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F E AT U R E S
9
ST EDWARD’S
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Bader soon wore out the patience of
his German guards at Sagan. Leslie Frith
observed that ‘we lost track of the number
of times we heard a commotion coming
from that direction and there seemed to
be a continual to-ing and fro-ing of heavily
armed guards in the officers’ compound.’
Although admired for his outstanding
and morale-boosting courage, Bader’s
attitude of defiance, which included
baiting the German guards and
other aggressive behaviour, drew
a rather ambivalent response
from his fellow prisoners of
war. This was especially the
case when German retaliation
for some of his activities was extended to
the whole camp while Bader, a celebrity
prisoner, who was often photographed
and given VIP treatment, usually got off
lightly. Collective retribution by the Germans
could include extending the length of the
parades attended by the POWs, delaying
or stopping the distribution of mail and
of Red Cross parcels, which were a vital
supplement to the inadequate camp rations,
and withholding other privileges. Although
the Germans respected him and put up with
a lot more from him than they would from
any other prisoner, the problem was that
Bader sometimes went too far and brought
down their wrath on all the POWs. As a
result, as another RAF prisoner later put it
diplomatically, his continued presence in the
camp did not receive ‘an unalloyed welcome
from all’.
The patience of his German captors finally
snapped in July 1942 and Bader was transferred
from Sagan to a huge camp for British Army
officers at Lamsdorf. As one observer noted
in his diary (IWM, Private Papers of Squadron
Leader C.N.S. Campbell, 86/35/1), ‘the
remainder of the camp annoyed the Germans
exceedingly by turning out to say Cheerio
to Doug and to offer free advice on how to
manage a cripple.’ Some of those who saw him
leave, however, were secretly rather pleased to
see the back of such a disruptive influence. For
example, Leslie Frith later recorded that ‘to tell
the truth it was a relief to everybody, friend and
foe to see him go.’ Many of the prisoners had
rather mixed feelings about Bader; missing him,
yet relieved that they could settle down to a
more relaxed atmosphere in which they could
prepare to escape without the constant risk of
their plans being discovered by the Germans
reacting to Bader’s provocations.
While at Lamsdorf Bader continued to
be active in planning escapes. Sapper John
Andrew remembered in his memoir (IWM,
Private Papers of J J Andrew, 10/5/1) that ‘Bader
wanted to get to Lamsdorf airfield where he
would take a German plane.’ Bader proposed
to take six men with him but although he was
able to escape by joining a work party leaving
the camp he was soon re-captured. Eventually
Bader was again transferred to Colditz Castle in
August 1942 where he remained until liberated
by American forces in April 1945 near the end
of the war, frustrated by his inability to escape
and to participate in the war.