Flying Colours: The Epic Story of Douglas Bader by Lucas, Laddie - 1981

Hutchinson. Very Good/Very Good. 1981. Hard Cover. 8vo 0091464706 Dust jacket price clipped, No ownership marks. 303 pages, illustrated with photographs on plate, appendices, index. Clean and tight. A story of the world famous fighter pilot Douglas Bader, who inspired millions with his bravery and work for the disabled. On 14 December, 1981, it will be fifty years exactly since Douglas Bader - then a brilliant 21-year-old pilot officer in the Royal Air Force - crashed near Reading in a Bristol Bulldog fighter and lost both legs. In the half-century since then, he has become an international figure, colourful and controversial - leader of Churchill's Few in the Battle of Britain, a German prisoner-ofwar, a successful businessman, inspiration of the disabled, writer, public speaker and friend of many of the world's statesmen, from Smuts to Churchill, from Menzies to Wilson. In this intimate and lively biography - authorised by Bader himself and supplemented by his private papers, flying log books, personal notes and photographs - Laddie Lucas reviews the extraordinary life of one of England's greatest heroes. The book contains a new and controversial assessment of the Battle of Britain: the author exposes for the first time Douglas Bader's tactical concept of the battle and his critics are decisively answered with facts and fresh official evidence. There has never been a life quite like Bader's - in war or in peace - and author Laddie Lucas is uniquely placed to tell his story. A distinguished Royal Air Force fighter leader in World War II, he is related to Bader by marriage and has an unrivalled fund of personal, untold stories about him. .