THEO BORRER 1895-1914

Theo Borrer & Julia Lochbrunner - 1913 To see the full size photograph, click on: Theo Borrer

 

"Aviator Killed," Knoxville Journal and Tribune, Knoxville, Tennessee: March 23, 1914, Transcribed by Bob Davis - 2-24-07 "Basel,Switzerland, March 22. - An aviator named Theo Borrer was killed today in a flight at an aviation meeting. Theo Borrer's machine was seen suddenly to dip forward. Spectators watched the maneuver with intesne interest, thinking the aviatorwas about to loop the loop. They were horrified when the machine plunged straight downward and was dashed to pieces. Theo Borrer was 19 years old."

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for "Theo Borrer ", using the Google search engine, (2-23-07), you will find two very helpful links.

 

Origins of the Swiss Flieger-Abteilung: Part I by George Struble       This seven page long article discusses the origins of the Swiss Flieger-Abteilung: Part I. It can be found on the website of the American Helvetia Philatelic Society, VOL. XXV, NUMBER 3 MAY 1999. The article begins on page 7 and continues through page 11. Most of the references to Theo Borrer occur on page 11. You may want to use the FIND function on "Borrer" to locate the start of his story.       If you have the Adobe reader installed on your computer, you can access the site by clicking on the title above.      If time permits, I suggest that you will want to read the entire article. It begins with the following paragraph: In 1913 the Swiss conducted a campaign for the benefit of aviation, especially for a proposed air component of the Swiss Army. The campaign, called Flugspende, included a number of aviation days or Flugtage with special mail-carrying flights and in most of those, special stamps for the flights . These flights compose a fascinating chapter in the development of aerophilately . The campaign was a success, which resulted in the formation of the Flieger-Abteilung, or aviation detachment, during World War I .      The role of Theo Borrer in this campaign is well documented.

 

The Super Mystère Collection - 01.jpg       This page featuers a full screen photograph of Theo and his passenger, Julia Lochbrunner. The text is in French, but a machine-translated version is available directly from the link on Google. You can access the page by clicking on the title above.

 

Theo Borrer died on March 22, 1914. Editor's Note: If you have any more information on this pioneer aviator, please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper   Back