Douglas Bader was a ‘Royal Air Force’ (RAF) flying ace during the Second World War and had 22 aerial victories to his credit. Douglas was born and raised in London and began exhibiting “nerves of steel” during his school years. He excelled in sports such as rugby and cricket and had an extremely aggressive nature. In 1928, Douglas joined the ‘RAF’ as an officer cadet. He took his first flight in September 1928. However, in December 1931, he lost both his legs in a plane crash. He was then fitted with artificial legs. However, he recovered and took to flying again. In spite of this, he was suspended from the ‘RAF’ owing to the military rules. The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 resulted in him being accepted as a pilot yet again. He scored his first war victory in 1940, during the Dunkirk incident and participated in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain. In August 1941, while flying over France, which was occupied by the Germans at that time, he was captured by the Germans. Following multiple failed attempts to escape, he was eventually sent to ‘Colditz Castle’ as a prisoner of war. He was kept there until 1945, when the ‘First United States Army’ rescued the war prisoners. He retired from the ‘RAF’ after the war came to an end. He died at the age of 72.