Douglas Bader lost both legs in 1931, crashing while stunt-flying low over an airfield. The RAF invalided him out — then took him back in 1939, when war made experienced pilots priceless, and he flew Hurricanes and Spitfires on a pair of tin legs. Credited with 22 victories, he led the Duxford "Big Wing" and became a byword for defiance through 1940. Shot down over France in August 1941, he lost a prosthetic leg baling out; the RAF dropped a replacement by parachute with German consent — "Operation Leg." Bader then used his restored mobility to keep escaping, until an exasperated Luftwaffe finally sent him to Colditz.

The figure shows Bader between sorties in a heavy insulated flying suit with a fur-lined collar, gloves in hand, in the calm, planted stance of a squadron leader — no hint in the pose of the legs beneath it. As the fighter-ace centerpiece of an RAF airfield diorama he links straight back to his commander, Lord Dowding, and to Winston Churchill, who named "The Few." Round out an RAF dispersal scene with the RAF Bomber Pilot.

W. Britain model 10212. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Single foot figure on a sculpted groundwork base. Boxed.