Squadron Leader Douglas Bader Figure (1:32)

SQUADRON LEADER DOUGLAS BADER, OFFICER COMMANDING NO 242 SQN, RAF COLTISHALL, SEPTEMBER 1940

Arguably the RAF's most famous fighter pilot of WWII, Sq. Ldr. Bader had been a prewar fighter pilot who had lost both of his legs in a flying accident in December 1931. Forced to leave the RAF due to his injuries, he was determined to re-enlist upon the outbreak of war, having by then mastered the use of artificial legs. A gifted pilot, he managed to convince the Air Force's medical board to allow him to rejoin Fighter Command, and he was duly posted to No. 19 Sq., equipped with Spitfires, at Duxford in February 1940.