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Air force officer. Born Douglas Robert Steuart Bader at St John's Wood. Commissioned in the Royal Air Force as a pilot officer in 1930. In 1931, following a crash, he had both legs amputated. He was re-engaged at the outbreak of World War II and saw action at Dunkirk and in the Battle of Britain.
In 1941 he was forced to bail out over France, where he was captured by the Germans and eventually sent to the P.O.W. camp at Colditz Castle. Knighted in 1976, he died suddenly at his home at 5 Petersham Mews. He was portrayed by Kenneth More in the 1956 film 'Reach for the Sky'.