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And the glowing report allowed him to return to active service when war broke out. Bader, invalided out of the RAF and confined to a desk job, was desperate to be allowed to fly again and

after passing a series of Air Ministry tests, resumed active service, flying Spitfires and Hurricanes. The Imperial War Museum, which had kept the report buried in its archives, nowsays it

is among the era's most important documents because of Bader's eventual heroic role in the Battle of Britain. Squadron Leader Rupert Leigh notes in the report: "This officer

is an exceptionally good pilot and has had no difficulty either by day or night with modern type aircraft. "He is a very keen pilot and should be ideally suited both in flying

qualifications and temperament to single seater fighters." A summary by a Squadron Leader Cox then describes the man later immortalised in the 1956 film Reach For The Sky. It says:

"I entirely agree with the above remarks. "When flying with this officer it is quite impossible to even imagine that he has two artificial legs. He is full of confidence and

possesses excellent judgment and air sense. "His general flying (including aerobatics) is very smooth and accurate. I have never met a more enthusiastic pilot. He lives for

flying." The RAF report has now been included in an Imperial War Museum book, The War On Paper: 20 Documents That Defined The Second World War, by Anthony Richards. In 1941 Bader baled

out of his crippled Spitfire over France and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner. After frequent escape attempts, he was incarcerated at the grim Colditz Castle in Germany. He was made a

CBE in 1956 and knighted in 1974 for his services. He died in 1982, aged 72. Mr Richards said the report "captures Bader's heroic spirit in the words of the squadron leaders who

wrote about him. We thought young people should know about it."