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Bader's Last Fight: An In-Depth Investigation of a Great WWII Mystery
On 9th August 1941 one of the greatest icons of the Second World War, Douglas Bader, was shot down, captured and later incarcerated. But by whom, and how? Was it by one of his deadly German opponents, as Douglas Bader himself maintained, or was it by one of his own side? There has been much debate and controversy among historians and in 2003 the author of this book revealed for the first time that Bader may have been victim to ‘friendly fire’. That revelation was followed by interest in the national press and later by a TV documentary. In this book aviation historian Andy Saunders develops his hypothesis, backed up by strong evidence and a wealth of statistics, and separates fact from fiction. He expertly dissects all the material relating to the day itself, and subsequent events. He has also continued the quest to find the legendary fighter pilot’s aircraft, which holds vital clues. And he has startling new material to divulge here also. This book will fascinate all who read it and will be seen by most observers to be the final word on one of the great mysteries of the entire war.
- GenresAviation
160 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2007
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December 4, 2015
In this book, Andy Saunders discusses the events surrounding Sir Douglas Bader's last combat sortie and works to solve a long standing mystery. While leading part of air escort for Circus 68 (bombing raid into France hoping to draw Luftwaffe activity) on August 9, 1941, Bader parachuted from his stricken Spitfire and was captured by the Germans. Was he shot down? Was he brought down by a mid-air collision? And who did it? Switching between second and third person, the author uses an investigative approach of addressing each issue regarding the fateful mission and works to bring the reader to specific logical conclusions regarding each issue and thus to the ultimate conclusion of what happened.
Sadly, this book misses the mark on many accounts. While Saunders points out that the book is not a Bader biography, he repeatedly inserts jabs at the man's character: the flight where he lost his legs being an unauthorized display, referring to his leadership skills as perceived, apparent disdain towards enlisted aviators, and portraying Bader as bent on increasing his own kill total. The accuracy or validity of these points is not the issue. As presented, they detract from the main focus of the book and add nothing to soling the mystery of Bader's downing.
The book suffers from disjointed organization. Sixteen chapters each analyze some aspect of the event. Rather than grouping RAF or Luftwaffe views, or chronologically focusing chapters, Saunders bounces between the two and often veers off point. For example, while discussing Adolf Galland's memories of events, Saunders inserts Johnnie Johnson's observations.
Saunders relies heavily on Paul Brickhill's biography, Reach for the Sky, for Bader's point of view. But he focuses on pointing out errors in that book, devoting an entire chapter to discussing it. He then uses these "errors" as the basis to question Bader's motives and memory of events. Furthermore, Saunders notes how Bader's account in his autobiography, Fight for the Sky, differs from Brickhill's account. In a footnote, he refers to one point both as "changed slightly" and a "significant variation" but never fully explains this. Saunders doesn't use the autobiography and doesn't list it in the bibliography despite the above reference. For a book attempting to be exceptionally thorough in its analysis, this omission is very glaring.
Saunder's analysis is suspect. For example, in a discussion on G forces, he points out that "his lack of lower limbs may well have been a physiological disadvantage" but fails to explain what the disadvantage would be. He then uses the temporary loss of memory from "graying out" (which occurs as positive G forces cause blood to pool in the lower extremities) to explain why Bader's memory while experiencing negative G's (which causes red out's as blood pools in the eyes) while trying to bail out, is suspect and should, thus, be discounted.
Finally, the most glaring error in the analysis is the non-inclusion of the RAF's own report concerning potential fratricide during Circus 68. Saunders simply states, 'The evidence is there for all to read at the national archives in Kew." Since the report isn't in the bibliography, it is unclear if Saunders even used it. Saunder's conclusions are subject to question.
Bader's Last Fight misses the mark. Omissions, a pervasive undercurrent of Bader bashing, disjointed organization, and lightly supported grand leaps in logic leave the reader certain only that Bader failed to return from his last sortie. The cause remains an open question.
Sadly, this book misses the mark on many accounts. While Saunders points out that the book is not a Bader biography, he repeatedly inserts jabs at the man's character: the flight where he lost his legs being an unauthorized display, referring to his leadership skills as perceived, apparent disdain towards enlisted aviators, and portraying Bader as bent on increasing his own kill total. The accuracy or validity of these points is not the issue. As presented, they detract from the main focus of the book and add nothing to soling the mystery of Bader's downing.
The book suffers from disjointed organization. Sixteen chapters each analyze some aspect of the event. Rather than grouping RAF or Luftwaffe views, or chronologically focusing chapters, Saunders bounces between the two and often veers off point. For example, while discussing Adolf Galland's memories of events, Saunders inserts Johnnie Johnson's observations.
Saunders relies heavily on Paul Brickhill's biography, Reach for the Sky, for Bader's point of view. But he focuses on pointing out errors in that book, devoting an entire chapter to discussing it. He then uses these "errors" as the basis to question Bader's motives and memory of events. Furthermore, Saunders notes how Bader's account in his autobiography, Fight for the Sky, differs from Brickhill's account. In a footnote, he refers to one point both as "changed slightly" and a "significant variation" but never fully explains this. Saunders doesn't use the autobiography and doesn't list it in the bibliography despite the above reference. For a book attempting to be exceptionally thorough in its analysis, this omission is very glaring.
Saunder's analysis is suspect. For example, in a discussion on G forces, he points out that "his lack of lower limbs may well have been a physiological disadvantage" but fails to explain what the disadvantage would be. He then uses the temporary loss of memory from "graying out" (which occurs as positive G forces cause blood to pool in the lower extremities) to explain why Bader's memory while experiencing negative G's (which causes red out's as blood pools in the eyes) while trying to bail out, is suspect and should, thus, be discounted.
Finally, the most glaring error in the analysis is the non-inclusion of the RAF's own report concerning potential fratricide during Circus 68. Saunders simply states, 'The evidence is there for all to read at the national archives in Kew." Since the report isn't in the bibliography, it is unclear if Saunders even used it. Saunder's conclusions are subject to question.
Bader's Last Fight misses the mark. Omissions, a pervasive undercurrent of Bader bashing, disjointed organization, and lightly supported grand leaps in logic leave the reader certain only that Bader failed to return from his last sortie. The cause remains an open question.
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