What a man!

When I saw the headline to the effect that a British WWI officer's war medals had recently sold at auction, I was struck by the sub-heading that he had jumped from the observation balloon in which he was stationed when it broke free and threatened to drift over German lines.  Well, I thought, I've jumped from quite a few balloons in my time but, to be fair, only in the most peaceful circumstances!

Here he is, Lt. Arthur Burberry, late of the London Regiment and the RFC, who was observing enemy movements from his balloon when his 'anchor' cable was broken and he began drifting towards the German lines.  He quickly deflated his balloon to stop it falling into German hands and then baled out.  He continued to soldier on in the RFC but was eventually taken prisoner.  He was released at war's end and after a spell at university during which he learned several languages he joined the Foreign Office.  He also 'learned' a great deal about women and became a renowned 'swordsman'!  A friend described him thus:

His Cambridge friend Lance Sieveking said of him: 'As a youth, and up to the age of 23, when in 1919 he at last came up to King's (College), he had a traditionally idealistic attitude towards sex and women.
'This changed, and in a short space of time he ceased to imitate Sir Galahad, and adopted the attitude of Don Juan.  'A Don Juan with a mission - to bring love and physical satisfaction into the lives of as many women as possible who might otherwise be deprived.'

Following his death in Germany in 1959, his funeral was held and Sieveking quipped: 'The church was full of women of all ages, dating back to his youth and coming right up to the newest loves of his last year.

'I was the only man.'

Obviously a 'love rat' of the first order but even so, what a man!

 

 

 

Comments

[Glesga]

Excellent piece David. It is too late in my life to emulate such a man but I can still dream.

[Whitewall]

Clearly a man with a purpose. It is always good to have a purpose.