No. 242 (Canadian) Fighter Squadron RAF was made up of Canadian pilots. When S/L Douglas Bader took command of the squadron he designed the squadron emblem -a caricature of Hitler being kicked in the breeches by a flying boot labeled “242”. A metal template was cut from the original Bader drawing and all the squadron’s Hurricanes were painted by ground crew artist LAC Tom Elgey. The nose painting appeared on both sides of the Hurricanes. Under Bader’s command, No. 242 participated in the Battle of Britain. In 1931, Bader had lost both legs in a flying accident. Despite his artificial legs, he began flying again when war was declared. On 9 August 1941, he was forced to bale out and spent the remainder of the war as a POW.