Adrian Warburton
Adrian Warburton (born March 10, 1918 in Middlesbrough , † April 12, 1944 in Egling ) was a reconnaissance pilot in the Royal Air Force .
Life
Warburton was inducted into the RAF in 1939 . From 1940 onwards he carried out reconnaissance flights from Malta , which made him a national hero in England . His colleagues called him the "Lawrence of Arabia of the Skies". Allegedly Adrian should have tried twice to kidnap Field Marshal Erwin Rommel , but this should be referred to the realm of legends .
1943 prepared including through the help of his reconnaissance results the successful invasion of the Allies in Sicily before. He was recognized by numerous awards and the rank of Wing Commander.
On April 12, 1944, a reconnaissance flight took him from England to Munich . There the observers of the 3rd heavy flak battery 571 tracked him down first. A volley from the battery damaged the Lightning aircraft so badly that it crashed at Egling . It was only in March 2003 that a farmer discovered the wreck of the machine and body fragments in his field. According to the excavating historians, the machine must have turned on its back during the crash and drilled deep into the ground through the two propellers , so that Warburton had no chance of survival in his cockpit . The remains of Adrian Warburton were buried with military honors in May 2003 in the Durnbach War Cemetery of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission near Tegernsee .
Web links
- Warburton's aerial view of Taranto on Der Spiegel Online
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Warburton, Adrian |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British pilot in World War II |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 10, 1918 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Middlesbrough |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 12, 1944 |
| Place of death | at Egling |