Gunther Pluschow

Gunther Pluschow of the German Imperial Navy holds a unique place in history - during the First World War he was the only German prisoner of war ever to escape from the British mainland and make it all the way back to the Fatherland. Yet, although his daring break for freedom in 1915 is astonishing in its own right, Plüschow was much more than simply an escaped POW. He was also a fearless aviator who flew against the British and Japanese in the Far East, and he was an explorer. After the war, he set sail for the southernmost tip of South America and became the first man to fly over Tierra del Fuego. He continued to explore what was then a largely unknown region of the world until his tragic death in 1931, when his parachute failed to open following a midair accident in Patagonia.