it closed in 2005, its name has been continued by the trust, which supports education in the locality, notably sponsoring the Temple Grove Academy in nearby Tunbridge Wells . The school's own former premises were sold to Stonehurst Estates, which converted the main house into flats. The old boys of Temple Grove include: M. R. James identified Temple Grove School as
3010-618: The six annual prize cadetships offered by RAF Cranwell each year. Out of hundreds of applicants, he finished fifth. He left St Edward's in early 1928, aged 18. In 1928, Bader joined the RAF as an officer cadet at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in rural Lincolnshire . He continued to excel at sports, and added hockey and boxing to his repertoire. Motorcycling was tolerated at Cranwell, though cadets usually took part in banned activities such as speeding, pillion racing as well as buying and racing motorcars. Bader
3080-683: The standard RAF officer's cap badge. The command pennant for a group captain is similar to the one for a wing commander except that there is one broad red band in the centre. Only the wing commander and group captain command pennants are triangular in shape. Temple Grove School Temple Grove School was a preparatory school for boys, and after 1984 also for girls, originally at Parsons Green , London, later at East Sheen , London, still later at Eastbourne , and finally at Heron's Ghyll, an estate between Uckfield and Crowborough in East Sussex . Founded before 1803 at Parsons Green, where it
3150-502: 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. These letters gave rise to his radio call-sign " Dogsbody ". During 1941 his wing
3220-444: The sun and altitude to ambush the enemy, but the RAF did not share his opinions. Official orders/doctrine 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. During this time, Bader crashed a Spitfire on take-off. He had forgotten to switch the propeller pitch from coarse to fine, resulting in
3290-688: The two), returned to his work in India after the birth of his son. At the age of two, Bader joined his parents in India for a year. When his father resigned from his job in 1913, the family moved back to London and settled in Kew . Bader's father saw action in the First World War in the Royal Engineers , and was wounded in action in 1917. He remained in France after the war, where, having attained
3360-403: Was P3061 , in which he scored six air victories. The second aircraft was unknown (possibly "P3090"), but Bader did score one victory and two damaged in it on 9 September. The third was V7467 , in which he destroyed four more and added one probable and two damaged by the end of September. The machine was lost on 1 September 1941 while on a training exercise. On 12 December 1940, Bader was awarded
3430-692: Was "group officer". The rank was used in the Royal Canadian Air Force until the 1968 unification of the Canadian Forces , when army-type rank titles were adopted. Canadian group captains then became colonels . In official Canadian French usage, the rank title was colonel d'aviation . On 1 April 1918, the newly created RAF adopted its officer rank titles from the British Army , with Royal Naval Air Service captains and Royal Flying Corps colonels becoming colonels in
3500-422: Was also when Galland claimed his 68th victory. Bader and Galland met again 94 days later. On 21 June 1941, Bader shot down a Bf 109E off the coast near Desvres . His victory was witnessed by two other pilots who saw a Bf 109 crash and the German pilot bale out. On 25 June 1941 Bader shot down two more Bf 109Fs. The first was shot down between 11:58 and 13:35 off the coast of Gravelines ; the pilot baled out. In
3570-554: Was attacking Allied shipping, involved a near collision while he was firing at the aircraft's rear gunner during a high-speed pass. Shortly after Bader joined 222 Squadron, it moved to RAF Kirton in Lindsey , just south of the Humber . After flying operations over Dunkirk, on 28 June 1940 Bader was posted to command No. 242 Squadron RAF as acting squadron leader. A Hawker Hurricane squadron based at RAF Coltishall , No. 242 Squadron
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#17327869320743640-413: Was believed to have been the home of the 17th century diplomat and politician Sir William Temple when he lived at Sheen with Jonathan Swift as his secretary. The school remained there for almost a hundred years. During the 19th century it rose to become one of the "Famous Five" of English prep schools, defined by one writer as "schools to which a duke would be pleased to send his sons". Despite that, it
3710-552: Was captured. Soon afterwards, he met and was befriended by Adolf Galland , a prominent German fighter ace. Despite his disability, Bader made a number of escape attempts and was eventually sent to the prisoner-of-war camp at Colditz Castle . He remained there until April 1945 when the camp was liberated by the First United States Army . Bader left the RAF permanently in February 1946 and resumed his career in
3780-496: Was caught on the tail wheel and he died when the aircraft crashed into the Thames Estuary . Further detail suggests Bader took pity on the gunner and "tried to kill him to put him out of his misery". Another Do 17 and a Ju 88 were claimed on 18 September. A Bf 109 was claimed on 27 September. Bader was gazetted on 1 October 1940. On 24 September, he had been promoted to the war substantive rank of flight lieutenant. As
3850-489: Was down to just 600 ft while drizzle and mist covered most of the sky, and forward visibility was down to just 2,000 yards. Bader was alone on patrol, and was soon directed toward an enemy aircraft flying north up the Norfolk coast. Spotting the aircraft at 600 yards, Bader recognised it as a Dornier Do 17 , and after he closed to 250 yards its rear gunner opened fire. Bader continued his attack and fired two bursts into
3920-561: Was finally invited to a selection board meeting at Adastral House in London's Kingsway. Bader was disappointed to learn that it was only "ground jobs" that were being offered. It appeared that he would be refused a flying position but Air Vice-Marshal Halahan, commandant of RAF Cranwell in Bader's days there, personally endorsed him and asked the Central Flying School , Upavon , to assess his capabilities. On 14 October 1939,
