RAF Malta hero to be buried in Germany

One of the Royal Air Force's heroes of World War Two, Wing Commander Adrian Wartburton, DSO and Bar, DFC and two Bars, DSO (U.S.), is being buried with full military honours at the Commonwealth War Cemetery at Durnbach in Germany nearly 60 years after he disappeared on a reconnaissance flight from the RAF base at Mount Farm in Oxfordshire, England.

Warburton became a legend for his fearless exploits as a reconnaissance pilot on daring missions from Malta during the island's siege. His photographs of Taranto contributed to the success of the Fleet Air Arm attack on the Italian Fleet in harbour in November 1940 and he also overflew the Italian Fleet prior to the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941.

Between January and December 1941 he flew no fewer than 155 sorties, flying at rooftop level, over Italian and North African ports, at times taking on and shooting down pursuing enemy fighters.

He crashed on a number of occasions but managed to find his way back to Malta. His photographs of the Sicilian coast in July 1943 proved invaluable to the invading Anglo-American forces.

On April 12, 1944 he took off from Mount Farm flying a Lockheed F-5B photo reconniassance fighter of the United States Air Force's 7th Headquarters Squadron, with which unit he was acting as RAF liaison officer, on a mission over Germany. He failed to arrive at Sardinia where he was due to land. His disappearance became a riddle, with speculation that he had in fact committed suicide, that he had absconded to be with his girlfriend Christina Ratcliffe at Malta, or that he had crashed in the Alps.

Then Frank Dorber, a Welsh aviation researcher, in November last year discovered the wreckage of a Lightning which was shot down by anti-aircraft fire near the town of Egling in southern Germany and the remains of the pilot were identified as those of Warburton.

There were many, including wartime RAF friends, who felt he should be buried in Malta. His then next-of-kin, brother-in-law Dr Ronald Gothen, was not against the idea but the British Ministry of Defence was adamant - it would not veer from its policy that dead servicemen were to be buried in the country where they had met their death.

Then the issue became somewhat complicated with the appearance of his wife, Eileen, who had been thought dead but was in fact living in Australia.

Warburton had married a barmaid, Eileen Mitchell, after a brief courtship in October 1939 when he 21. He was posted to Malta and never saw her again. She will be attending his funeral service and burial on Wednesday.

The RAF will be represented by Air Marshal Sir Roderick Goodall and the funeral services will be conducted by Sqd. Ldr Alan Coates, both based at Ramstein. The service will take place at Gmund, near Munich, and will be followed by the unveiling of a memorial at nearby Durnbach Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery.

Durnbach is a small village some 50 km from Munich. The cemetery site was chosen shortly after the end of the war for the burial of airmen who were shot down over southern Germany and Austria, but included are men who were killed escaping from prisoner-of-war camps or who died in forced marches.

There are 2,933 Commonwealth burials, and some 30 graves of other nationalities.