James Bond is the protagonist of the "007" series of novels and movies.
In the story, he is an agent of the British intelligence agency MI6 , codenamed 007, authorized to kill anyone who gets in the way.
James Bond is always shaking a martini in his glass, always surrounded by beautiful women, agile, and his suits are not wrinkled when he fights.
Extraordinarily clever, you can enter and exit the casino dinner party staggered, and you can disguise civilians to mingle with the crowd.
Even the things you carry with you, from leather shoes, ink, cufflinks and pens, to weapons and vehicles, are ever-changing and have many mechanisms, leaving a deep impression on people.
In fact, the real life of secret agents is often more legendary and exciting than the movies and novels.
Since the advent of 007, speculation about the real prototype of James Bond has not stopped. There are endless versions on the Internet, but the only one who was convicted by the original author of the novel Ian Fleming is William Stephenson.
Let's unravel the mystery of this legendary agent!
Business tycoon in the open, intelligence chief in the dark
In January 1897, William Stephenson was born in the Lake Winnipeg area of Canada.His family background is still a mystery, and this information in China is blank, and even his name cannot be found on Wikipedia .
The only thing known is that he joined the Canadian Army at the age of 16, specializing in flight technology, and was transferred to the Royal Army Air Force during World War I as a fighter pilot.
His comrades gave him a nickname for his bravery: fearless .
This nickname has followed him throughout his life, and has become a constant code name for his future intelligence work.
William Stephenson as a young man
After the end of the First World War, he was originally a British royal pilot and turned into a famous Canadian businessman. Not only married a beautiful daughter of an American tobacco tycoon, but also owns industries including steel, airplanes, radios, movies, etc., with business all over the world.
Of course, in order to become a wealthy businessman, in addition to William Stephenson's own outstanding ability, the support of relevant departments is indispensable.
He used his business connections to make friends in many countries, and these connections became an important source of intelligence for him in the future. During his business period, he established a huge intelligence and information network, and influenced the course of the world situation at that time through secret first-hand information.
007 girl
The most important of which was Stephenson in April 1936 got an important piece of information: Hitler covered up 800 million pounds of military spending,The military expansion is being carried out in secret, which instantly clouded the peaceful sky after World War I.
Nazi Army
Hitler's move seriously violated the " Treaty of Versailles ", which is bound to pose a serious threat to the security of Europe and the whole world.
The first time Stephenson got the information, he reflected the information to the British opposition MP at the time Winston Churchill , and was highly valued by Churchill .
At that time the British domestic political discord, the Prime Minister Chamberlain actively advocated not to go to war.
And this information undoubtedly became Churchill's most powerful weapon in shelling Chamberlain in Parliament, prompting Britain to finally declare war on Germany.
Churchill in his youth
After the start of World War II, Churchill, who has become prime minister, entrusted Stephenson with the important task of sending him to New York, the United States, to secretly establish and supervise the "British Security Coordination". Bureau", became the highest representative of the British intelligence agency in the western hemisphere of .
Privately, He was also Churchill's personal representative to the President of the United States Roosevelt ,And soon won the trust of Roosevelt, played an important bridge role for the two leaders of the Allies.
The King of Spies Behind World War II
During the anti-fascist war, the Allies killed at least 50 million people. In addition to effectively killing the soldiers on the battlefield, spies in the shadows also play a crucial role, and can even change the direction of the war.
Especially Stephenson, the military exploits made by the several pieces of information he provided can be said to be worthy of thousands of troops.
Enigma cipher machine is a cutting-edge technology in Germany during World War II, It was first invented by German inventor Arthur Scherbius in 1918, and it was applied on a large scale after German improvement during World War II. in the navy and army.
The Enigma cipher machine used by the German army in World War II
The cipher machine is easy to carry, easy to use, and more importantly, extremely secure. For the enemy, even if they have a cipher machine, if they cannot grasp the key composed of the three lines of defense at the same time, they cannot be deciphered. Colonel Erich Vergiber, Communications Chief of the German High Command, believes that the "Enigma" will be the perfect communications device for Wehrmacht Blitz .
If the Allies can decipher the Enigma cipher machine, it will be a fatal blow to the arrogant fascists. So one of the most important tasks for the agents of the Allied Powers was to gather intelligence about the Enigma machine.
