Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader
2020 is the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and Bowthorpe has a link to this historic event. Did you know that a famous war hero lived briefly at Bowthorpe during the war?
Younger readers may not be aware who we're talking about. For their benefit, Douglas Bader was a famous fighter pilot who had no legs, and a quarter of a century after his death he remains the most famous fighter pilot Britain has ever known (1).
In 1928, he joined the RAF as an officer cadet at the Royal Air Force College in Cranwell. After just 11 hours and 15 minutes of flight time, he flew his first solo, on 19 February 1929.
On 14 December 1931, while visiting Reading Aero Club, Douglas attempted some low-flying aerobatics at Woodley Airfield apparently for a dare. His aircraft crashed when the tip of the left wing touched the ground. He was rushed to the Royal Berkshire Hospital, where both his legs were amputated — one above and one below the knee. “Told that he would never walk without support, Bader pugnaciously replied “I’ll never, never, walk with a stick”. And he never did (2)”.
Douglas got his chance to prove that he could still fly in June 1932. He passed the medical examination but in April 1933 he was notified that the RAF had decided his situation was not covered by King's Regulations. But he did not give up. Between 1937 and 1939, he repeatedly requested that the Air Ministry accept him back into the RAF. On 14 October 1939, the Central Flying School requested Bader report for flight tests on 18 October. He did not wait; driving down the next morning. Despite reluctance on the part of the establishment to allow him full flying status, his persistence paid off. He regained a medical categorisation for operational flying and on 27 November, eight years after his accident, Douglas flew solo again in an Avro Tutor. Once airborne, he could not resist the temptation to turn the biplane upside down at 600 feet. In January 1940, he was posted to No. 19 Squadron based at RAF Duxford near Cambridge.
It was thought that his 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 the flow of blood from the brain drained to other parts of the body, usually the legs. As Douglas had no legs he could remain conscious for longer and thus had an advantage over more able-bodied opponents.
Bader’s skill saw him rapidly promoted and on 28 June 1940 he was posted to command No. 242 Squadron as acting squadron leader. Based at RAF Coltishall, No. 242 Squadron was mainly made up of Canadians who had suffered high losses in the Battle of France and when he arrived they were suffering from low morale. The pilots were soon won over by his 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.
On 12 December 1940, Douglas was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for his services during the Battle of Britain. On 9 August 1941 he was shot down over France and captured by the Germans, who treated him with great respect. He spent the rest of the war in prisoner of war camps; latterly Colditz, from August 1942, because he kept trying to escape.
Douglas came to Bowthorpe whilst he was based at RAF Coltishall. Bowthorpe Hall was leased to the RAF during the war and I believe Douglas lived there when we was not at Coltishall.
He was knighted in 1976 for his services to disabled people and his wife, Lady Bader, was a patron of the Bowthorpe Community Trust (aka St Michaels’s workshop) until her death. This man was and still is an inspiration to others. How many other people do you know (except perhaps the Queen) who has had a school, various centres, a charitable foundation, several scholarships and awards, a number of streets, a garden, a housing estate and two pubs named after them. He is a potent symbol of triumph over adversity and an example to us all. (1)
Reference: Bader’s War by S P McKenzie, (1) page 8 and (2) page 25