At a time when the Luftwaffe and RAF were dueling for aerial supremacy over the skies of Northwest Europe, a rather chivalrous mission was undertaken by the RAF at the behest of the Luftwaffe High Command.
Famed ace and double amputee, Wing Commander Douglas Bader, had been forced to bail out from his stricken Spitfire over occupied France on August 9th, 1941. Losing altitude rapidly, Bader jettisoned the cockpit canopy and released his harness pin. According to Bader, the air rushing past the open cockpit started to suck him out, but his prosthetic leg was trapped. Part way out of the cockpit and still attached to his aircraft, Bader fell for some time before he released his parachute, at which point the leg’s retaining strap snapped under the strain and he was pulled free. A Bf 109 flew by some 50 yards away as he neared the ground at around 4,000 feet (1,200 metres).
By all accounts, the Germans initially treated Bader with great respect although that would soon change. Upon hearing of Bader’s plight, General Adolf Galland notified the British of his damaged leg and offered them safe passage to drop off a replacement. Hermann Goring himself gave the green light for the operation. The British responded on August 19th, 1941 with the so-called “Leg Operation” — an RAF bomber was allowed to drop a new prosthetic leg by parachute to St. Omer, a Luftwaffe base in occupied France, as part of Circus 81 involving six Bristol Blenheims and a sizeable fighter escort including 452 Squadron.
The Germans were less impressed when, task done, the bombers proceeded on to their bombing mission to Gosnay Power Station near Bethune, although bad weather prevented the target being attacked. Galland stated in an interview that the aircraft dropped the leg after bombing Galland’s airfield. Galland did not meet Bader again until mid-1945, when he, Gunther Rall and Hans-Ulrich Rudel arrived at RAF Tangmere as prisoners of war. Bader, according to Rall, personally arranged for Rudel, a fellow amputee, to be fitted with an artificial leg.
Look for the Blenheim that dropped the artificial leg some time in September. No word, as yet, if a replica leg will come with the model.