Video from the Past [10] - Late Night with Douglas Bader (1965)
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- Опубліковано 19 лют 2015
- Video from the Past [10] - Late Night with Douglas Bader
World War II fighter pilot ace Douglas Bader got his RAF commission in 1930, but lost both his legs in a plane crash in 1931. However, within six months he was walking on artificial legs. He rejoined the RAF in 1939 and rose to command No 242 Squadron, the Canadian squadron based at Coltishall. He led this unit with great success throughout the Battle of Britain and by October 1940 had been awarded the DSO (Distinguished Service Order) and the DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross). By the end of the war he had been mentioned in dispatches three times, had an official tally of 23 enemy aircraft shot down and had been a prisoner of war in Colditz, from where he made numerous attempts to escape.
In this 1965 "Late Night" interview with Denis Tuohy, Bader discusses his fame and why it is so important to mark anniversaries of major historical events such as the Battle of Britain. He defends the attitude of young people who protest against wars and talks about the film 'Reach for the Sky', which tells his story.
Reach for the Sky is a 1956 British biographical film based on the 1954 biography of the same name by Paul Brickhill. The film stars Kenneth More and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. It won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film of 1956. To depict the various Royal Air Force bases realistically, principal filming took place in Surrey at RAF Kenley, and around the village of Bagshot. Studio work was completed at the Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK. Available wartime combat aircraft including Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire fighters were arranged to take on the aerial scenes. The film fared well with the public, being the most popular film in the UK for 1956.
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I don't much care about the criticism, when I lost my leg (to sepsis), Douglas Bader's example spurred me on and now I am walking around almost normally. He is and always was a hero!
Well done .
Likewise David. I thoroughly agree! Knowing his story before it happens to you is immensely inspirational.
Same with Galland for me! He pretty much lost all vision in his left eye in a crash before the war, cheated on his medical exam, and went on to obviously be a successful pilot.. I have an eye condition in my right eye but kept going, got my license with a waiver from the FAA! Kinda like Bader hinted on, the human body and brain are so good at adapting, I’ve never given ‘bad vision’ a second thought because I’m so adapted to what I have.
A friend of mine lost his leg.. I showed him reach for the sky.. at the end he said "ok so what ..another black and white war film".
So I gave him the book.. and he was amazed to find out its a true story.
On his headstone he had
Impossible is such a vague word
The one who's life were made worse due to his baiting the German soldiers in prisoner of war camps are not likely to agree with you ,apparently they all clapped when he left the camp ,not in admiration like the film implies, but in gratitude to see the back of him
Humans do not come any better than this man. Brave, Thoughtful , Careing, Modest and a true Hero.
He was a far right racist.
Met Bader when he visited our school in South Africa in 1969. What an amazing person. His inspiration help me to on to a flying career later on and also to become a bit of a rebel.
What strikes you most vividly is his keen intelligence. Every question - and they are good questions - is carefully considered and brilliantly answered.
I suspect that we shall never have a generation like this again.
According to him we will it's all in the cycle of things.
People would never support an imperialist war now.
Correct. The past is a distant country.
Very interesting to hear what Douglas Bader had to say. We owe all who served in that era on our behalf. A tremendous debt.
A man hardly likely to be deterred by a mean Tweet. A gentleman and a hero.
I love his comment on meeting a group of Luftwaffe pilots after the war : "I didnt realise we left so many of you bastards alive"
I remember that interview too !
Although one of the greatest German flying aces, Adolph Galland, became a lifelong friend of Baader until is death.
@@gennettor8915 Yes I think that was Douglas Bader having a joke. Just like when he was taken prisoner and Adolf Galland gave him lunch, letting him sit in the cockpit of a Messerschmitt 109. Of course, Douglas asked if he could go up in it and do a circuit of the airfield. His host declined.
Bader was a far right racist.
I flew in the Battle of Britain flypast last weekend. Will continue to do so to honour these great men as long as I can strap on the machine...
