Douglas Bader enigma

[David Layne]

I would be interested in reading the forums response to this.


http://royalnavymedic1945.com/id36.html

[adrian roberts]

Someone who is so sure that they are right, that everyone else has to be wrong.

Even if Bader was repatriated, could you see him agreeing to be part of some conspiracy rather than jumping straight back into a Spitfire? (He flew Spitfires and Meteors after the war so he wasn't too badly injured). Would the Germans have sent him back because he was too much trouble - why not just shoot him and say he attempted to escape?

And the weakness of many such conspiracy theories, like the theories about the faked moon landings, or swapping the Titanic with the Olympic, is the sheer number of people that would have had to keep quiet about it, or to support the lie - in this case all the Colditz inmates for a start.

If this geezer did meet Bader in Liverpool, the most likely theory is that after 60-odd years he is mixed up as to the date - maybe it was 1941 and he saw the GIs on another occasion. And did Bader actually need help putting his legs on?

Adrian

[Kyt]

Er, before I say anything can we be sure that he's not going to go nuts with us- he's already had a go at another forum!!

For all Bader's bravery, flying skills and even as an inspiration to disabled people like me, one thing that people did find aggravating was his sense of own -worth and was quite a publicity seeker. He doesn't seem the type who would remain in shadows.

As to his legs - generally he was passionately independent but during is fighting days, his batman did sometimes assist him when he was in a rush. In POW camp (if he was still there! ) his legs were taken off him for the night after his fourth escape attempt.

[adrian roberts]

The section on Alec Ross, Bader's batman in Colditz, is well corroborated; even more of the story appeared in the Ross' Daily Telegraph obituary.

I have to say, that for all Bader's good qualities, his alleged treatment of Ross does him no favours whatever - apparently he never bothered to contact him after the war.

[lancesergeant]

Maybe the hard faced abrasive attitude was what helped him to overcome the trauma of his accident and his double amputation. I have read two autobiographies of him and he comes across a man sure of himself and his beliefs and opinion. While one could be judgemental in his treatment of Ross, I think people miss the influence he had over Leigh Mallory. I read of his relationship with him and get more than an impression that Bader was calling the shots and Leigh Mallory was the figurehead.

I find it sad that these conspiracies have a bad habit of coming out long after the subject concerned has long passed on, or friends of the subject like wise. I think in a lot of cases it is just raking up some ashes chucking in a bit of doubt and the old conspiracy theory or the "but why didn't this/or why did they do this and not mention it" creeps into the fore. This gets people thinking and we're away. Another source of advertising and revenue for the author and his publishers. In the media, the story hasn't got to hold water. Gossip and gutter mongering sell the papers.

As I was told once and I treat in as fact " Every lie has an element of truth in it". Most people are up for gossip and if not involved in spreading it will at least listen in to it. If the Bader story had initialled been given to those in the know instead of the media, it might of died the death instead of stirring things up. Media after all are out to sell papers not concern themselves with people's feelings and the truth of the material they publish.

[GreyWolf]

Originally Posted by Kyt

Er, before I say anything can we be sure that he's not going to go nuts with us- he's already had a go at another forum!!

For all Bader's bravery, flying skills and even as an inspiration to disabled people like me, one thing that people did find aggravating was his sense of own -worth and was quite a publicity seeker. He doesn't seem the type who would remain in shadows.

As to his legs - generally he was passionately independent but during is fighting days, his batman did sometimes assist him when he was in a rush. In POW camp (if he was still there! ) his legs were taken off him for the night after his fourth escape attempt.

The so-called Bader Enigma is a complete load of old tosh - there is not a single word of truth in it. Unfortunately the author is completely unwilling to discuss it in rational terms and resorts to abuse of anyone daring to suggest he is wrong. File under "wacko stories" along with alien abductions and there being another civilisation living in a big cave under the North Pole!

[Gage]

Never been a big Bader fan. He always brings to mind the Big Wing and LM battle with Dowding. Thank God for Park and Dowding.

[Kiwiwriter]

You should read his page and see all the nasty stuff he said about me, personally!

This is a guy who lives in a nice little house, right next to reality!

[GreyWolf]

Originally Posted by Kiwiwriter

You should read his page and see all the nasty stuff he said about me, personally!

This is a guy who lives in a nice little house, right next to reality!

Apparently he was reported for the abuse he was placing about people on his website and was instructed to remove it all on pain of the entire website being suspended! He's still trying to pretend he was justified but the page he's put up in place of the ranting is pretty lame and shows that he knows that his credibility is pretty much zero.

[Kiwiwriter]

Originally Posted by GreyWolf

Apparently he was reported for the abuse he was placing about people on his website and was instructed to remove it all on pain of the entire website being suspended! He's still trying to pretend he was justified but the page he's put up in place of the ranting is pretty lame and shows that he knows that his credibility is pretty much zero.

I was very annoyed at his personal abuse, which of course, was his intention in posting it in the first place. I'll have to take a look to see if his material on me is gone...I didn't want to look at it more than once, for obvious reasons. I actually did not complain, as I felt that after a lifetime of overreacting to taunting and teasing, maybe it's better to "mokusatsu" such statements.