Douglas Bader: Fight for the Sky by Douglas Bader

Author:Douglas Bader [Bader, Douglas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2006-04-30T21:00:00+00:00

Laddie Lucas, another distinguished fighter pilot, has said:

‘As I see it, every pilot in the R.A.F. owed something to what went on in World War I. These tactics were used again, by ourselves and by the Germans. But the actual line abreast flying, the basic concept of a pair of aircraft, or four aeroplanes in the form of a finger-four formation – these were fundamental tactics whether used in World War I, by the Spaniards, or the Germans, or whoever else. The fact of it was that Douglas modernized it, brought it up to date, made it fresh and practical for flying in the 1940s. And don’t forget this was in direct conflict with a lot of the flying thinking that was being done in 11 Group, which was all line astern. It was quite all right to climb a squadron on a wing in line astern to battle height, but then so often they stayed together like that and never came up to line abreast. Terrible for the junior pilots as ass-end Charlie! Douglas started with the basic two aeroplanes, then the finger-four, then the fours in touch with each other, one squadron, two squadrons, and three squadrons. This was the basis, with two pilots looking inwards, so that the whole sky was covered right through 180 degrees. This was really fundamental to all his flying, both defensively and offensively in the sweeps over the north of France from Tangmere. Douglas never claimed to have pioneered the technique.’

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