A national hero and true gentleman. As a child in the early 1960's I was walking along the seafront at Exmouth, Devon with my parents and grandparents. Unbeknown to me at the time he walked past and my parents said hello and he had a wonderful smile. Never forgot when it was explained to me who he was and what a great man.
I remember when our school in Hornchurch restructured it's house system based on the names of pilots who had served at the local RAF Station during WW2. There were four houses Bader, Tuck, Finucane and Malan. I ended up being Bader House Captain and I recall the lovely letter we received from Grp Captain Bader himself when he was informed of the restructuring. The letter, ( like this interview), was full of thanks and obvious humility. As a post war baby boomer, who grew up with all the stories of the great WW2 legends and, in particular, Reach For The Sky, it was great to get a letter from one of my boyhood heroes.....RIP Grp Captain Bader and thank you.......
I was a RAF kid, we too had school houses named after people like Bader, Hannah, Cunningham, etc. Thanks for the nostalgic reminder!
Terry Orchard ....... Finucane was Brendan Finucane, fighter ace, 1st cousin of my dads. Sadly Brendan got shot down and lost in 1942.
Was your school called Mitchell after the Spitfire Designer.
Thank you so much for this post - I never realised what a strait up "chap" he really was - when a man tells the truth you've got to hold up your hands to heaven and thank god for him.
I can recall reading 'Reach for the Sky' as a 10 year old boy. It inspired my lifelong love of books, history and aviation.
So English, so English of a time gone by. Sad to see the UK the way it is now, RIP D. B.
Galland was an "officer and a gentleman" as he was written.
Venerated in his ranks and respected by the enemy.
What distinguished him was chivalry (!) And fairness, performance and will, honesty and doggedness.
He did not collaborate with 'the system' but with his brothers in arms.
In his rank, reputation and position, he repeatedly called for 'knowledge and conscience' to strengthen the 'hunters'. Ultimately, in vain against the deluded and 'yes-sayers'.
And precisely because of his career, he had immense experience with him. He was the mouthpiece of many ...
This experience alone made the 'leadership' at that time criminally not to use.
He was lucky and despite numerous missions he survived the war.
'Friendships' also with former war opponents and international recognition remained.
HE could look back on a finally fulfilled life.
Not many can go the last way so satisfied ...
May he find his peace in the last rest ... his thoughts and thoughts still reverberate today!
A magnificent man, an inspiration to all! Just as an aside, I met Kenneth More at Nice Airport shortly before his death. We got talking and I told him how much I had enjoyed his portrayal of Douglas Bader and, with that wonderful mischievous smile he had, he then showed me how he walked like the great man with his 'wooden walk'. That is now my party trick when I've had a few! Thank goodness for these archives to remind us of what we've lost.
Love him or like him this man had mental and physical balls of pure granite
I admired his bravery and spirit, strange his fellow comrades couldn't stand him .
@@davidbutter7433 looks like you are on a smear campaign. We can all see through it though - your feelings of inadequacy are quite evident.
As a Lad in the 1950's Douglas was one of my great hero's. Understand like all of us, slightly flawed, but still Huge respect. I still think, to a degree, in 2021 , that the UK still has some people that would come to the call if required. A magic interview.
What a marvellous piece of footage. Such a shame that as a nation we have no longer seem to have people of his character
By his replies and words, the late Douglas Bader shows himself a matured and humble man by the time of this interview, which was 1965. In his earlier years he was "prone to boasting and showing off" and was known to be at "arrogant, selfish and breathtakingly rude", as reported Express in a 2010 online article entitled "Bader, a flawed hero". Here, he grasps the crux of the question, thinks at lightening speed and replies with firm, yet humble conviction. Jolly good stuff old chap! Rest In Peace. This coming 15th September 2019, the world will remember The Few and The "Whole Lot", as Bader said in the amazing interview, who fought for Britain's freedom in the Battle Of Britain. Salute!