3990-531: Was involved in these activities and was close to expulsion after being caught out too often, in addition to coming in 19th out of 21 in his class examinations; however, his commanding officer (CO), Air vice-marshal Frederick Halahan gave him a private warning about his conduct. On 13 September 1928, Bader took his first flight with his instructor, Flying Officer W. J. "Pissy" Pearson, in an Avro 504 . He made his first solo flight on 19 February 1929 after 11 hours and 15 minutes of flight time. Bader competed for
4060-688: Was known as Elm House , before it gained the name of Temple Grove, a house at East Sheen, the school survived to become one of the oldest preparatory schools in England, but in 2005 it finally closed. In the 19th century the school was also sometimes called by the name of the headmaster of the day, as in Mr Waterfield's, East Sheen , or Mr Edgar's . The school was founded before 1803 at Elm House, Parsons Green. In 1810 its headmaster, Dr Pearson , moved it to East Sheen , occupying an old house called Sheen Grove, or Temple Grove, so called because it
4130-469: Was later accepted as a cadet at RAF Cranwell . Soon afterwards, he was offered a place at Oxford University, but turned it down as he preferred Cambridge University. His mother refused to allow Bader to attend Cambridge in December 1927, claiming she could not afford the fees. A master at St. Edwards, a Mr Dingwall, helped pay these fees in part. Due to his new connection with Cyril Burge, Bader learned of
4200-880: Was located too close to the enemy and would not have enough time to assemble. RAF ace Johnnie Johnson offered his own view of Bader and the Big Wing: Douglas was all for the Big Wings to counter the German formation[s]. I think there was room for both tactics—the Big Wings and the small squadrons. It might well have been fatal had Park always tried to get his squadrons into "Balbos", for not only would they have taken longer to get to their height, but sixty or seventy packed climbing fighters could have been seen for miles and would have been sitting ducks for higher 109s. Also nothing would have pleased Göring more than for his 109s to pounce on large numbers of RAF fighters. Indeed, Adolf Galland and Werner Mölders complained about
4270-649: Was mainly made up of Canadians who had suffered high losses in the Battle of France and when Bader arrived were suffering from low morale. Despite initial resistance to their new commanding officer, the pilots (including such aces as Willie McKnight and Stan Turner ) were soon won over by Bader's strong personality and perseverance, especially in cutting through red tape to make the squadron operational again. Bader transformed No. 242 Squadron back into an effective fighting unit. Bader had three Royal Navy officers in No. 242 Squadron, including his wingman Richard "Dickie" Cork . Upon
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#17327869320744340-401: Was moved to Duxford again and found itself in the thick of the fighting. On this date, the squadron claimed 10 enemy aircraft, Bader scoring two victories against Bf 110s. Other squadrons were involved, and it was impossible to verify which RAF units were responsible for the damage on the enemy. On 7 September, two more Bf 110s were shot down, but in the same engagement Bader was badly hit by
4410-466: Was posted to No. 19 Squadron based at RAF Duxford near Cambridge , where, at 29, he was older than most of his fellow pilots. Squadron Leader Geoffrey Stephenson, a close friend from his Cranwell days, was the commanding officer, and it was here that Bader got his first glimpse of a Spitfire. It was thought that Bader's success as a fighter pilot was partly because of his having no legs; pilots pulling high g-forces in combat turns often blacked out as
4480-549: Was posted to the Central Flying School for a refresher course on modern types of aircraft. On 27 November, eight years after his accident, Bader flew solo again in an Avro Tutor ; once airborne, he could not resist the temptation to turn the biplane upside down at 600 feet (180 m) inside the circuit area. Bader subsequently progressed through the Fairey Battle and Miles Master (the last training stage before flying Spitfires and Hurricanes ). In January 1940, Bader
4550-476: Was primitive and gave boys a Spartan upbringing; it was reported that in winter "In the dormitories, snow piled frequently upon the blankets and ice formed on the water jugs". In 1907, the school moved from East Sheen to the New College buildings at Eastbourne, at a time when East Sheen had changed its character, having been engulfed by the London suburbs. The Eastbourne building then transformed in 2013 into
4620-428: Was re-equipped with Spitfire VBs , 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
4690-502: Was selected for the Royal Air Force cricket team , to play a first-class match against the Army at The Oval in July 1931. He scored 65 and 1. In August, he played in a two-day game against the Royal Navy . He played cricket in a German prisoner-of-war camp after his capture in 1941, despite his later disability. In mid-1923, Bader, at the age of 13, was introduced to an Avro 504 during
4760-544: Was subsequently promoted from flying officer to flight lieutenant, and appointed as a flight commander of No. 222 Squadron RAF . Bader had his first taste of combat with No. 222 Squadron RAF , which was based at RAF Duxford and commanded by another old friend of his, Squadron Leader "Tubby" Mermagen. On 10 May the Wehrmacht invaded Luxembourg , the Netherlands , Belgium and France . The campaigns went badly for
4830-418: Was the first of 29 aerial victories for the Luftwaffe ace Unteroffizier , (later Leutnant ) Fritz Gromotka . On 26 July 1930, Bader was commissioned as a pilot officer into No. 23 Squadron RAF based at Kenley , Surrey . Flying Gloster Gamecocks and soon afterwards Bristol Bulldogs , Bader became a daredevil while training there, often flying illegal and dangerous stunts. While very fast for its time,
4900-529: Was then sent as a boarder to Temple Grove School , one of the "Famous Five" of English prep schools—one that gave its boys a Spartan upbringing. Bader's aggressive energy found a new lease of life at St Edward's School , where he received his secondary education. During his time there, he thrived at sports; he played rugby and often enjoyed physical battles with bigger and older opponents. The then Warden (or Headmaster), Henry E. Kendall, tolerated Bader's aggressive and competitive nature. At one point, he made him
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