Gunther Plüschow was a German aviator, aerial explorer and author. His feats include the only escape by a German prisoner of war in World War One from Britain back to Germany; he was the first man to explore and film Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia from the air. He was killed on a second aerial expedition to Patagonia in 1931. As an aviator and explorer, he is honoured as a hero by the Argentine Air Force to this day. This dare-devil, larger than life figure had an amazing life of adventure which began with his exploits as a pioneer aviator at the German colony of Tsingtao in China at the beginning of the First World War. Before the capture of the colony by the Japanese and the British, he launched himself on an epic first escape, crash-landing his aircraft before continuing by boat across the wide expanse of the Pacific Ocean, trekking overland through the United States and going by steamer across the Atlantic, only to be captured by the British at Gibraltar in February 1915. Imprisoned at Donington Hall in England, he could not wait to escape again, which he did by travelling to London, then to Tilbury Town and via the ferry to Gravesend, from which he ventured into the river to stow away on a Dutch steamer, the ‘Princess Juliana’. To get that far, he had to evade suspicion and capture, hiding overnight in a wood-pile, play the part of a drunken British sailor, avoid drowning when plunged into the river, survive getting stranded in a boat on a mud bank, steal another boat under the noses of British sentries and use every skill he had to float to and fro on the tides to get himself positioned for a bold night-time climb up a rope on to the ‘Princess Juliana’. Slipping ashore in the Netherlands he managed to get back to Germany, to become the commander of a naval air station in the Baltic. After the war, and a succession of temporary and unfulfilling jobs, a sense of adventure drew him to South America where, from 1928, he began amazing risk-taking flights to explore, film and map remote lands, especially in Chile, surmounting all manner of obstacles and hardships in the process. But his luck ran out in 1931, being killed in an air accident, just 9 days before his 45th birthday.

Gunther Pluschow disliked war and was not an air ace. He was above all an adventurer, risk-taker and an exponent of daring.

Such is the esteem in which he is held in Germany, there is a flourishing Gunther Plüschow Society, members of which travelled to England in July 2015 to take part in the unveiling of memorials to him and the celebration of his remarkable life, the human spirit, universal and inspirational.The events commemorating the centenary of his daring dash to freedom were attended by a delegation from Germany representing the Gunther Plüschow Society, German Embassy Naval Attache, British GP Committee, Thurrock Great War Committee, Mayors of Thurrock and of Gravesham and other VIPs. A Thurrock Heritage Plaque was unveiled July 11th 2015 at the London Cruise Terminal. The plaque will eventually be installed on the Tilbury-Gravesend Ferry Landing Stage.



The Gunther Plüschow Glacier in Tierra del Fuego is named in his memory.

Awards include:
• Ottoman Medal of Arts and Science
• Liyakat Medal (Ottoman Empire)
• Iron Cross (1914), First and Second Classes
• Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords
• Knight's Cross Second Class of the Order of the Zähringer Lion, with Oak Leaves and Swords (Baden)
• Military Merit Order with Swords, Fourth Class (Bavaria)
• Military Merit Cross, First and Second Classes (Mecklenburg-Schwerin)