Robert Sadler (1909-2001)

Robert Sadler was born in Newmarket, England in 1909, the second son of Harry Sadler (a well-known racehorse trainer) and Ada Sadler (neé Lane). He showed great promise at drawing and painting as a child.

Robert was sent to boarding school at Eastbourne College, and from there he went to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, to read Mechanical Engineering. At Cambridge he joined the University Air Squadron, where he learned to fly, and in 1930 joined the Royal Air Force as a Pilot Officer. For a while he was the personal pilot of the C-in-C of the RAF, Sir John Steel, flying him around in a Hawker Hart with the open rear cockpit converted into a desk for the great man to do his paperwor...