THE mystery of a missing Second World War hero, described as the most valuable pilot in the RAF, is nearer to being solved after tests proved positive on human remains found in Germany.

Wing Commander Adrian Warburton has not been seen since April 1944 when he took off from RAF Benson, near Wallingford, to photograph German airfields.

But 60 years later, US military tests have concluded remains found next to a wrecked aircraft do belong to the missing 26-year-old pilot.

The Ministry of Defence is now reviewing all evidence from RAF casualty records and documents provided by US authorities, before considering the possibility of a funeral with full military honours. A spokesman for the MOD said: "Should the MOD reach the conclusion that it is Wing Commander Warburton then the RAF will contact the nearest surviving next-of-kin in accordance with practice.

"If that is the case decisions will then be taken as to the appropriate form of ceremony."

He added: "Until such time the remains will continue to be held in the country where the casualty occurred."

Warburton's work taking reconnaissance photographs over the Mediterranean made a key difference in the Allied advance in North Africa and Italy.

His pictures made possible the attack which sank an Italian fleet at Taranto in November 1940, described as "a crippling blow" by Winston Churchill.

His courage and charisma also made him a hero in Malta, where he was stationed during the Axis siege and he was even likened to Lawrence of Arabia.

He married a Portsmouth barmaid at 17, but it was his relationship with cabaret dancer Christina Ratcliffe that went down in the island's folklore.

She said he looked like a Greek god, with his long golden hair and blue eyes.

The Duke of Edinburgh, who served in Malta and is a patron of the Malta George Cross Association, is expected to take an interest in the case, but a Palace spokeswoman said he was not expected to attend any memorial service.

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 himself.

During the war he received the OBE for his bravery as a senior naval commander in Palestine.

The discovery of the remains came about after a Welsh aviation researcher read a biography of Warburton and set out to solve the mystery of his disappearance.

Frank Dorber matched US missing-in-action reports with German anti-aircraft battery records and narrowed it down to Egling, southern Germany, where an Allied plane was shot down on April 12, 1944.