£23,500 for Bader log book
Published 19 Nov 2011 09:30
THE LOG book of hero wartime fighter pilot Douglas Bader - recording the crash on Woodley airfield which cost him both his legs - fetched £24,000 at auction on Wednesday.
The future Battle of Britain pilot was only 21 when he narrowly escaped death after downing his plane while performing midair acrobatic stunts on December 14, 1931, and his life was saved by the skill of doctors at the Royal Berkshire Hospital.
The life-changing crash is recorded in his log book where he wrote: "X country - Reading. Crashed slow-rolling near ground. Bad show."
The log, which also contains details of the operation to amputate his legs, was snapped up by an anonymous bidder after going under the hammer for the first time at Dominic Winter Book Auctions at South Cerney in Gloucestershire.
Chris Albury, auctioneer and senior valuer, said: "We had several aviation items belonging to Bader, all incredibly exciting.
"The log book itself is such an iconic item relating to one of the most famous people of the 20th century - we were pretty sure a lot of people would want it and expected it to fetch between £20,000 and £30,000."
The treasured logbook was acquired from Bader's widow, Lady Joan Bader, by aviation enthusiast Ron Mitchell in 1990.
Mr Mitchell, 65, had loaned it to the Royal Air Force Museum in London several times before deciding to sell it.
Bader never let the consequences of his "bad show" get the better of him and went on to become a Second World War flying hero despite his artificial legs, and his exploits were immortalised in the sixties film Reach for the Sky, starring Kenneth More. When he was captured and made a prisoner of war he was involved in some many escape attempts that the German had to take special precautions to cage him.
He was knighted in 1976 for his work in campaigning for the disabled and continued to fly until ill health forced him to stop in 1979. He died from a heart attack in 1982, aged 72. Lady Bader, during a visit to the Berkshire Museum of Aviation in Woodley's Mohawk Way in March, said: "Douglas didn't let the accident stop him from doing anything."
Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our News archives.
