Place Name
Named in honour of Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, (February 21, 1910 – September 5, 1982) who was posted to nearby RAF Kenley in 1930 where No. 23 Squadron RAF was based. While there he flew Gloster Gamecocks and Bristol Bulldogs, and was known for carrying out daredevil aerobatics while training. It was while attempting to carry out one of these illegal and dangerous stunts at Reading Aero Club that he crashed and lost both his legs. At the start of the World War Two, Bader returned to active duty as a pilot and became one of the RAF’s most successful fighter aces until he was shot down over France in 1941 and captured, spending the rest of war as a PoW until his release four years later.
