Date: 1/8/2006
but his family say he was abandoned by his country and left to die in the murky waters of Portsmouth Harbour. Lionel âBusterâ Crabb vanished while spying on Soviet warships visiting the city at the height of the Cold War. The frogmanâs fate has remained one of the countryâs most closely-guarded secrets, but the BBC has obtained the report into his final mission on 19 April 1956. The secret document was the subject of a Freedom Of Information application by BBC Radio Solent. It shows that Crabbâs intelligence service handlers did not take proper precautions to protect him or the secrecy of the mission. (see story in issue 91 Dec/Jan 2006)