page_title: Douglas Bader
section_title: Phoney War
hierarchical_section_title: Douglas Bader / Second World War / Phoney War
caption_attribution_description: English: A head and shoulders portrait of Bader in RAF uniform and a cravat.
context_page_description: Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, CBE, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, DL, FRAeS 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 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 the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, however, Douglas 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 baled out over German-occupied France and was captured.
context_section_description: In January 1940, Bader 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 the flow of blood from the brain drained to other parts of the body, usually the legs. As Bader had no legs he could remain conscious longer, and thus had an advantage over more able-bodied opponents.
  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 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, and the aircraft careened down the runway at 80 mph, ultimately 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 hurt himself somewhere - he could hardly walk. He found that both shins were stove in, making the legs bend forward like bows, from being stuck under the rudder pedals in the crash. He realised that if he had not have lost his legs previously, he would have definitely lost them this time. Bader was subsequently promoted from flying officer to flight lieutenant, and appointed as a flight commander of No. 222 Squadron RAF.
caption: Squadron Leader D R S Bader, DSO, DFC. (1940) by Eric Kennington,(Art.IWM ART LD 832)
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