W/C Adrian "Warby" Warburton DSo and Bar, DFC and two Bars, American DFC

[Antipodean Andy]

He's been mentioned in the most higly decorated thread but was just doing some reading about him in relation to Marylands in the Med and noted the circumstances of his loss...and discovery 58 years later!

Adrian Warburton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Wiki article touches on an incredible number of amazing things not least his adventures flying and "acquiring" aircaft.

Warburton was the pilot of one of two Lockheed F-5B reconnaissance aircraft (a version of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter) that took off together from Mount Farm on the morning of 12 April 1944 to photograph targets in Germany. The aircraft separated approximately 100 miles north of Munich to carry out their respective tasks; it was planned that they would meet and fly on to a USAAF airfield in Sardinia. He failed to arrive at the rendezvous point and was not seen again.

Years of speculation about his fate came to an end in 2002, when his remains were found in the cockpit of his plane, buried about two metres deep in a field near the Bavarian village of Egling an der Paar, 34 miles west of Munich. According to witnesses, the plane fell there on 12 April 1944, around 11:45. One of propellers had bullet holes in it, which suggests that Warburton had been shot down. Parts of the wreck can be seen in the Malta Aviation Museum.

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Their bravery still astounds me!