There was a Documentary on CH4 a few years back called "The real Douglas Bader", and nearly everyone called him a bastard!
He certainly didnt endear himself to many people on a social level, but if it wasnt for his sheer tenacity and bloody mindedness, he would never have made it out of hospital in Reading in 1931, when he was expected to die, or walked again without ever using a stick, or even less, climbed back into any aircraft, let alone a Spitfire or Hurricane, and served his country very well as a ruthless fighter pilot! That is what he was paid to do in 1939-41, not be a "nice old gent" who crashed a Bulldog at Woodley in 1931!
but then, if he hadnt been such an exponent of self belief, he wouldn't have tried to do a slow roll at low level in the first place....
Aeroplanes bite fools, even if your name is Douglas Bader!