The remains of one of the RAF's most colourful characters of WWII, Wing Commander Adrian Warburton DSO*,DFC** were buried with full military honours at Durnbach Cemetery, Bavaria today. He achieved fame as a photo-reconnaissance pilot in the Mediterranean theatre. Photographing the Italian fleet at Taranto in 1940, he flew so low that he returned with a piece of ships' aerial trailing from his tailwheel. Flying from Malta, he gained considerable notoriety by his unconventional dress and lifestyle. He vanished on April 12, 1944 while flying a mission in a Lockheed F-5B and was for many years thought to have crashed into the sea. In recent months, the wreckage of an aircraft was found near the River Paar, not far from Munich. The engine and camera serial numbers confirmed the aircraft as Warburton's. 'Laddie' Lucas, who knew him well on Malta in 1942, wrote that 'Warby..lived his own life and wrote his own ticket. He had small regard for convention and was brave to the point of being virtually nerveless '. Adrian Warburton was 26 years old. [ 14. May 2003, 03:17 PM: Message edited by: Martin Bull ]
RIP "Warby"! http://www.raf.mod.uk/ptc/warburtonceremony.html http://home.freeuk.com/rmarg/warburton.htm
A nice Warburton story : - After one of the many Axis air raids on Malta, Warburton discovered an unexploded bomb alongside his aircraft. Borrowing a spanner from an airman, Warburton strode forward to defuse the bomb. 'Hey! ' shouted the airman, 'Mind what you're doing with that spanner - it's on my charge ! ' It's apparently true....