The smile of a stern-faced hero: Rare footage of WW2 fighter ace Douglas Bader walking with false legs shown for first time
Lots of good background in the article about the guy who lost both legs but still came back to become one of Britain's highest-scoring fighter pilots (and one of Germany's most trouble-prone prisoners after he was shot down.)
His story, written by Paul Brickhill, is definitely inspirational. I know that it did wonders for me at a time when things were looking grim.
I knew that if he could get back to flying these with two 1940's-era metal legs:
Flying one of these with one modern one would be more than do-able.
And it was. But re-reading that book during rehab helped more than a little; it gave me a goal and the motivation to go after it. After reading his story, how could I not?
Bader has been one of my heroes, too.
ReplyDeleteOne of my alltime favorite books and
ReplyDeletea good film about one of my Heroes.
I hate to break it to you but you're in the same class my friend. You may not be flying WWII fighters but what you have accomplished and continue to do is nothing short of amazing and inspirational.
ReplyDeleteYep, one HELLVA man...
ReplyDeleteI have that book on my to-read shelf, its about three books from the front. I'm looking forward to it! I think I first ran across a mention of Mr. Bader in an account of Colditz castle, and it intrigued me that a man with no legs could not only fly, but do so frikkin well at it, and then become such a royal pain in the Germans' arses...
ReplyDeleteGot a biography I can borrow?
ReplyDelete@ PH: I do. I keep a share copy around for friends.
ReplyDeleteI very gutsy man
ReplyDelete