Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Schrader joined the RNZAF in 1941. After completing flight training he was sent to the United Kingdom to serve with the Royal Air Force (RAF). He flew Supermarine Spitfires with No. 165 Squadron on operations on the Channel Front, including supporting the Dieppe Raid. He later flew with No. 1435 Squadron, initially based in Malta and then Sicily. After a period of instructing duties, he was posted to No. 486 (NZ) Squadron in early 1945, becoming its commander soon afterwards. In the dying stages of the war in Europe, he took command of No. 616 Squadron, the first RAF squadron to operate the jet-powered Gloster Meteor. Returning to civilian life in 1946, he went back to New Zealand and joined an airline, the National Airways Corporation, flying passenger aircraft. He retired in 1976 and died in 2009 at the age of 87.