‘Buster’ Crabb: Ian Fleming’s Favourite Spy, The Inspiration for James Bond

Commander Lionel ‘Buster’ Crabb was a drinker and gambler, who loved women, fast cars and gadgets. A bomb disposal expert, he was regularly commissioned for secret underwater missions, and helped search for Nazi gold, capture war criminals, and expose secret German bunkers. Crabb disappeared in 1957 following a secret dive beneath a Russian warship which brought Soviet leaders Khrushchev and Bulganin to Britain. A year later, his decapitated and handless body was found, sparking a major row between the government, the secret services and the Admiralty that still smoulders today. Award-winning investigative journalist Don Hale painstakingly uncovered who sanctioned Crabb’s final dive in a case which claimed the jobs of Admiralty top brass and Intelligence people and contributed to the downfall of Anthony Eden. This updated edition includes additional information and exclusive line drawings from a friend of Buster Crabb, Noel Ashford, who used to work and train with Crabb. AUTHOR: Don Halr has worked for over 40 years as a journalist, editor and investigative journalist. A lifetime enthusiast, he has taken part in several programmes about railways and has previously written Town Without Pity, and Mallard: How the Blue Streak Broke the World Record. Three-time Journalist of the Year, he was awarded the OBE for his investigation of the wrongful conviction of Stephen Downing for murder. He lives in Conwy. 52 b/w illustrations