Flyboy
I remember my fascination as a child with him and on one occasion actually seeing him when he visited Hobart. The film was certainly one of my favourites at the time, although when it was shown recently on ABC, I realised how badly dated it was.
A few years ago, another biography of Bader was published, and although I have not yet read it I believe that unlike "Reach for the Sky", it took a far more disinterested view of both his theory on big formations and his activities regarding the politics that went on between 12 Group and 11 Group.
This new biography also looks at the circumstances of his being captured. As you probably know, the stated reason was that he had been in a mid-air collision with a Me-109. The Luftwaffe records of their losses was meticulous (as oppossed to the propoganda figures), and reveal no loss of aircraft in that sector on the day due to a mid-air. The book concludes that it was far more likely that Bader was shot down but that this was unacceptable to the British public and perhaps Bader.
There is some suggestion of this in "Reach for the Sky" as Bader states that he saw 2 Me-109s approaching from his left (I think) but that he thought he had the time to chase another 2 that were on his right. He turned away from the attacking aircraft which I am told (not being military trained) is an absolute no-no in a dogfight.
Anyway, I am delighted to hear that there are still some young children out there who are fascinated enough by a subject to actually read about it rather than wait for the video or should that now be DVD.