Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Douglas Bader interest: a buckled fragment of aluminium, approx. 180 x 90mm., stamped, ‘8350’, recovered from the Me 109 of Unteroffizier Albert Schlager which came to grief on 9 August 1941, possibly after having crashed mid-air into Douglas Bader’s Spitfire, bringing both planes down, sold as found £50-70

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, An Old Collection of Medals Relating to The Great War.

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With a copy of the magazine After the Battle, Number 125 - with the lead story, ‘Who Downed Douglas Bader’, p.2-25.

The accepted version of events has it that Bader collided with a Me 109 - an event depicted in the painting Bader Bale-out, by Frank Wooton - featured on the front cover of the above magazine. If this was the case then the Me 109 of Unteroffizier Albert Schlager (Werke Nr. 8350) would be the prime suspect. Unfortunately, as Schlager was killed on that day - his parachute failed to open, this could not be verified by him. However, the magazine article explores other possibillities.