On May 22, 1969, the Babies of Biafra launched their first attack against Nigeria. The Babies were a fleet of 5 civilian single-engine SAAB aircraft outfitted with unguided rocket launchers. They were going up against an air force composed of MIGs and Ilyushin bombers, flown by English, South African and Egyptian mercenaries. Their leader was Count Carl Gustaf von Rosen, a Swede who was Herman Goering’s nephew-in-law.
Von Rosen began his flying career as a pilot in an aerial circus. When Italy attacked Ethiopia, he began flying Red Cross relief missions carrying food and supplies to the Ethiopian refugees. After the Ethiopian war, he became one of the chief pilots for KLM, leaving them to join the Finnish Air Force when the Winter War with the USSR broke out. When he joined, he presented the Finns with 3 KLM aircraft he had purchased with his own money. He is said to have bombed Soviet forces from a DC-2 airliner by shoving the bombs out the passenger exits. When Germany invaded the Netherlands, Von Rosen tried to join Britain’s RAF but was turned down because of his relationship with Goering. He returned to flying for KLM. His wife joined the Dutch resistance and was killed during the war.
After the war, Von Rosen became an instructor for the Ethiopian Air Force, leaving them to become Dag Hammarskjold's pilot. He was ill the day the UN Secretary General’s airplane crashed under mysterious circumstances during the Congo Crisis.
In August of 1968, Von Rosen flew into San Tomei with a load of medical supplies bound for the new Republic of Biafra. When the mercenaries hired to take the supplies into Biafra aborted their flight, Von Rosen took the supplies into Biafra himself. Once there, he became intrigued with the Biafrans’ plight and came up with the idea behind the babies.
According to some reports, the Babies destroyed several MIG-17 fighters and three of the six Ilyushin bombers owned by the Nigerian Air Force along with the Ughelli power station and air bases at Benin, Enugu and Port Harcouth. Von Rosen left for Sweden shortly after the Ughelli attack, but the Babies flew until Biafra was defeated by Nigeria.
The Nigerian Air Force was notorious for attacking non-military targets (hospitals, refugee camps, civilian relief convoys), but they scored their only victory against the Babies when a MIG followed two Babies back to their base and strafed them after they landed. Both pilots escaped. Only two Baby pilots were lost during the war.
On 13 July 1977, Count Carl Gustaf von Rosen , still flying refugee relief missions, was killed on the ground in Ethiopia during an attack by Somali guerillas.
