Bader s Big Wing Controversy - Duxford 1940 (Dilip Sarkar MBE)(Pevná vazba)

Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader remains one of the most famous RAF fighter pilots to date, perhaps even the most famous of all, thanks to Paul Brickhill's best-selling 1950s yarn _Reach for the Sky_ and Dany Angel's box office hit of the same name, starring Kenneth Moore. Bader, a graduate of the RAF College Cranwell and a professional, career officer, was a gifted sportsman and aerobatic pilot -but headstrong. After a crash that led to the amputation of both of his legs, the Second World War was this man of action's salvation: passing a flying test, he returned to the RAF, first flying Spitfires with 19 Squadron at Duxford. In due course he was posted to 222 Squadron as a flight commander, seeing action over Dunkirk. Already newsworthy, the swashbuckling, legless, fighter pilot was also a favourite of his Station Commander, Wing Commander A.B. Woody' Woodhall, and, more importantly, his 12 Group Air Officer Commanding, Air Vice-Marshal Leigh-Mallory. In short order, therefore, Bader was soon elevated to Acting Squadron Leader and given command of 242 Squadron, a Canadian Hurricane squadron which he led throughout the Battle of Britain. On 30 August 1940, 12 Group was requested to reinforce 11 Group and intercept a raid on an aircraft factory at Hatfield. This was Bader and 242 Squadron's first experience of a mass German raid, and many combat claims were subsequently filed. The events that day led Bader to submit a report arguing that the more fighters he had at his d
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