Description:

Fleming Ian

Fleming as a Spy, Writes to his Operative Anthony Terry

 

Single page annotated typed letter signed, 8 x 10, Kemsley House letterhead. Dated "November 16, 1951" and signed by Fleming as “Yours ever, Ian Fleming,” Additionally annotated with his handwritten sentence "But this is not decided yet". Typed on recto and verso.  In fine condition, with two file holes, three horizontal folds, and a rusty paperclip impression to the top edge. Accompanied by a five-page carbon copy report sent to Fleming by Terry, containing details on expenditures and potential cost-cutting measures. 

 

Fleming was well known for having reached into his personal experiences in counter intelligence to create both the character of James Bond, in addition to authoring his novels on this super spy. Less is known about Fleming clandestine life pre-Bond, but we know that Fleming ran an intelligence outfit known as Mercury which used foreign correspondents to gather information in sensitive foreign zones. This was deftly accomplished while Fleming was the foreign manager of the Kemsley newspaper group’s Sunday Times. The former SIS and MI6 agent Anthony Cavendish described the relationship in his book, ‘Inside Intelligence’. He wrote: at the end of the war a number of MI6 agents were sent abroad under the cover of newspapermen. Indeed the Kemsley Press allowed many of their foreign correspondents to cooperate with MI6 and even took on MI6 operatives as foreign correspondents.

 

Circa 1949, Fleming had recruited the addressee of this letter, Anthony Terry ("Terry") as an intelligence officer and posted him to various European countries under the guise of a foreign correspondent with the Sunday Times. This correspondence, dated 3 years later now had Terry posted in Germany. Fleming used this legitimate news organization as a cover to gather information in sensitive foreign zones. The emphasis of this letter was on maintaining the great cover and ensuring quality journalism and reporting. The letter is shown in part below:

 

 "The attached is self-explanatory and will, of course, result in a vast saving of energy and expense. You should have a much easier life and at the same time have more leisure to pursue news features and features which can be airmailed. I hope the quantity of your coverage won't diminish too much since we want to keep our editors happy and at the same time keep alive our syndication services which do not depend greatly on spot-news. You will also have far more leisure to devote to 'The Sunday Times.' Your last piece was voted at 'The Sunday Times' conference the best foreign despatch from any centre for months past. It is a great question whether we shall really need the office and Miss Michelau under the new regime…Incidentally, I think I shall be packing Stanbury up, also with much regret. Hamburg is comparatively unproductive and his retainer is rather on the high side. [Fleming handwrites: But this is not decided yet. Personally, I think the whole service will benefit from this reorientation and we all look forward to providing foreign coverage for our editors which is really 100% exclusive."

 

Terry, who had previously worked as an army intelligence office, proved to be a valuable asset. Simultaneously with his journalism, and with Fleming’s tacit approval, Terry worked as an agent for the Secret Intelligence Service.



When the war ended, Anthony honed his investigative skills on suspected war criminals. His knowledge of German dialects came from having spent much of his youth in pre-war Berlin where his father was attached to the British embassy. This, along with an intimate familiarity with German military and civilian officialdom, made him a valuable member of the Allied teams preparing evidence for the Nuremberg war crimes trials. Yet journalistically he was a giant, regarding himself as a kind of garde mobile who undertook jobs far from his bureau: Budapest in 1956, Biafra in 1970. He once cut his way (machete in hand) through the South American jungle in search of war criminals who had evaded Nuremberg.



A fantastic clandestine lengthy signed letter with superlative content, and a wonderful association piece between both men during the cold war.

 

A fantastic letter, and one which leads Fleming into his later life as an author.



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