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Ian Fleming and Soe's Operation Postmaster : the untold top secret story / Brian Lett.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England : Pen & Sword Military, 2019Copyright date: ©2019Description: x, 256 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
  • still image
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781526760685 (paperback)
  • 1526760681 (paperback)
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Summary: This is a true story of a force of "licensed to kill" secret agents, commanded by a real war time secret service chief code names M, with whom Ian Fleming worked, and upon whom his James Bond stories were based. Brigadier Colin Gubbins was M, the Special Operations Executive was his Secret Service, Professor Dudley Newitt was Q and Captain Gus March-Phillips commanded "Maid of Honor Force", the team of James Bonds who, in a daring operation, sailed a Q ship to West Africa and stole three enemy ships from a neutral Spanish port on the volcanic island of Fernando Po. Ian Fleming worked closely with M to oil the wheels that made the operation possible, and prepared the cover story, in which the British Government lied in order to conceal British responsibility for the raid. M's agents prepared the ground on Fernando Po, even enmeshing the Governor in a honey trap. March-Phillips and his team carried out the raid successfully in January 1942, despite much opposition from the local regular Army and Navy commanders, and in the face of overwhelming odds. Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden told Fleming's lies on the international stage, denying any British complicity in the operation. As a result, a secrecy embargo enveloped Operation POSTMASTER until recently. The author, an experienced criminal QC, proves beyond doubt that this thrilling operation, and the men who carried it out, were the inspiration for Fleming's James Bond.
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Non-Fiction Davis (Central) Library Non-Fiction Non-Fiction 940.5486 LET Available T00828797
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The untold story of a daring and successful WW2 SOE operation.

This is a true story of a force of "licensed to kill" secret agents, commanded by a real war time secret service chief code names M, with whom Ian Fleming worked, and upon whom his James Bond stories were based.Brigadier Colin Gubbins was M, the Special Operations Executive was his Secret Service, Professor Dudley Newitt was Q and Captain Gus March-Phillips commanded "Maid of Honor Force", the team of "James Bonds" who, in a daring operation, sailed a Q ship to West Africa and stole three enemy ships from a neutral Spanish port on the volcanic island of Fernando Po. Ian Fleming worked closely with M to oil the wheels that made the operation possible, and prepared the cover story, in which the British Government lied in order to conceal British responsibility for the raid. M's agents prepared the ground on Fernando Po, even enmeshing the Governor in a honey trap. March-Phillips and his team carried out the raid successfully in January 1942, despite much opposition from the local regular Army and Navy commanders, and in the face of overwhelming odds. Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden told Fleming's lies on the international stage, denying any British complicity in the operation. As a result, a secrecy embargo enveloped Operation POSTMASTER until recently.The author, an experienced criminal QC, proves beyond doubt that this thrilling operation, and the men who carried it out, were the inspiration for Fleming's James Bond.

Includes bibliographical references, filmography and index.

This is a true story of a force of "licensed to kill" secret agents, commanded by a real war time secret service chief code names M, with whom Ian Fleming worked, and upon whom his James Bond stories were based. Brigadier Colin Gubbins was M, the Special Operations Executive was his Secret Service, Professor Dudley Newitt was Q and Captain Gus March-Phillips commanded "Maid of Honor Force", the team of James Bonds who, in a daring operation, sailed a Q ship to West Africa and stole three enemy ships from a neutral Spanish port on the volcanic island of Fernando Po. Ian Fleming worked closely with M to oil the wheels that made the operation possible, and prepared the cover story, in which the British Government lied in order to conceal British responsibility for the raid. M's agents prepared the ground on Fernando Po, even enmeshing the Governor in a honey trap. March-Phillips and his team carried out the raid successfully in January 1942, despite much opposition from the local regular Army and Navy commanders, and in the face of overwhelming odds. Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden told Fleming's lies on the international stage, denying any British complicity in the operation. As a result, a secrecy embargo enveloped Operation POSTMASTER until recently. The author, an experienced criminal QC, proves beyond doubt that this thrilling operation, and the men who carried it out, were the inspiration for Fleming's James Bond.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • List of Illustrations (p. ix)
  • 1 10 January 1942 (p. 1)
  • 2 The Beginning (p. 4)
  • 3 Preparing the Fightback: June to December 1940 (p. 9)
  • 4 M and Ian Fleming (p. 18)
  • 5 Becoming Secret Agents (p. 26)
  • 6 Operation Savannah (p. 30)
  • 7 The Birth of Maid Honor Force (p. 37)
  • 8 The Man Who Would Have Written James Bond (p. 48)
  • 9 The Problem in West Africa (p. 52)
  • 10 The Voyage to West Africa (p. 64)
  • 11 Preparations and Frustrations (p. 80)
  • 12 Interlude in Freetown (p. 88)
  • 13 Gaining Approval for Postmaster (p. 102)
  • 14 Blackmail on Fernando Po (p. 105)
  • 15 Plan of Attack (p. 113)
  • 16 The Final Pieces of the Puzzle (p. 128)
  • 17 The Cover Story (p. 133)
  • 18 Final Preparation in Santa Isabel (p. 139)
  • 19 Maid Honor Attack (p. 148)
  • 20 The Nuneaton Takes the Likomba (p. 161)
  • 21 The Vulcan Takes the Duchessa d'Aosta (p. 165)
  • 22 Escape (p. 173)
  • 23 The International Cover-up (p. 193)
  • 24 Richard Lippett (p. 201)
  • 25 Dispersal, Recognition, Reward (p. 219)
  • Appendix 1 Full list of personnel engaged on Operation Postmaster (p. 231)
  • Appendix 2 The citations (p. 233)
  • Appendix 3 Author's note (p. 237)
  • Appendix 4 The James Bond stories (p. 242)
  • Appendix 5 Source material (p. 243)
  • Appendix 6 Additional Notes to the 2019 Edition (p. 246)
  • Index (p. 248)

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