There’s something magical about learning the stories of real-life heroes. Hearing the victorious details of these legends infuses the psyche with positivity and fearlessness. They lift us when we’re down, make us feel strong in the face of our struggles, and, most importantly, plant a seed of possible thinking. And though there are countless icons of our time with many uplifting and miraculous stories to tell, one man, in particular, stands out amongst the crowd; Officer of the Royal Airforce and Wing Commander of the 242 squadrons, Sir Douglas Bader.
Born in London in 1910, Sir Douglas had an affinity for sports and competitiveness, and shortly after school, he entered the Royal Air Force as a cadet, where he continued with rugby, hockey, and boxing. He took his first flight in 1928, and by 1930, he was performing risky, outlawed, low-flying stunts and excelling in aerobatics. Mr. Bader certainly had a flair for testing limits, and he did so regularly.
Sadly, while performing a low-flying stunt upon a dare, he crashed his plane on December 14th, 1931, and was rushed to a nearby hospital where he had both legs amputated. But that didn’t stop him from pursuing everything life had to offer and more. Never giving up, Sir Bader worked especially hard to regain every ability that he’d had before the accident, and it worked. With prosthetics, he drove a modified car, played golf, danced, and eventually did the thing he loved most- flying.
Though getting back on a plane didn’t come overnight, and he was denied by the RAF several times, he kept pursuing different avenues for acceptance. Finally, with tensions running high in Europe in 1939, Bader was accepted back into the RAF, quickly becoming wing commander over several squadrons. He was credited with 22 aerial victories and many probable and shared victories throughout the war. However, on August 9th, 1941, while on patrol in France, he was shot down and captured by three German soldiers.
After many attempted escapes from hospitals and concentration camps, Sir Douglas was unsuccessful. But he never gave up, and the stories that follow his escape attempts and survival are nothing short of genius. He also persuaded the Germans to fix his broken prosthetic from the crash and get them to request a new one from the English, replacing the destroyed one. So, it’s more than safe to say that Sir Douglas Bader was a force.
If any particular thing can sum up Sir Douglas Bader, it’s that of his flight log after the crash that left him an amputee. It said plainly, “Crashed slow-rolling near ground. Bad show.” It’s clear that he never let his circumstances get in the way of anything he wanted. With hard work and undying persistence, he adjusted, pressed on, and did everything he wanted. He was a wonder to all that know his story, disabled or not, and is an incredible example of achieving the impossible.
