Place Name
Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, (February 21, 1910 – September 5, 1982) was a British RAF fighter pilot and war hero. He lost both his legs following an air crash in 1931 while carrying out a dangerous – and illegal – stunt at Reading Aero Club. He was treated at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Roehampton, where he received expert care in amputee rehabilitation, one of the hospital’s specialties. The hospital which was founded in 1915, had quickly gained a strong reputation for treating World War I veterans with limb injuries, making it the ideal place for Bader’s recovery. Bader was fitted with two prosthetic legs and underwent physical therapy to regain mobility. Determined to return to a normal life, Bader pushed himself beyond the expectations of his doctors. The hospital’s pioneering work with amputees, combined with Bader’s resilience and determination, played a critical role in his eventual success in learning to walk again and even drive a car; he returned to active service during World War Two, 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. Bader Way was laid out between 2010 and 2013 on land formerly occupied by the hospital.