Frankie Kam he lost his legs showing off.
Frankie your comments are consistent with my knowledge of him. In fact, my father, also an RAF fighter pilot (not in the same league as Bader) spoke badly of him, issuing the ultimate insult "He did not behave like a gentleman". But I think in times of crisis, you need a man who gets things done. Curiously another icon, Captain Eric Brown, was similarly loathed for the same reasons, based on my chats with pilots who worked with him.
@@Jabber-ig3iw he paid the price with his legs
What an incredible interview. Very penetrating, and comlex questions, answered concisely, frankly, and so completely!! What a very deep thinking, quick, and decisive mind. 👍
We owe him and people like him more than we will ever know !
We have reached a time, and acquired a generation where some are glibly dismissive, even critical of people like Bader, which is a tragedy.
I hope this insight goes a long way to correct that, because for all his achievements he appears entirely humble, valuing the worth of other men and women alongside his own, as all good men do.
Well said, sir. It’s down to a lack of education, thanks to the leftie teachers.
It will never change while the far left run this country Boris might be PM but the left control our schools and libraries and false history it’s a shame but bloody true
@@williamhenry4986 Your viewpoint does not really align with reality. I can assure you that the far left has no more influence on the UK than the far right. And I'd like to remind you we have had 10 Conservative prime ministers since World War II, and only 5 Labour ones over the same period. I think you must be inhaling some sort of anti-left wing propaganda to believe that the UK is not in fact a very right-wing nation at its heart with more influence in education leaning towards that than the left. I guess it is a matter of perspective, and if you are extremely right wing, you might perceive most things as far-left, but to objective people this is not the case. And any negative comment here about those who took part in World War II are not a representation of everyone left of center.
@@ES-qm5hr they don’t have to be in charge they sneak into schools and teach anti English look at the war memorial they put a rap band after singing anti Churchill your obviously on the left and I used to vote labour many years ago but there anti white anti English anti everything English there pathetic and only survive on racism
@@ES-qm5hr you don’t even like your own homeless you would rather give houses to migrants who hate this country and have never contribute to it probably like you
I love the way he smokes his pipe through the interview. Totally normal in 1965.
It's why his wife developed throat cancer.
those were different days. When I was first in uniform, every office had an ash tray and Sr Officers/ Sr NCO's had a bottle of whiskey in their desk drawer.
An incredible man
Still flying high up there a great man and a great inspiration to all
Such a legend. Massive respect. An inspiration when my back was against the wall.
One of my heroes. An inspiration.
Wow the comments it wasn't the Royal Air force that won the battle of Britain.. it was the lot of us.. the British people on the ground taking the bombings and the air raids.. it wasn't just us.. how true humble, caring and just... there's always humour lurking and a cheeky smile thank you
The Battle of Britain was irrelevant as Hitler never intended to invade the UK.
I always liked Douglas Bader. I have a print signed by Douglas Bader and Adolf Galland. God Bless them both. :-)
What an inspirational man.
Absolutely incredible inspirational man.
Great man met him when I was with 2096 air training corp
I knew I was in the presence of humble greatness.
What a inspiration , I wish our leaders had that type of humanity and clarity of though.
What a magnificent man, my hero as a child in the 50's and still is now, it is not often one get to agree with everthing said on TV but back in the day TV had merit and value. I onder if what Sir Douglas would make of the people born in this century, would he be as disapointed as I am?
I think he would be disappointed, but, being the kind of person he was, he would try to look on the bright side and encourage us all to ‘’press on’’.
😢wow what a guy
Thanks so much for posting this. What a find.
A champion for us all today to focus on...
Douglas is a legend you could live a life time and never see another man with true grit and balls of titanium.
My Dad said he was jest like most all of them. Jest another pilot doing his best for the side and bloody happy to be alive. W.O pilot R.S.Whitney
Well said !
