Captain Cecil William Henry Bebb (27 September 1905 – 29 March 2002) was a British commercial

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

and later airline executive, notable for flying General Francisco Franco from the Canary Islands to Spanish Morocco in 1936, a journey which was to trigger the onset of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

Early life

Bebb was the son of Robert Eustace Albert and Mary Ann Bebb, of

Hornsey Hornsey is a district of north London, England in the London Borough of Haringey. It is an inner-suburban, for the most part residential, area centred north of Charing Cross. It adjoins green spaces Queen's Wood and Alexandra Park to the ...

. His father was a dentist, and he was baptized as Cecil William Henry into the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

on 12 November 1905, when his date of birth was noted as 27 September 1905.''Baptisms in the Parish of Hornsey''
page 88
"Cecil William H Bebb" in ''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915''; both at ancestry.co.uk, accessed 25 August 2021 His birth was registered as Cecil William H. Bebb in October 1905. Despite this, some sources state his first name as Charles.Colin Cruddas, ''Those fabulous flying years: joy-riding and flying circuses between the wars''
p. 107
/ref> By 11 November 1932, when Bebb was aged 26, he had qualified as a pilot. On that date he sailed from England on the RMS ''Edinburgh Castle'', destination

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, and was logged as a pilot, of

Heston Heston is a suburban area and part of the Hounslow district in the London Borough of Hounslow. The residential settlement covers a slightly smaller area than its predecessor farming village, 10.8 miles (17.4 km) west south-west of Charing ...

Events of July 1936

At 07:15 on the morning of 11 July 1936, Captain Bebb took off from Croydon Airport,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, in a Dragon Rapide aircraft, with a navigator, his friend Major Hugh Pollard, and two female companions. The flight log records that the aircraft was bound for the Canary Islands. The purpose of Bebb's flight was to collect General Franco from the Canaries and fly him to Tetuán in the

Spanish protectorate in Morocco The Spanish protectorate in Morocco ; es, Protectorado español de Marruecos, links=no, was established on 27 November 1912 by a treaty between France and Spain that converted the Spanish sphere of influence in Morocco into a formal protect ...

, where the Spanish African Army was garrisoned.George Hills, ''Franco; the Man and His Nation'' (1967), pp. 232–233 Franco was recognized by the government in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

as a danger to the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...

and had been sent to the Canaries in order to keep him away from political intrigue. Had a Spanish plane flown to the islands, the authorities would probably have been alerted, but the British aircraft attracted little or no attention. Bebb and Franco arrived in Tetuán on 19 July and the general quickly set about organising Moroccan troops to participate in the coming coup. It is possible that British security services may have been complicit in Bebb's flight. Certainly his companion Pollard had previously been an intelligence agent.Alpert, Michael, p.18, ''A New International History of the Spanish Civil War''
Retrieved January 2012 The flight itself was planned over lunch at

Simpson's The Robert Simpson Company Limited, commonly known as Simpson's until 1972, then as Simpsons, and in Quebec sometimes as Simpson, was a Canadian department store chain that had its earliest roots in a store opened in 1858 by Robert Simpson. ...

in the

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

, where Douglas Francis Jerrold, the conservative

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

editor of the '' English Review'', met with the journalist

Luis Bolín Luis Antonio Bolín Bidwell (1894 Málaga – 3 September 1969) was a Spanish lawyer, journalist and an expert in tour operating. This led to his appointment as Head of the National Union of Catering and Allied Attorney in Parliament during the fi ...

, London correspondent of the ''ABC Newspaper'' and later Franco's senior press advisor. Jerrold then persuaded Pollard to join the enterprise, who flew with Bebb as pilot, and daughter Diana Pollard and her friend as passengers to pose as tourists. Bebb and Pollard were decorated by Franco in recognition of their services. In 1939, as the

ended, both were awarded the Grand Cross of the

Imperial Order of the Yoke and Arrows The Imperial Order of the Yoke and Arrows ( es, Orden Imperial del Yugo y las Flechas) was a Spanish State order, state and Order (honour), military order. It was established in 1937 under the Francoist Spain, dictatorship of ''Caudillo'' Franc ...

Later career

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Bebb became chief test pilot at Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft, a British aircraft manufacturer, primarily a repair and overhaul shop, whose work included the Supermarine Seafire. In 1946, after the war, he returned to Olley Air Service Ltd. He continued his work in commercial aviation into the 1960s. As an airline executive, he achieved the position of Operations Manager at

British United Airways British United Airways (BUA) was a private, independentindependent from government-owned corporations British airline formed as a result of the merger of Airwork Services and Hunting-Clan Air Transport in July 1960, making it the largest whol ...

. In 1970, Franco conferred on Bebb the

Order of Civil Merit The Order of Civil Merit ( es, Orden del Mérito Civil) was established by King Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1926. The order recognizes "the civic virtue of officers in the service of the Nation, as well as extraordinary service by Spanish and fore ...

and the White Cross for Military Merit, in a ceremony in

. In a 1983 interview for the Granada television documentary ''The Spanish Civil War'', Bebb stated that he had been approached by "a gentleman from Spain, who asked me if I was prepared to go to the Canary islands to get a

Rif The Rif or Riff (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. This mountainous and fertile area is bordered by Cape Spartel and Tangier to the west, by Berkane and the Moulouya River to the east, by the Mediterrane ...

leader to start an insurrection in Spanish Morocco. I thought 'what a delightful idea, what a great adventure'". Bebb died on 29 Match 2002, when his death was registered at Sutton, Surrey."Cecil William H Bebb" in ''England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007'' The aircraft that carried Franco to Tetuán in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

, a dH89 Dragon Rapide (G-ACYR), was presented to Franco as a gift, after the end of the Second World War, and is now displayed in the Museo del Aire near Madrid.

References

Alpert, Michael, ''A New international history of the Spanish Civil War''
Retrieved March 6, 2010
King, Harry, ''Going To Live In Spain: a Practical Guide To Enjoying a New Lifestyle In The Sun''
Retrieved March 6, 2010 * Macklin, Graham M., ''Major Hugh Pollard, MI6, and the Spanish Civil War'', The Historical Journal (2006), 49:277-280, Cambridge University Press.
Preston, Paul, ''Doves of War: Four Women of Spain''
Retrieved March 6, 2010
Riess, Curt, ''They Were There: The Story of World War II And How It Came About''
Retrieved March 6, 2010

Notes

External links

Article by David Mathieson at www.guardian.co.uk July 2006
Retrieved March 6, 2010

Retrieved March 6, 2010
Major Hugh Bertie Campbell Pollard at http://journals.cambridge.org
Retrieved March 6, 2010 * Retrieved March 6, 2010

Retrieved March 6, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bebb, Cecil British people of the Spanish Civil War Secret Intelligence Service personnel 1905 births 2002 deaths Commercial aviators