BOND vs. BOND 2

Ian Fleming was a novelist and a journalist (trivia alert: besides his James Bond novels he also wrote the childrens book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) before those roles, he also had a career in British Naval Intelligence. He was recruited from the Black Watch to serve as the personal assistant to Rear Admiral John Henry Godfrey (then Director of Naval Intelligence of the Royal Navy). He rose through the ranks from Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Lieutenant to Commander. His known codename as 17F.

IAN FLEMING - FATHER OF BOND

Ian Fleming is best known as the author of the James Bond novels but who was he and how much of James Bond was based on truth?

During WWII his work included the planning of operations against the Germans (i.e. Operation Ruthless: to obtain German Naval Enigma Information and Operation Goldeneye: a plan to communicate with Gibraltar and a defense strategy in the event Spain joined the Axis powers). He also controlled a specialist commando unit known as 30 Assault Unit (30AU). He participated on the committee selecting targets of the T-Force which secured targets of interest to the British military (including nuclear labs, gas research centers and rocket scientists).

Fleming was also involved in Camp X, a paramilitary and commando training installation. It is proposed that Bond is based on Sir William Stevenson (associated with Camp X) a Canadian soldier, airman, businessperson, inventor and spymaster as well as the senior representative of British intelligence for the western hemisphere during WWII as well as Patrick Dalzel-Job (British Naval Intelligence Officer and Commando) and his own brother Peter Fleming (Grenadier Guards and helped establish the Auxillary Units intended to be a secret army of civilian volunteers behind enemy lines).

Many of the stories, locations, and tidbits in the Bond novels were culled from Ian's real life experiences. So, while fiction, when reading his books, you are experiencing a little piece of life lived and places known.