As published in tommorow`s Scotsman
Tue 17 Dec 2002
Riddle of war hero's fate is solved as remains are found
ALLAN HALL IN BERLIN
HE WAS the RAF’s greatest wartime reconnaissance pilot, dubbed the "Lawrence of Arabia of the Air" for his exploits in getting a picture no matter what the risks to his life.
But for more than half a century, the final moments of Wing Commander Adrian Warburton’s life and his last resting place have remained a mystery.
Yesterday, defence officials confirmed that human remains found among air wreckage in a farmer’s field in Germany were those of the famed pilot.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence said: "It is definitely Warburton and his next-of-kin, which is his nephew, has been informed."
Warburton’s remains were found in the cockpit of his twin-engine Lockheed FS Lightning, buried about two metres deep in a field near the Bavarian village of Egling an der Paar, about 34 miles west of Munich.
The US-made plane had spun on to its back before hitting the ground. The propellers of both engines were deeply buried and the cockpit crushed.
Specialists called in to excavate the plane recovered the badly splintered and burned skeletal remains of the pilot.
Warburton had 350 missions to his credit when he went missing on 12 April, 1944, after taking off from an Oxfordshire air base to photograph German airfields.
He was the war’s first specialist photo-reconnaissance pilot and won fame in Malta for his missions in the Mediterranean and North African campaigns, playing a key role in preparing the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943.
He played his part in two failed missions to kidnap German General Erwin Rommel as the Desert Fox stormed to victory in the North African desert.
Warburton’s first missions were served with the 22 Squadron Coastal Command, cruising over the vital sea lanes between Britain and France in an effort to protect merchant shipping and report on enemy marine activity.
He had a natural flair for flying that earned him the respect of his fellow pilots and sometimes the consternation of his superiors. But his dedication to duty, allied to his natural skills, meant he soon became invaluable to the war effort.
Flying dangerously low over enemy targets was his trademark. His photos were vital for bomber command missions and special sorties by Mosquitoes and other aircraft.
His pictures made possible the attack which sank an Italian fleet at Taranto in November 1940, described as "a crippling blow" by Winston Churchill.
In Malta he became a legendary figure and the symbol of the island’s resistance in the face of fierce German bombing. On the Distinguished Flying Cross awarded to Warburton, it said: "This officer has never failed."
He was also awarded the DFC and two bars, the DSO and one bar and an American DFC awarded by President Roosevelt.
Lee Heide, who flew with Warburton and immortalised his name in the book Whispering Death, said of him: "Adrian Warburton became a legend in photo recce circles for always getting his pictures no matter how fierce the opposition. Watching him land was to see an aerial display. He would scream down from on high, roll his P-38 over Valletta, pull up in a stall turn, flip down his flaps and undercart and land at Luqa."
His last resting place was discovered by a German aviation historian, Anton Huber. The Ministry of Defence confirmed his identity through his ID tags and markings on his plane.
"Warby," as he was known to fellow officers, was found to have a bullet in the chest and he was severely burned in the crash.
Authorities in Germany plan to bury him in a ceremony in May at a military cemetery at Tegernsee, south of Munich.
