Pages of History (March): The Legless Ace

In Pages of History this month, you will find yourself at the center of events that took place in various theaters of war. From Rzhev and Vienna, Rhine and Euphrates: participate in battles while using vehicles linked to these historic battles and get some prizes!

From March 1st until March 31st, you will be able to participate in 8 tasks consecutively. Completing each task will grant you a trophy with a reward, completing all of the tasks will earn you a unique profile icon!

Douglas Bader was a Royal Air Force ace. In 1931, he lost both legs in an accident and was discharged, but with the outbreak of the Second World War, he returned to service. Bader participated in the Battle of Britain, flying over occupied Europe. On August 9th 1941, he was shot down over France, and while bailing out lost one of his prosthetic legs. The Germans received Bader well and even allowed British aircraft to airdrop a prosthetic leg for him. In total, Bader was credited with at least 20 air victories.

Douglas Bader

You can purchase this profile icon for Golden Eagles until April 3rd (11:30 GMT) without completing tasks. To find it, go to your Nickname → Achievements → Pages of History.

Trophy reward for each task

Completing each individual task will give you a trophy with one of the following rewards:

  • 20-50% RP booster for 3-10 battles;
  • 20-50% SL booster for 3-10 battles;
  • 3-5 universal backups;
  • Premium account for 1 day;
  • A random ground vehicle camouflage (out of those that can currently be unlocked or purchased with Golden Eagles).

Other terms

  • Tasks are available from 11:00 GMT until 11:30 GMT on the final day of each task.
  • Tasks can be completed in random battles except for “Assault” mode.

You can read a detailed description of which task is for which day and your overall progress by going to your Nickname → Achievements → Pages of History.


Calendar

March 1st — March 4th

Rzhev-Vyazma Operation

On March 1st 1943, the Wehrmacht’s Army Group Center began an organized retreat from Rzhev. They employed scorched-earth tactics, so that when the Red Army occupied the abandoned German positions, they were met with only mines and ruins.

March 5th — March 8th

First Flight of the Supermarine Spitfire

On March 5th 1936, the Supermarine Spitfire made its maiden flight at Eastleigh Airfield near Southampton. Test pilot Joseph Summers is said to have said “Don’t change a thing” upon landing, as he loved the aircraft so much.

March 9th — March 12th

Pskov Operation

In March 1944, the Soviet Army unsuccessfully attempted to encircle and capture Pskov. German forces were well-fortified along the Panther Line, taking advantage of natural barriers such as swamps, rivers, and lakes. The Red Army’s advance was hampered by muddy roads and a shortage of engineering resources. A second offensive took place in July, and Pskov was liberated.

March 13th — March 16th

Saar-Palatinate Offensive

On March 15th 1945, the Allies launched an operation in southwestern Germany to clear enemy forces from the Saar-Palatinate and establish bridgeheads near the Rhine. The Wehrmacht’s defenses were successfully crushed, the operation achieved its objectives, and the Allies occupied all major cities in the region.

March 16th — March 19th

Vienna Operation

On March 16th 1945, Soviet troops broke through the defenses at Lake Balaton, reached the Danube, and outflanked Vienna from the south and east. On April 5th, the assault on the Austrian capital began, ending after a week of fierce urban fighting.

March 20th — March 23rd

Second Battle of Sirte

The Second Battle of Sirte took place on March 22nd 1942 between the British escort of a convoy bound for Malta and the Italian fleet, led by the battleship Littorio. The British held out well in the face of superior enemy forces, but the delay allowed Axis aircraft to overtake the convoy and inflict massive damage. Over 80% of its supplies were lost.

March 23rd — March 26th

Battle of Najaf (2003)

From March 23rd to 26th 2003, during the Iraq War, the Battle of Najaf, south of Baghdad, raged. Following this, the Americans, suffering minor losses, captured the city and the Euphrates River crossings in preparation for their offensive on the Iraqi capital.

March 27th – March 31st

Battle of Cape Matapan

In late March 1941, the Italian and Allied fleets clashed in a naval battle south of the Greek Peloponnese Peninsula. Thanks to the interception of Italian communications, British and Australian forces had the advantage and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Italian fleet, sinking three heavy cruisers and two destroyers.

13 Likes

Hold on, how did he control the rudder?

It was his lower legs. So the prosthetics were like rudder pedal extensions.

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I recommend reading his biography. The war stuff is interesting (e.g. strategy around the “big wing”), but also outside of WW2.

Continually told he couldn’t do things (because of his leg amputations)… he continually not only did those things, but excelled in them.

(Also remembering the “technology” of prosthetic limbs in 1930’s / 40’s etc is quite different to today)

Edit:
Had deja vu about Bader being mentioned in previous news, and hot damn…

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He had prosthetic legs which “apparently” helped him pull more G’s and helped with dogfights.

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OP, Pls nerf!!!

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Oh I think I read that somewhere already, yeah because the lower body had less volume so more blood was kept in the upper body and head during high-G maneuvers, that makes a lot of sense

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Yeah, blood can’t get forced to your feet and lower legs if you don’t have them :)

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legend

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Bader’s Spitfire with higher g-tolerance when Gaijin?

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Buying ace crew will unlock you this

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You’re telling me I gave my crew extensive training to withstand high Gs when I could have just chopped their legs off?

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wow this is like hickup or whatever his name was from the movie how to train ur dragon

will we ever get to see more modern aces or people from the other side of the conflict? it is getting quite boring seeing only allied aces or people of importance

The Japanese also had an air ace without a leg.

Sadly we wont get any Axis Pages of History

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Yup, but that can´t stay forever this way.

It will, the dev who works on the pages of history allready said axis (PoH) wont happen

For a second i thought it’s about Maresyev, another legless legend of WW2.

We have Mölders and Marseille so it was already done. At least as pfp.