ChatterBank2 mins ago
Who shot down Douglas Bader?
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Anyone else see this programme last night? "Friendly fire"; who'd have thought it? Not me anyway - I was quite surprised (I've read "Reach For The Sky" a couple of times & seen the film about 5)...as well as moved by the ending.
Had there been a GENERAL suspicion of this for a long time? Like I say, I was surpised - not that it happened at all, but that it happened to DB.
Had there been a GENERAL suspicion of this for a long time? Like I say, I was surpised - not that it happened at all, but that it happened to DB.
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The programme was obviously very well researched by a very dedicated team - others might never have arrived at the same conclusion, but just given up along the way.
A lot of tosh has been written about Bader - in one book I read, on his capture he was supposedly shown a German airfield anti-aircraft gun that had blown up, killing the gun crew. The Germans told Bader that one of his cannon shells had gone down the barrel and hit the live shell. What tosh! I wonder how many read that paticular book and still believe the story to be true?
The programme ending was touching indeed. Full marks!
A lot of tosh has been written about Bader - in one book I read, on his capture he was supposedly shown a German airfield anti-aircraft gun that had blown up, killing the gun crew. The Germans told Bader that one of his cannon shells had gone down the barrel and hit the live shell. What tosh! I wonder how many read that paticular book and still believe the story to be true?
The programme ending was touching indeed. Full marks!
Not surprised at all.
Remember the government had quite tight control of the media during WWII in comparison to today consequently it was quite easy to create heroic images of 'the few' and D-day and even turn debarcles like Dunkirk into noble victories.
Wars are full of confusion abuse and incompetance and there's no reason to think there were any less of them 60 years ago it was just a lot easier to keep the lid on them or give them a favorable interpretation then.
There's nothing new in "spin"
Remember the government had quite tight control of the media during WWII in comparison to today consequently it was quite easy to create heroic images of 'the few' and D-day and even turn debarcles like Dunkirk into noble victories.
Wars are full of confusion abuse and incompetance and there's no reason to think there were any less of them 60 years ago it was just a lot easier to keep the lid on them or give them a favorable interpretation then.
There's nothing new in "spin"
I think Casson thought he'd genuinely shot down a 109F. He & the RAF probably put 2 & 2 together eventually - while Bader, of course, realised it was a Spitfire & was trying to "protect" Casson. So the "spin" came from DB in asking the Germans which pilot shot him down & when nothing was forthcoming, subsequently claiming the collision .
fog of war... even with modern, remote-controlled high-tech warfare, things go wrong all the time. In the previous Iraq war, more Brits were killed by Americans than by Iraqis, as I recall. I'm not so sure people are hoodwinked, jake - I think everyone was perfectly well aware at the time what a disaster Dunkirk was, though it was nonetheless miraculous that so many got away. Consequently, I wonder about programmes like this... very interesting, but a lot of effort put into something that really makes not a scrap of difference to history.
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Interesting programme, but I seem to remember reading about the 'friendly fire' theory in aviation mags several years ago. A lady friend of mine once met db at a disability presentation and said that he was perfectly charming and courteous, but she got the distinct impression that he was not one to "suffer fools gladly", which is a good euphemism for a certain type of class attitude...
Incidentally, a "Douglas Bader" is supposedly a slang term in bowls for a shot which ends up two feet short...
Incidentally, a "Douglas Bader" is supposedly a slang term in bowls for a shot which ends up two feet short...
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