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Russian claims he killed 'Buster' Crabb, the frogman who inspired James Bond
One of the most enduring mysteries of the Cold War - who killed Commander Lionel "Buster" Crabb? - may finally have been solved.
A retired Russian frogman claimed that he cut the British diver's throat in Portsmouth harbour when he caught him placing a mine on the hull of a ship that had brought Nikita Khrushchev and other Soviet leaders to Britain in April 1956.
full story in The Times >>
Buster Crabb - the 'spy' from the Cold War? >>
Commander Lionel "Buster" Crabb - OB or not OB?
story: 1st June 2006
The celebrated war-time diving hero, "Buster" Crabb is now the centre of a new mystery (albeit one likely to obsess the British Secret Service less than his 1956 disappearance beneath a Soviet ship lying at anchor in Portsmouth harbour) - namely, was he or was he not an Old Brightonian?.
The wonderful new book by Tim Binding (with whom the Association has been in correspondence in this matter), "Man Overboard", tells us that Buster attended Brighton College. There have been a couple of Internet confirmations of this, but the Association itself remains unable to confirm this; Buster simply doesn't exist in the Admissions Register!
We therefore appeal to all OBs to stick their thinking caps on... Lionel Crabb would have attended the College in the early to mid 1920's, and whilst we don't expect a deluge of correspondence from his former classmates, we hope that some of you might remember something that would confirm these stories. I myself well remember Philip Burstow regaling us with stories of this fellows exploits below the waves - how much more exciting would it have been to have known at the time that Crabb was an Old Brightonian?
Despite Crabb's somewhat suspicious disappearance, and the various conspiracy theories for it, the Association remains keen to claim this extraordinary man as one of our own - if any of you can help us in our endeavour, please get in touch right away. The President, Martin Jones, Mr Binding himself and Alex Bremer wait with baited breath (there may have been a clever sub-aqua-related pun somewhere in that last sentence... but we couldn't spot it - Ed.)
Any ideas at all would be most gratefully received - please contact me at alex@oldbrightonians.com.
Alex Bremer (R. 1979-83)
Related correspondence:
The OBA has been contacted by one of Buster's very few remaining relatives, Mrs. Lomond Handley, who writes: "Lionel was my late mother's cousin and she attended Boston House School at Eastbourne. She was born in 1911. She was very close to her cousin Lionel, who was brought up by her father the late Frank Jarvis, as Lionel's own father was killed in the First World War and she was adamant that Lionel attended Brighton College. I gather he didn't like it and so my Grandfather arranged for Lionel to go to HMS Conway, as he wanted to go to sea. Lionel didn't attend the Conway until he was about 16 so he obviously spent his earlier years elsewhere and my mother said it was definitely Brighton College."
Links:
Commander Lionel "Buster" Crabb >>
BBC News: "Secret spy diver report revealed" >>
Crabb family links >>
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Buy Tim's book:
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"Man Overboard"
£3.99
Anthem, Tim Binding's last novel, approached the subject of our recent national history by way of a panoramic account of the Falklands campaign. Its successor, though hot in pursuit of the same quarry, is a much more oblique performance, focused (with occasional diversions) on the life of a single man and his relation to the complex tides of Eden-era Britain.
Maritime imagery attaches itself to the professional career of Binding's hero with all the tenacity of a limpet. Commander Lionel Crabb, the celebrated war-time diving hero, vanished off the face of the earth in 1956, having been persuaded, presumably by the secret services, to reconnoitre the hull of the Ordzhonikidze, the Soviet ship that brought Khrushchev to England on a state visit, then lying at anchor in Portsmouth harbour.
Read more from this Guardian review >>
buy now >>
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Buy the film "The Silent Enemy":
based on Buster Crabb
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"The Silent Enemy" (1958)
£12.99
It's the type of film you might catch on a wet weekday afternoon. That said, it's an entertaining Brit war flick depicting an episode in the life of Commander Lionel Kenneth Philip Crabb RNVR GM OBE (1909-1956), played by Lawrence Harvey.
Lionel 'Buster' Crabb, is an enigmatic character in the mold of T. E. Lawrence of Arabia. A bit of a drifter, coming out of 'nowhere' to be a leader of men.
This film covers the period during the Second World War when Crabb served as a mine and disposal officer in Gibraltar, where Italian frogmen of the Italian navy's Tenth Light Flotilla were sinking vital shipping. He was awarded the George Medal 'for gallantry and undaunted devotion to duty'.
The rest of his eventful life is not mentioned, although the film was made a couple of years after his mysterious death. His secret mission was to inspect the hull of the Russian cruiser Ordzhonikidze, which was bringing Kruschev and Bulganin to Britain on a goodwill visit. While it was moored in Portsmouth, he was to search for special anti-sonar equipment and mine-laying hatches. Crabb was never seen again, although a headless and handless body was found in Chichester harbour in June 1957, which was 'officially' accepted as his. Such was the mystery and controversy surrounded his death, that despite the rule which usually made official documents public after 30 years, these will not be availlable until the year 2057.
The Silent Enemy, is an altogether more entertaining affair, with most of the aggro coming from Sid James's Chief Petty Officer. One outstanding scene concerns the recovery of a top secret briefcase from a sunken aircraft, which I am sure must have provided some inspiration for the Bond film Thunderball, nearly a decade later.
buy now >>
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