Lovely video clip, thank you x
Douglas was am old family friend he was a Great Gentleman
He was a racist.
men of this caliber are few and far between to-day they broke most of the molds after the war they were men of greatness and their memories will live for ever more.. lld3r
Thank God there are far & few men of his calibre around today, he was an arsehole the way he used to treat people & the less said about this arrogant little man the better!! He so obviously suffered from "Small Man Syndrome" due of course to his lack of stature!! One thing though, he sure knew how to blow his own trumpet & who needed an orchestra when db (no capitals needed) was hanging around plus he was even able to do his own conducting as well!! (yeah right)
@@brendonrutherford5118 ah, you're another BBC journalist with feelings of inadequacy, running your smear campaign.
A complex man who was not perfect by a long way. But cometh the hour cometh the man. We needed hard men who could be bastards.
Legend of a man . 💙💙
Hero! Thank you for sharing.
Excellent, thanks for posting...what an inspiration regardless of his faults, which im sure he had a plenty from what ive seen and read.
i met this man what a nice person he was
What a Wonderful man!
I shouldn't imagine that Bader, were he alive now, would give an aeronautical copulation for the revisionist criticism of people who were never there and have never staked their lives for the greater good.
yes, notice how the smear campaigns run wild once people have passed on. Cowards on keyboards especially.
WOW WOW WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
From a mad keen 76yo Aussie fan.
This might be the best interview I have ever seen of anyone.
Bader was one of the great leaders. The right man at the right time who remotivated the despondent 242 Sqn when the chips were down. He developed / trained some excellent leaders and built a talented fighting unit(s).
A great man!
He had his faults, by all accounts - but what a great man. I saw recently a documentary which suggested that his image was overblown. It's disappointing if we discover our heroes have feet of clay. All I know is that I wouldn't have been worthy to polish his tin legs.
Stating he had his faults is a mere understatement, this guy was a fuckn arsehole & the way he treated other people at times in his life!! The best thing that happened to Britain was when the bastard got shot down & ended up in Colditz as a guest of Adolf!! In reality he was simply put a horrible little man who suffered from "small man syndrome" & consequently always had to blow his own trumpet to merely make himself stand out in the crowd!!
Want to find out about the real db (no capitals needed) ??? it's easy just do a simple search but the results could take a month of Sunday's to read!!
Yes you are right he did indeed have his faults & the biggest faut he had was merely being a fuckn arsehole to work with & alongside!! Bader did not win the BOB on his own as there were othjer pilots just as good as him & some a hell of a lot better!! He was a stuck-up arsehole & so bloody arrogant!!
This was from a time when English men were quality men, they spoke eloquently, dressed like gentlemen and were courageous. Douglas Bader has been accused of being arrogant and big headed etc., but whatever his personality failings he was a most interesting and courageous man. The German fighter pilots were also great quality men and most were gentlemen too, but then I suppose they we all killers too.
No one can judge another until you've walked a great distance in their shoes. Few people could have faced the challenges that Bader conquered.
Incredible to see this.
He was a fantasic chappie !!
How I miss this England.
He retained his connection with RAF Coltishall, and would fly in occasionally, met him as a member of the BBMF ground crew.
First time I’ve seen this. Quite good.
“It was the lot of us....”
As a seven year old I badgered my mother into taking me to see him speak in the open air in 1960s Blackpool i think I was 7. Although I didn't realise at the time he was an early exponent of disability rites which eventually became the Disabilities Act.
Beyond awesome upload.
"Bloody good show, glad you could come"
-Doughlass bader
It’s so true what he said about the Battle of Britain and he was right when he said that it will come down to one very old man sitting around all by himself. I think there’s one or two Battle of Britain pilots who are still alive , there’s a lot of real old guys showing up on BBC documentaries claiming to have been in action during the Battle of Britain and when someone took the time to research these claims it turns out he wasn’t a pilot during the battle at all , he was a 17 year old kid still in school . He did become a pilot and flew over Normandy and fought from 1943 to the end of the war .
