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Rating: 
- One of the greatest unsung heroes of WWII
Warburton was an enigma, a hopeless trainee pilot who scraped through to get his wings, made a mess of his early service life, and ended as one of the most highly decorated pilots of the second world war. He went to the same school as Douglas Bader and Guy Gibson, so he obviously had the right stuff injected into him at some point.
This man was a true buccaneer of the skies. As a photo-reconnaisance pilot serving in the mediterranean theatre, he has the distiction of never once failing to get either pictures or intelligence of the enemy. Unusually for a phot-recon pilot, he is also credited with nine kills.
His relationship with Christine on Malta is pure Hollywood, and sadly ended when he was posted back to Europe, where he was eventually posted as missing, presumed killed. Such was the strength of his devotion to Christine, that many speculated that he had tried to fly all the way to Malta for one more re-union. However, it has now been established beyond doubt what happened to him.
His story is amazing. Funny in many places, it tells of a devil may care character who laughed at authority and regulation, but commanded huge respect from his commanders, and some petty jealousy from other lesser mortals, it still makes me wonder why so little was heard of him. His story is perfect for movie makers. Bumbling incompetent becomes dashing misfit hero who gets the best looking girl on a war torn island, sad ending.
That being said, it is perhaps just as well that he did not survive the war. There was certainly no place in the peace time RAF for mavericks like him, and being demobbed would have devastated him. I doubt whether he would have lived much longer.
Rating: - Biography of the best - gripping tale of an unknown hero
Biography so often ends up as a list of events supplemented by the author's unsubstantiated opinions. Tony Spooner's life of Adrian Warburton avoids both, although with his encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject it would have been so easy to succumb to either. Warburton is Biggles and Lawrence of Arabia and D'Artagnan rolled into one. Gorgeous, enigmatic, headstrong, self-obsessed and tragic. Photographic Reconnaissance pilots in this country have been virtually ignored despite their unparalleled contribution to Allied intelligence in the most dangerous circumstances. Based as he was largely in Malta Warburton would today pass completely unnoticed despite his countless exploits but for Tony Spooner's contribution. If you like adventure, history, romance, mystery or suspense, this well-written, brilliantly researched book is most definitely for you.
- One of the greatest unsung heroes of WWIIWarburton was an enigma, a hopeless trainee pilot who scraped through to get his wings, made a mess of his early service life, and ended as one of the most highly decorated pilots of the second world war. He went to the same school as Douglas Bader and Guy Gibson, so he obviously had the right stuff injected into him at some point.
This man was a true buccaneer of the skies. As a photo-reconnaisance pilot serving in the mediterranean theatre, he has the distiction of never once failing to get either pictures or intelligence of the enemy. Unusually for a phot-recon pilot, he is also credited with nine kills.
His relationship with Christine on Malta is pure Hollywood, and sadly ended when he was posted back to Europe, where he was eventually posted as missing, presumed killed. Such was the strength of his devotion to Christine, that many speculated that he had tried to fly all the way to Malta for one more re-union. However, it has now been established beyond doubt what happened to him.
His story is amazing. Funny in many places, it tells of a devil may care character who laughed at authority and regulation, but commanded huge respect from his commanders, and some petty jealousy from other lesser mortals, it still makes me wonder why so little was heard of him. His story is perfect for movie makers. Bumbling incompetent becomes dashing misfit hero who gets the best looking girl on a war torn island, sad ending.
That being said, it is perhaps just as well that he did not survive the war. There was certainly no place in the peace time RAF for mavericks like him, and being demobbed would have devastated him. I doubt whether he would have lived much longer.
Rating:
- Biography of the best - gripping tale of an unknown heroBiography so often ends up as a list of events supplemented by the author's unsubstantiated opinions. Tony Spooner's life of Adrian Warburton avoids both, although with his encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject it would have been so easy to succumb to either. Warburton is Biggles and Lawrence of Arabia and D'Artagnan rolled into one. Gorgeous, enigmatic, headstrong, self-obsessed and tragic. Photographic Reconnaissance pilots in this country have been virtually ignored despite their unparalleled contribution to Allied intelligence in the most dangerous circumstances. Based as he was largely in Malta Warburton would today pass completely unnoticed despite his countless exploits but for Tony Spooner's contribution. If you like adventure, history, romance, mystery or suspense, this well-written, brilliantly researched book is most definitely for you.