John Babington (Royal Navy officer)
John Herbert Babington, GC, OBE (6 February 1911 – 25 March 1992) was a British teacher and Royal Navy officer who was awarded the George Cross for "great gallantry and undaunted devotion to duty" in defusing bombs during the Second World War.[1]
John Herbert Babington | |
|---|---|
| Born | 6 February 1911 Tai Chow Foo, China |
| Died | 25 March 1992 (aged 81) West Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/ | Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve |
| Rank | Lieutenant Commander |
| Unit | HMS President |
| Battles/wars | Second World War |
| Awards | George Cross Officer of the Order of the British Empire |
| Other work | Headmaster at the Royal Hospital School |
George Cross
Following a Luftwaffe air raid on the Royal Navy shore establishment at Chatham Dockyard (HMS Pembroke) Babington defused a bomb which had fallen that was fitted with an anti-withdrawal device. Babington was attached to HMS President in London.
Citation
Notice of Babington's George Cross appeared in the London Gazette on 27 December 1940.
The King has been graciously pleased to approve the award of the George Cross for great gallantry and undaunted devotion to duty to: Probationary Temporary Sub-Lieutenant (Sp) John Herbert Babington R.N.V.R.
— London Gazette
Later war career
He was later appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for gallantry in 1944.
Postwar career
Babington became the Headmaster at the Royal Hospital School and the Ashlyns School, Berkhamsted, the first co-educational bilateral school in Hertfordshire. He was headmaster of Diss Grammar School in Norfolk, England, from 1947 to 1951.