Bader’s Spitfire Wing

“An excellent book to gain insight into the summer of 1941 when . . . the RAF went on the offensive.” —The Journal of the Air Force Historical Foundation

On thirty August 1940, at the height of the Battle of Britain, the pilots of RAF Fighter Command's No.twelve Group were requested to reinforce eleven Group and intercept a Luftwaffe raid on an aircraft factory at Hatfield. The events that day led the swashbuckling, legless, fighter pilot Douglas Bader to submit a report arguing that the more fighters he had at his disposal, the greater would be the execution of the enemy that could be achieved.

In Bader's proposal, twelve Group's Air Officer Commanding, Air Vice-Marshal Leigh-Mallory saw an opportunity to play a greater part in what was clearly an historic battle, authorizing Bader to lead three, then five, squadrons—a controversial formation that came to be known as the “Duxford Wing” or “Big Wing.” For the rest of 1940, Bader's squadron played its part in the defense of Britain's skies. Promoted to the role of Wing Commander in 1941, Bader took command of the group based at Tangmere on the South Coast—right at the fore of the RAF's battle against the Luftwaffe.

In Bader's Spitfire Wing, Dilip Sarkar not only explores the full story of the men and machines of the Tangmere Wing in 1941, as well as the controversy that surrounds their use, he also fully investigates the part that they played in the RAF's efforts to take the offensive to the Luftwaffe on the opposite side of the English Channel.