Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader: the celebrated and highly decorated pilot's service issue ATP...

Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader: the celebrated and highly decorated pilot's service issue ATP wristwatch, together with his RAF identity tag, a copy of his autobiography 'Reach for the Sky', a Robert Taylor print 'Spitfire' signed in pencil by Bader and by Johnnie Johnson, another print signed by Adolph Galland, and a small quantity of photographs and ephemera.

The watch with silver dial, arabic numerals and luminous markers; 15 jewel manual wind movement signed Timor; case with fixed bars and marked 'A.T.P.' under a broad arrow, numbered 68012.

Douglas Robert Steuart Bader became a double leg amputee following a plane crash in 1931. He nevertheless returned to active duty at the start of the Second World War and scored numerous kill before being made a prisoner of the Germans. While in captivity he made several escape attempts, in spite of his disability.

Provenance:

Sotheby's. 13th April 1999

Watches of Knightsbridge, 12th July 2014, lot 54.