James Bond almost had a wildly different first name
nypost.comIan Fleming: The Complete Man,” MI6 superspy James Bond was nearly called Rodney.That surprising revelation, first reported by The Times of London, was discovered in author Ian Fleming’s old papers that the book’s writer Nicholas Shakespeare was given access to.
Rodney Bond, it turns out, was a real person who saved the life of Fleming’s brother Peter in 1941.Peter, a lieutenant colonel in the British Army who died in 1971, was on a training mission in Greece during World War II.
When Germany invaded Athens, Peter attempted to escape with his friends Nancy and Harold Caccia and 70 people from the British embassy, but he was badly injured by an explosion.The Caccias’ daughter Clarissa, who was fleeing with them, recalled, “Peter and Dad from there sent a Morse message to Crete to see if anyone was prepared to come back into enemy-occupied territory and get us.”The message was received by a Secret Intelligence Service officer — Lieutenant Rodney Clarence Mortimer Bond.
Lieutenant Bond answered the call and braved German attacks to heroically rescue the group by fishing boat.Years later, Harold told Clarissa about a 1957 conversation between Ian and Peter after Ian had finished “Dr.
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