Very sharp individual
What a wonderful man.
"The Battle of Britain was not won by the RAF. Pilots, it was won by everyone in this country"... Pretty cool statement.
I grew up in Canada to a Scottish family. I'm the only one of my parents' and aunts' and uncles' children NOT born in Scotland to put it in perspective. As years go on I realize more frequently that people around me just don't have a clue how difficult it was in Britain during the war, unless their parents also came from there and shared stories. My father was a Rolls Royce engine machinist at Hillington. That wasn't enough though. In his "spare time" he volunteered for the Home Guard and did stints manning an anti-aircraft post. Many of the women were serving too.
Incredible man.
what an absolute Gentleman
Not sure about that. He was hated by those near him despite the public persona
Fascinating !
a legend
Magnificent Man
true legend
A fine brave man.
Wonderful generation. Shame about now.
He attended a reception event in a Toronto hotel in 1980, the 40th Anniversary of the B.I.B.
The room had a bunch of RCAF and RAF veterans in their blazers and they kept Bader surrounded like fans as much as comrades. The event was to display a commemorative sword created by Wilkinson as a limited edition. The entire blade has acid etched reproductions of crests, emblems, etc. pertaining to the Battle of Britain.
They have a "thing" they do of publicly slashing the master silk screen that has the etching pattern for the blade's markings. So that's the end of the edition. I was there as a collector member but no way I could afford one of those.
Organized by the Cdn Fighter Pilots Association . My father was there I believe.
They simply Just don't make them like this anymore. A credit to The Human race. A personal battle admirably fought.
A great man
I read Reach for the Sky at least ten times.
What he did will echo in eternity.
I doubt that very much!! he wasn't the only pilot out there who fought in the war torn skies over Europe!! There were far greater & better pilots out there than this little arsehole & the arrogant way he liked to treat people!! He was not the only pilot who had no legs & besides he lost his legs whilst showing off as per usual & trying to impress upon other people how supposedly good he was as a pilot!! (yeah right) Even Adolf didn't like him apparently & who could blame him.
Hero
Looks like he is sitting in his old Hurricane again.
Take a look at Douglas Bader on this is your life, it’s absolutely fantastic like a different world
People either loved him or hated him
Hearing old Tinlegs Bader the warrior speak is a tonic in these woke times in which we live.
May he continue to speak and be remembered in glory for ever.
Amen to that.
I love DOUGLAS B,,,,,,,
He seems much more humble than some of his colleagues from the war gave him credit for. I remember one of his squadron mates stating in an interview that Bader was reckless in how he led his squadron, especially on low level sweeps across the coastal areas of Europe. People were getting killed under his leadership simply because he took risks with the entire squadron that he shouldn't have. One other who was with him in Colditz castle in Germany when he was a POW said he caused a lot of problems for other prisoners and then laughed at their plight when the Germans punished them.
Perhaps time had made him reflect on those events and brought about change.
Im sure he had his shortcomings in one way and another and. Came from a position of privelige.But what he did against impossible odds.And to drag himself up to obtain the life he did was inspirational and positively heroic.
G'day,
The people who were in POW Camps with him hated him with a passion born of standing in the Snow being beaten & searched all night while Bader was being searched for on one of his hopeless attempts to escape - which the Camp's X-Committee had refused to sanction, because his Stumps made escaping "on foot" impossible.
At least, so I was told by an ex RAAF Liberator-Pilot, whom I nursed in about 1982...; he cursed Bader, and his whole Propaganda Legend, quite fluently for several minutes without pause - as a dangerously self-indulgent Bullshit-Artist.
Just(ifiably ?) sayin',
Take it easy...
;-p
Ciao !
;-p
Todd, it's called COMBAT. It's risky business with absolutely no guarantees. Keep in mind, not EVERY ONE is going to agree with you: Look at Jesus, who never did any thing wrong, & the "religious Mafia" hated Him. Odds are, not everyone liked Bader. So, this isn't first hand knowledge? (gossip). MAYBE he wasn't really a jerk after all, eh?