Rationale
And in the process Stephenson relies on the unique intelligence in his hands plus three outstanding Poland cryptographer Marian Reyevski_ span2span , Jerzy Rozocchi and Henrik Zogarski successfully helped the Allies break the Nazi Germany cipher machine, This undoubtedly ended early WWII .
But after the war, the British didn't make much of an effort to decipher Enigma, because they wanted the British colonies to use the machine.
In addition, his intelligence helped the Allies achieve the success of Operation Gunseid. Namely the winter destruction of the German-occupied Vemork chemical plant in Telemark county, Norway.
The Nazi Heavy Water Factory in Norway
The research theory of nuclear fusion has been quite mature long before World War II. Of course, such advanced technology will be noticed by various countries and want to be applied to the military one step ahead , to create an infinitely powerful bomb and completely turn the tide of the war.
Both the Allies and Nazi Germany invested a lot of manpower and material resources to develop the atomic bomb .
In 1943 the Allies succeeded in blowing up the factory where Nazi scientists produced heavy water , and although the Germans tried to repair it afterwards, Allied airstrikes completely destroyed it a few months later. Forcing the German process to build the atomic bomb to a standstill gave the United States the opportunity to build the first atomic bomb and ultimately turn the tide of the war.
America's First Atomic Bomb—Skinny
Imagine if the Germans had invented the atomic bomb a few months earlier, the outcome of the war in Europe and even the whole world would have been completely different.And this successful sabotage was entirely thanks to Stephenson's key intelligence.
CIA co-founder
In addition to intelligence work, Stephenson has a close relationship with the CIA and X training camp.
During World War II, when the war in Europe spread, FBI Director Hoover and his military counterparts were busy expanding the sphere of personal influence. The Franklin Roosevelt was unable to stop it, so he decided to simply establish a new intelligence agency.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Stephenson and Donovan became friends and trusted each other, so he recommended Donovan to President Roosevelt as the leader of the US intelligence system, and later helped his friend establish the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Donovan is therefore known as the "Godfather of the CIA" by the world. As everyone knows, although Stephenson has never been named in any position in the CIA, he is a real "ancestor-level" predecessor of the CIA.
Ian Fleming, author of the 007 series novels ,It was the first school in North America to train wartime covert operators. Hodgson, author of "The Inside Story of X Camp," explained that what came to be called Camp X came from the curious people around, because X stood for mystery.
There are very few pictures left about the training camp. Today's Intrepid Park is located on the site of the X training camp. The name "Fearless" is William Stephenson's spy code.
Between 1941 and 1945, about 2,000 Allied agents were trained here , including 5 future CIA directors, even the original author of "007" Ian Fleming also studied at Camp X.
These graduates were active behind enemy lines in Europe, Africa, Oceania and the Pacific, and contributed greatly to the ultimate Allied victory.
Retreat behind the scenes, the legend remains
In the peaceful times, few people in the world knew Stephenson's name.
Actually, this is not surprising. First, the mystery of espionage work means that he will not be exposed to the spotlight. Second, there are too many secrets that the UK does not want to disclose.
After the end of World War II, the legend of the intelligence war "Dreadnought" picked up his old business, returned to the business world, and served as an industrial development consultant for Canada.
In recognition of his outstanding contributions,Britain, the United States and Canada have awarded him many awards and medals; in Stephenson's hometown Winnipeg, there are libraries and streets named after him, and there are many statues of him in the city, even There is a "fearless society" that studies him...
Actors who played James Bond
There are many images of spies in novels and film and television dramas, all or more Or less borrowed from Stephenson and his story. For example, James Bond loves to drink martini cocktails, which is based on Stephenson. According to legend, Stephenson's martini is the strongest in the entire United States!
And the plot of looting Fort Knox vault in "007 - Goldfinger" is said to be inspired by a daring plan of Stephenson: the Allies sent agents to infiltrate the French colony Martinique , to steal the huge gold reserves stored there by the French puppet government.
Sean Connery in Goldfinger in 1964
Even more astounding, Stephenson was not only a heroic soldier, successful businessman, and brilliant spy, he was also a A tech geek is a " geek" in modern parlance! Not only did he invent a technology for wirelessly transmitting pictures in 1924, he also taught at the University of Manitoba in Canada!
Stephenson's Tombstone
1989,Stephenson passed away at Bermuda .
The legendary spy has finally left and much of his deeds remain a mystery, but the James Bond story on screen continues...
Who do you like the most as 007?
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