In the summer months of 1937 and 1938 he took part in expeditions to Spitsbergen, where he undertook geomagnetic surveys.

There he met Ernst Herrmann, who was also a member of the third German Antarctic Expedition led by Alfred Ritscher.

Due to his polar experience Gburek was selected in October 1938 to join this expedition.

A group of rocky elevations on the ice sheet was named by the expedition leader Gburekspitzen (Gburek Peaks).

In January 1941, his plane was shot down over the Shetland Islands during a reconnaissance flight and he was killed, aged 30, during the crash landing at Vaasetter, Fair Isle.