You do find colleagues, fellow officers, Sgt pilots etc who absolutely hated him as a loud bully stuck in an anachronistic world of “Balbos”, “circuses” and “big wings” and clueless about 1940’s-modern air combat, the situation UK was in or tactics. He and Leigh-Mallory spent the whole BoB whispering to their friends in high places about how bad Dowding & Park were and as soon as the battle was done they got shifted & Dowding sent to the US and retired in 1942. Not a very classy thing to do lobbying to get more glory and badmouthing those actually running the battle while the fate of the UK hung in the balance.
(Btw, while in the subject, Keith Park should have a bloody column in Trafalgar Square alongside Nelson. The little nook off Waterloo Place that they put one just doesn’t do justice. The New Zealander who saved the UK & kept the flame burning for the liberation of Western Europe deserves far more prominence than he gets!).
Linda McEntaffer
So not everyone likes someone and people hated Jesus but that means any criticism of Bader is made up gossip?? What? What batshit logic is this? Go away you bloody idiot and stop dribbling about subjects you obviously know eff all about.
They just don't make them like that any more.
As of August 2019 there are just 5 Battle of Britain pilots left...
As of November 2020, just one😟
Ha ha ,what a humble man , just like Kenneth Moore potraid him In the film
How do the young men of today measure up to these types of characters………? What would Douglas say about today’s woke society…..?
my grandad cooked for him in the raf !
and my granddad is 81 today bless him Jhon copland x
@@bryanmccann5778 Gp Capt Bader retired from the Royal Air Force on 21 July 1946, at which point your grandfather was 8. What was he cooking at that age?
You didn't finish you comment about your Dad finding him a fuckn arsehole to work for!!
Feet on the ground!
Amazes me that some people are prone to say,, oh he or she has, had this or that fault,,,, in all honesty has anyone ever walked this earth without fault, absolutely none, of course,,, bar one,,, just not possible,,, bar one
Thank God for those such as Douglas Bader, wow, what a generation
God help england now,, and yes!! the only perfect one who ever walked this earth,,,,, The Christ.
England is in the state it's in because of World War II.
@@JamesRichards-mj9kw Could you elaborate on that answer? Genuinely curious.
@@carolebarker2195 See the Atlantic Charter.
@@carolebarker2195 World War II destroyed Europe and the British Empire, and turned the UK into a satellite of the United States.
this is profound
Who is the interviewer?
Denis Tuohy.
A brave man - but also a typical product of a British public school over-privileged class system. Often educated beyond their own mental ability. Bader was not an intelligent leader or a very pleasant man. He was, however, brave, determined, bull-headed and patriotic. He was a talented pilot. Lucky to have been trained before the war. Lucky to have survived his accident.
Most of this shit you said about the arrogant little man that Bader was is totally correct!!
I believe he was generally not liked, something about his nose being too close to his arse!!
In Colditz he was a sheer mongrel to get on with & probably would have come right had something the guts to put their boot right up his arsehole!!
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 Really? You think that his replies lack intelligent reflection? If so, that says volumes about you and nothing about him.
wow, someone has an axe to grind. What union are you in?
Ironic,Bader is a German name.Cousin killed cousin,never again.🇬🇧🇩🇪
Terrible interviewer,and yet Bader was so humble,and gracious.
I suppose the question has to be asked......how, in Britain did we come from men like that to "men" like James O'Brien and Owen Jones etc ?
We defeated fascism but we never defeated socialism.
was Douglas bader murdered?
No, he died from a heart attack.
Airey Neave, who was also in Colditz and a supporter of Thatcher , was assassinated by the IRS in the early 90's
Tim Amor the IRA
@@timamor915 The American tax service don't usually murder British war heroes.
andy elliott 😂😂😂🍻