Matzos
12-06-06, 07:18
A battered green bunny which belonged to one of the RAF's best known wartime pilots has made it home after more than 60 years.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/matzos/Picture003.jpg
'Bader's Bunny'
The bunny was the mascot of Squadron Leader, later Sir, Douglas Bader who flew from RAF Coltishall in early 1940 whilst in command of No 242 (Canadian) Squadron. Although the lucky mascot is not thought to have flown in one of his Hurricanes or Spitfires, it was the co-pilot in his MG sports car.
The re-union of the toy rabbit and RAF Coltishall in Norfolk happened thanks to the Chairman of a local Branch of the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA) whose family befriended the flier when he was stationed at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire before being posted to Coltishall.
He had lost both his legs below the knee when he crashed a Bristol Bulldog fighter in 1931 but overcame all obstacles and resumed flying with the RAF in the Second World War.
In 1941 Bader was in a mid-air collision with a Luftwaffe ME 109 and was forced to parachute over enemy territory, spending the rest of the war trying to escape from prisoner of war camps.
Derek Shrigley is a member of the nearby Sherringham branch of RAFA. His wife Madge's father got to know Douglas Bader, struck up a deep friendship, and the rabbit that used to ride on the dashboard of his MG was given to the family as a token of the flier's appreciation for their friendship.
The bunny is now on display at Station Headquarters at RAF Coltishall – the Battle of Britain fighter station from which its former master flew many of his missions during the Battle of Britain.
The bunny will continued to be displayed within the Station Headquarters before being moved with other Station memorabilia to the Radar Museum at Neatishead.
Its journey from Cromer to Coltishall was far less glamorous than its open-top trips in the MG more than half a century earlier - this time it travelled in an RAF Pool Car - a Ford Focus!
Source - MoD
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/matzos/Picture003.jpg
'Bader's Bunny'
The bunny was the mascot of Squadron Leader, later Sir, Douglas Bader who flew from RAF Coltishall in early 1940 whilst in command of No 242 (Canadian) Squadron. Although the lucky mascot is not thought to have flown in one of his Hurricanes or Spitfires, it was the co-pilot in his MG sports car.
The re-union of the toy rabbit and RAF Coltishall in Norfolk happened thanks to the Chairman of a local Branch of the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA) whose family befriended the flier when he was stationed at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire before being posted to Coltishall.
He had lost both his legs below the knee when he crashed a Bristol Bulldog fighter in 1931 but overcame all obstacles and resumed flying with the RAF in the Second World War.
In 1941 Bader was in a mid-air collision with a Luftwaffe ME 109 and was forced to parachute over enemy territory, spending the rest of the war trying to escape from prisoner of war camps.
Derek Shrigley is a member of the nearby Sherringham branch of RAFA. His wife Madge's father got to know Douglas Bader, struck up a deep friendship, and the rabbit that used to ride on the dashboard of his MG was given to the family as a token of the flier's appreciation for their friendship.
The bunny is now on display at Station Headquarters at RAF Coltishall – the Battle of Britain fighter station from which its former master flew many of his missions during the Battle of Britain.
The bunny will continued to be displayed within the Station Headquarters before being moved with other Station memorabilia to the Radar Museum at Neatishead.
Its journey from Cromer to Coltishall was far less glamorous than its open-top trips in the MG more than half a century earlier - this time it travelled in an RAF Pool Car - a Ford Focus!
Source - MoD