Ian Fleming's commandos : the story 30 Assault Unit in WWII
"The true story of Ian Fleming's Second World War unit, the real-life inspiration for James Bond. In 1942, Lieutenant-Commander Ian Fleming RNVR was personal assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence - the dynamic figure behind James Bond's fictional chief, 'M'. In the Admiralty, Fleming had a brilliant idea: why not set up a unit of authorised looters, men who would go in with front-line troops to steal enemy intelligence? Known as '30 Assault Unit', they took part in the landings in North Africa, Sicily and Normandy and helped liberate Paris. But 30AU really came into their own in Germany in 1945 and their final amazing coup was to seize the entire archives of the German Navy - over 300 tons of documents. Ian Fleming flew out in person to bring the loot back to Britain, where it was combed for evidence to use in the Nuremberg trials. In this gripping and highly enjoyable book, Nicholas Rankin, author of the bestselling Churchill's Wizards, puts 30 Assault Unit's fascinating story in a strategic and intelligence context. He also argues that Ian Fleming's Second World War service was one of the most significant periods of his life - without this, the most popular spy fiction of the twentieth century would not have been written"--Publisher's website
History
1 online resource (xvi, 397 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations, maps, portraits
9780571277803, 0571277802
978255911
Print version:
1. Day trip to Dieppe
2. The godfather
3. Technology and war
4. The philosophy of the pinch
5. Doing deals
6. The commandos get cracking
7. Mapping the future
8. Mayhem on the Maghreb
9. Testing the waters
10. Invasion of the islands
11. Freeing the French
12. Breakthrough
13. Operation Plunder
14. Getting the goods
15. Aftermath
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archive.org Free eBook from the Internet Archive
openlibrary.org Additional information and access via Open Library
