THE SHY ASSASSIN: The Inspiring Story of Cyril ‘Frank’ Babbage, Battle of Britain Spitfire Ace turned D-Day Mosquito Pilot

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A veteran of the Battle of Britain and D-Day, Cyril Babbage was blessed with extraordinary good fortune. Shot down three times, he would later claim the first Focke-Wulf 190 lost in aerial combat. Earlier, in August 1940, he briefly became the face of ‘The Few’ when he was photographed stepping out of a fishing boat on Bognor beach, rescued after bailing out.

Babbage’s wartime experiences are complimented by others’ stories – famous names like Amy Johnson and Douglas Bader, as well as countless unsung heroes: the young Spitfire pilots of 602 and 41 Sqns and the Mosquito crews of 464 Sqn RAAF, flying night interdiction sorties in support of the Normandy invasion. The unit was famous for its daring, low-level raids on Amiens prison and, after D-Day, a Gestapo barracks near Poitiers, the latter thanks to the efforts of an intrepid SAS team and its inspiring leader, operating far behind enemy lines.

Between these contrasting operational tours Babbage spent time as a flying instructor, a role to which he returned post-war, commanding one of the first Meteor advanced flying training units. When Wing Commander C. F. Babbage DFM, AE retired in the summer of 1964, like so many of his ilk he owed his final years of peacetime service to the sacrifice of others – the brave men with whom he flew, but who enjoyed less than their own share of good luck.

📖 216 pages | Published by Grub Street