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 Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

and later airline executive, notable for flying General

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

from the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

Spanish Morocco The Spanish protectorate in Morocco 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 protectorate. The Spanish protectorate consisted of a norther ...

in 1936, a journey which was to mark the beginning of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

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 to the west and Alexand ...

. His father was a

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental doctor, dental physician, dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry, the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. The dentist's supporting team aids in provi ...

, and he was baptized as Cecil William Henry into the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

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 is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, 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 C ...

Events of July 1936

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

Croydon Airport Croydon Airport was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. It opened in 1920, located near Croydon, then part of Surrey. Built in a Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical style, it was developed as Britain's main airp ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 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

. 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 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 protectorate. The Spanish protectorate consisted of a norther ...

, 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 List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

as a danger to the

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

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. I ...

in the

Strand Strand or The 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 * ...

, where Douglas Francis Jerrold, the conservative

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

editor of the '' English Review'', met with the journalist Luis Bolín, 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.

Later career

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 The Supermarine Seafire is a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter adapted for operation from aircraft carriers. It was analogous in concept to the Hawker Hurricane variants#Sea Hurricanes, Hawker Sea Hurricane, a navalised aircraft ...

. He was also a test pilot at A W Hawkesley Limited (a Hawker Siddeley subsidiary based at Brockworth, Gloucesteshire) 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 airline in the United Kingdom formed as a result of the merger of Airwork Services#Origins, Airwork Services and Hunting-Clan Air Transport ...

. In 1970, Franco conferred on Bebb the

Order of Civil Merit The Royal Order of Civil Merit (; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OMC) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Charles III (established in 1771) and the Order ...

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 (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. It is bordered on the north by the Mediterranean Sea and Spain and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the homeland of the Rifians and the Jebala people ...

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 Sutton is a town in the London Borough of Sutton in South London, England. It is the administrative headquarters of the Outer London borough, on the lower slopes of the North Downs. It is south-southwest of Charing Cross, one of the fourteen ...

."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 a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, 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 1905 births 2002 deaths British anti-communists British people of the Spanish Civil War MI6 personnel Commercial aviators People of the Spanish Civil War (National faction)