Ian Fleming, RN

[Subdeacon Joe]

In May 1939 Ian Fleming was recruited by Rear Admiral John Godfrey, Director of Naval Intelligence of the Royal Navy, to become his personal assistant. He joined the organisation full time in August 1939, with the codename "17F", and worked out of Room 39 at The Admiralty. Fleming's biographer, Andrew Lycett, notes that Fleming had "no obvious qualifications" for the role. As part of his appointment, Fleming was commissioned into the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in July 1939, initially as lieutenant, but promoted to commander a few months later.

Fleming proved invaluable as Godfrey's personal assistant and excelled in administration. Godfrey was known as an abrasive character who made a number of enemies within government circles. He frequently used Fleming as a liaison with other sections of the government's wartime administration, such as the Secret Intelligence Service, the Political Warfare Executive, the Special Operations Executive (SOE), the Joint Intelligence Committee and the Prime Minister's staff.

On 29 September 1939, soon after the start of the war, Godfrey circulated a memorandum that, "bore all the hallmarks of ... Lieutenant Commander Ian Fleming", according to historian Ben Macintyre. It was called the Trout Memo and compared the deception of an enemy in wartime to fly fishing. The memo contained a number of schemes to be considered for use against the Axis powers to lure U-boats and German surface ships towards minefields. Number 28 on the list was an idea to plant misleading papers on a corpse that would be found by the enemy; this suggestion is similar to Operation Mincemeat, the successful 1943 plan to conceal the intended invasion of Italy from North Africa, although that idea was developed by Charles Cholmondoley in October 1942. The recommendation in the Trout Memo was titled: "A Suggestion (not a very nice one)", and continued: "The following suggestion is used in a book by Basil Thomson: a corpse dressed as an airman, with despatches in his pockets, could be dropped on the coast, supposedly from a parachute that has failed. I understand there is no difficulty in obtaining corpses at the Naval Hospital, but, of course, it would have to be a fresh one."

In 1940 Fleming and Godfrey contacted Kenneth Mason, Professor of Geography at Oxford University, about the preparation of reports on the geography of countries involved in military operations. These reports were the precursors of the Naval Intelligence Division Geographical Handbook Series produced between 1941 and 1946.

Operation Ruthless, a plan aimed at obtaining details of the Enigma codes used by the German Navy, was instigated by a memo written by Fleming to Godfrey on 12 September 1940. The idea was to "obtain" a German bomber, man it with a German-speaking crew dressed in Luftwaffe uniforms, and crash it into the English Channel. The crew would then attack their German rescuers and bring their boat and Enigma machine back to England. Much to the annoyance of Alan Turing and Peter Twinn at Bletchley Park, the mission was never carried out. According to Fleming's niece, Lucy, an official at the Royal Air Force pointed out that if they were to drop a downed Heinkel bomber in the English Channel, it would probably sink rather quickly.

Fleming also worked with Colonel "Wild Bill" Donovan, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's special representative on intelligence co-operation between London and Washingto In May 1941 Fleming accompanied Godfrey to the United States, where he assisted in writing a blueprint for the Office of the Coordinator of Information, the department which turned into the Office of Strategic Services and eventually became the CIA.

In 1941–42 Admiral Godfrey put Fleming in charge of Operation Golden Eye, a plan to maintain an intelligence framework in Spain in the event of a German takeover of the territory. Fleming's plan involved maintaining communication with Gibraltar and launching sabotage operations against the Nazis. In 1941, Fleming liaised with Donovan over American involvement in a measure intended to ensure that the Germans did not dominate the seaways.

More at:

 

https://www.facebook.com/TheSeniorService/photos/a.295268057228238.72162.295071967247847/590470381041336/?type=1

 

 

[Alpo]

Operation Mincemeat. That was be The Man Who Never Was, right?

 

http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Never-Was-Counterintelligence/dp/1557504482

[JudgeBagodonuts]

On PBS, there was a 4 or 6 part series called "Fleming, the man who would be Bond" which told the story of Fleming's life from the late 1930's until he retired from the Intelligence services in 1945 or 1946.

 

The best line was near the end of the series, after he told a fantastic and riveting tail of obtaining nuclear secrets from the Nazis. At the end, the person to whom he was speaking said "I read the dispatches. None of that happened the way you said!". His cool reply was "But it was a good story, wasn't it?"

 

"The Man Who Never Was" is quite a good book, BTW. I read it 30+ years ago, and still have it in my library.

[SGT. QUINCANNON, SASS #32999]

I watched the BBC America series referred to above. Can't speak to the historic accuracy of the details, but it was indeed a "good story", if a bit "bent" in the details of the affair between Fleming and the woman he eventually married.

[Trailrider #896]

[snip]"The Man Who Never Was" is quite a good book, BTW. I read it 30+ years ago, and still have it in my library.

"Operation Mincemeat", the operation to float a dead body onto the coast of Spain, with letters from and to various high-ranking British officers in a dispatch case was the brainchild of British navy officer Ewen Montagu. In his book, "The Man Who Never Was", Sir Ewen (he was knighted for his service) indicated that the corpse was the body of a nere-do-well man, whose identity was to be concealed until after Montagu's death. Author/historian Ben MacEntyre, in his book, "Operation Mincemeat", takes issue with the identity of "Major Martin" (the ersatz Royal Marine who was floated ashore), and suggests the body was actually that of a sailor who drowned during operations in the north of Scotland. Since Sir Ewen passed away, he is not around to comment on MacEntyre's theory. Sir Ewen was a barrister (lawyer), and my late father met him at a convention of the American Bar Association in London. They became friends to the extent that when Sir Ewen visited the U.S., my parents hosted him in their home. Although I never met Sir Ewen, I talked with him by phone from my parents' place, and he autographed a copy of his book, which I am proud to own. Interestingly, when the movie came out, Sir Ewen had a cameo role, but didn't play himself. IIRC, his personna was played by Clifton Webb. The success of Operation Mincemeat in decoying a number of German divisions into the area in the Balkins, undoubtedly saved thousands of Allied lives when Sicily and Italy were invaded. (And those campaigns were bloody enough as it was!)

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

Okay, now I do feel foolish.

When I first read this title I thought "What the cotton pick, Ian Fleming was a registered nurse?"

I should have had more coffee before reading the post ...

[Alpo]

Don't let it bother you, Linn.

 

On another board there's a thread - "The SEC will allow beer at football games".

 

I read that thinking, "What the heck does the Securities and Exchange Commission got to do with football?"

[Subdeacon Joe]

Okay, now I do feel foolish.

When I first read this title I thought "What the cotton pick, Ian Fleming was a registered nurse?"

I should have had more coffee before reading the post ...

 

Just after I posted it I had the same thought. Decided to leave it as is.