Special Sub-Topic: Douglas Bader Authored by: Plumbus Sub-topic of: U.K. People

What was the name of Douglas Bader's brother?

Frederick. Known as Derick, he became an engineer who worked in South Africa.

At which school was Douglas educated?

St. Edward's, Oxford.. St. Edward's produced quite a few famous alumni - amongst them the actor Sir Lawrence Olivier, who was there at the same time as Douglas.

In what type of aircraft did Douglas have the accident in which he lost his legs?

Bristol Bulldog. Douglas's accident was on 14th December 1931. Although pilots were warned to avoid low-flying manoeuvres, Douglas was goaded into it by some civilian pilots he was visiting. He was flying low and inverted when a wingtip hit the ground, causing him to crash.

After he was invalided out of the RAF in April 1933, Douglas worked for Shell, the oil company.

t. Compared to flying as a fighter pilot, Douglas found office work extremely dull. Nevertheless, after the war he returned to Shell as an executive for overseas development.

Once he returned to active service with the RAF in 1940, it wasn't long before Douglas was given a squadron to command. No.242 squadron was dominated by pilots from which Commonwealth country?

Canada. Although the men of No.242 squadron were low in equipment and morale after the retreat from France, Douglas quickly welded them into an extremely effective fighter unit.

Douglas met his first wife, Thelma, at a roadside café where she was working as a waitress.

t. They met at 'The Pantiles' between Ascot and Bagshot in Buckinghamshire. Thelma was working there temporarily to get over the recent death of her pet dog. Tragically, Thelma died of cancer in 1971.

In his support of the 'Big Wing' theory, Douglas argued that all British fighters should have a larger wing to enable them to fly higher than the enemy and so aid interception.

f. The 'Big Wing' was a concentrated force of three to five squadrons intercepting enemy attacks. The common tactic during the Battle of Britain was for smaller RAF units to intercept and thereby conserve it forces.

At which infamous POW camp was Bader eventually incarcerated as a way of trying to contain his enthusiasm for escaping?

Colditz. Bader was sent to the 'Bad Boys Camp' after several escape attempts. He wasn't popular with all his fellow prisoners, many of whom resented his 'goon-baiting' because it put their guards in a bad mood.

Bader preferred an all-machine gun armament on his Spitfire fighter to the newly introduced cannon and machine guns armament.

t. Although the rest of the Spitfires in his squadron were armed with cannons and machine guns, Douglas preferred an all-machine gun armament because, in his opinion, the spread of fire from eight guns was more effective than with six.

Losing his legs actually gave Bader an advantage in air combat.

t. Without his legs, the blood in his body had less distance to travel. This gave Douglas an advantage in tight combat turns, enabling him to stay conscious when most other pilots would black out.