Wednesday, September 07, 2005 Press Release

Lady Bader OBE, & Sir Douglas

WIFE OF WAR LEGEND DOUGLAS BADER TO BE HONOURED
AT A  CIVIC RECEPTION IN CUPAR

Lady Joan Bader, OBE , the widow of WWII hero and icon for the disabled, Sir Douglas Bader, has accepted an invitation by Fife Council to attend a Civic Reception in her honour on Thursday, September 8 th , 2005 at the County Buildings, Cupar, Fife.

Lady Bader, who will be accompanied by her daughter Mrs Angela McCleave, is to visit the North-East Fife town to launch a month of fundraising activities by local campaigners from the Cupar-based Friends of the Douglas Bader Memorial group. The non-profit making community group is currently attempting to redevelop a rundown garden named after her late husband and situated in the town's Duffus Park into an innovative enabling garden.

The Civic Reception, which is being hosted by Fife Council, will be attended by Councillor Donald Lothian, Chair of East Area Local Services, and other dignitaries. Sir Alan Smith, CBE, DFC, DL, who was Douglas Bader's wartime Number 2 in the RAF Tangmere Wing and is one of Scotland's most successful businessmen, will be present along with the well-known campaigner Marilyn Carr from Dundee. Marilyn, who was born without arms, became a great personal friend of the Bader family after meeting him in the 1960s.

The Civic Reception will start around 1.10 pm when Cupar pipers John Rankin and Tom Lorimer "play in" Lady Bader to the reception, ensuring she experiences a distinctly Scottish welcome.

Should you wish to attend or interview Lady Bader, Sir Alan Smith, or Marilyn Carr at the event, please contact Susan Blake , Secretary, Friends of the Douglas Bader Memorial Garden, on 01334 652700 OR VIA MOBILE 07746 749355 . She will be more than happy to make suitable arrangements in advance of the event in order that the visiting media is catered for.

NOTE : Double amputee Douglas Bader, the World War 2 hero, was an exceptional pilot and leader. In 1931, an air accident resulted in the amputation of his right leg above the knee and the left below the knee. He was discharged from the RAF and divorced from flying. After a struggle, he was allowed back where he belonged and took command of a Squadron. An innovative leader, his inspirational qualities became legendary. But his luck ran out when his aircraft was brought down and he was taken prisoner and later incarcerated in Colditz. After the war he dedicated himself to improving the plight of disabled people, and in 1976 he was knighted. In 1982 (the year of his death), the late Sir Douglas and Lady Joan were specially invited to open the original garden in Cupar, built to commemorate the International Year of the Disabled. Lady Bader, the daughter of steel-mill owner Horace Hipkiss, was awarded the OBE in 1999 for "Services to Disabled People." It is no exaggeration to describe the late war hero as perhaps the most famous man of his generation in the UK and beyond. The BAFTA-winning film "Reach For the Sky" further immortalised the Bader legend.

Friends of the
Douglas Bader
Memorial Garden,
VONEF, 69-73
Crossgate, Cupar,
Fife, Scotland
KY15 5AS

01334 650881

info@dbcg.org.uk

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