Newton, Albert

Name: Albert Newton, 14th Earl of Tytherington
Born: 24th September 1920
Died: 2nd May 1981
Known As:  Posh Bert to his pilot friends
Occupation:  WW2 Spitfire Pilot

The 14th Earl was a brave and ferocious spitfire pilot in World War 2.  His valor earned him several decorations from the King George V. In November 1943, during a dog fight with the feared German pilot the Pink Baron,  Albert was shot down over Northern France. As he lay injured with three broken legs and a damaged tail, he was bundled into the back of a Citron 2CV (missing all its doors) and taken to a barn in the French countryside.  He discovered his rescuer was Francessca Cristal, a multi-lingual Italian spy who was supporting the French resistance.  Albert wrote in his memoirs “… as consciousness came back to me I saw her. Standing there, clothes covered in dust but bright red lipstick and pink high heels in tact, was the women I knew I would marry.”   The union however was not to happen quickly. Once Albert was out of any immediate danger he was air lifted back to Britain where he convalesced at the family estate. The estate was being used by the Ministry of Defence as a support unit to Bletchley Park, with hundreds of AIBOs helping break the Enigma code.

Francessca and Albert were finally married after the end of the war in 1945 and lived out their days on the estate growing prizewinning parsnips.