Page 11 - Oct2019

Meeting Sir Douglas Bader What was most memorable and lamentable for Don about
by Don Macpherson these two men was that Casey, the Dutch man, would not talk
to Len, the German. “Len was a very friendly guy. He was 14
when all this happened during the war and completely
innocent. Casey would even say, ‘I know he was just a kid. I
know he never hurt anybody, but he’s a God damned Kraut. I
can’t.’ For those two guys, the war wasn’t over.”
Another memorable man came into Don’s life in the 1970’s
during a weekend air show. When Don was working full-time

as a high school teacher and part-time as a flight instructor
As a young boy growing up in Saskatoon, Don
with Mitchinson Flying Service in Saskatoon, he and fellow
Macpherson was enthralled by airplanes. His family aviation enthusiasts chartered a Fokker F-27 from Norcanair to
lived close to the airport and Don spent many hours attend the Air Show in Abbotsford, B.C. Those were the days
fascinated by flight. That interest propelled him to join
before heightened security. Pilots and crew just sat on lawn
406 Squadron RCAF (Auxiliary) at age 17. He met many chairs they’d brought with them, having a beer beside the
interesting characters whose stories stuck with him.
airplane, enjoying the show.
Several people who served during the Second World
“At the 1976 air show, I looked over and Shell Oil’s F-27 was
War, including in the Battle of Britain, caught his parked right beside us. I saw an older man in a lawn chair and
attention. “They hadn’t reached compulsory retirement
he was having a beer too, and I thought his face was familiar. I
age,” said Don. “One nurse was a Canadian army
soon realized it was Sir Douglas Bader, the legless RAF fighter
captain serving at the RCAF Hospital at Camp Borden, pilot. I knew he was doing public relations for Shell Oil and I
Ontario. She had three rows of ribbons and had every
knew the Paralympic Games were on in Toronto that year and
single campaign medal you can get including the Atlantic
that he was in Canada.”
Star. I asked her about it. She said, ‘We went wherever
they needed a nurse.’ She spent time on a hospital ship Sir Douglas Bader (1910-1982) was a pilot in the Royal Air
dodging submarines, so for an army nurse to be in that Force before and during the Second World War. “He loved low
environment was pretty marvelous.” flying and he got a little too close to the ground and lost both
legs in an accident. He was mustered out of the Air Force in
Don also met two interesting men who had served in
1931 due to his amputations. When the war started, here was
opposing armies. Casey had been a member of the
this highly experienced, very skilled pilot who wanted to keep
Dutch underground and was caught by the Gestapo flying. He proved he could do everything he needed with
when he was only 17 years old. “After two beers, he
artificial legs so the RAF took him back.”
would show you, whether you wanted to see or not, the
scars on his legs and ankles from the shackles. There
was another man in the unit who, when he was 14, was
living in Berlin. Right at the end of the war, the Russians
were in Berlin and the German army rounded up
everybody who looked like they might even possibly be
able to carry a rifle and, all of a sudden, Len was a
‘Werewolf’. They gave him a rifle and five rounds of
ammunition and a beat-up old hat and he was supposed
to go kill some Russians,” Don said. “Len and his friends
thought this was stupid and they threw their rifles in the
river in Berlin and looked for the friendliest Russians His lack of legs is thought to have actually aided him in making
they could find to surrender to. Next thing he knew, Len flight maneuvers that other pilots could not have made
was on a train heading east. He was pretty sure he was because pilots pulling high g-forces in combat often blacked
going to Siberia as a prisoner of war. When the train out when blood flowed from the brain to other body parts,
slowed down, five of them jumped off. Three of them including the legs. Sir Douglas fought in the Battle of Britain
were shot and killed. Len escaped and walked back to and was captured in 1941 after his plane was damaged and he
Berlin. It took him two weeks. He got back to his bailed out, leaving one of his artificial legs behind in his plane.
mother’s apartment. She was convinced he was dead.”