I found the 'real' James Bond: Lynette
Published on: Sunday, November 23, 2014
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.jpg "I found the 'real' James Bond: Lynette")
Similarly, the truth about the "real" James Bond is bared in her latest e-book entitled 'In the Mouth of the Tiger' launched in Canberra on October 14, by the Editor of Canberra Times, just before she led of 15-strong Aussie group to Sabah for a week-long Death March trek.Since then, the Australian print media had gone abuzz chasing the "real" James Bond story, climaxing in an appearance of Lynette on Australian national television Channel 9, interviewed by a James Bond look-alike, on a James Bond set, just yesterday (Saturday).007 is a Mi6 secret service number!
Lynette told the Daily Express the series of fascinating events that led her to crack the 62-year mystery as to who the "real" James Bond is, since 1952 when Fleming, novelist and spy, authored 'Casino Royale'. "Fleming was interviewed on many occasions," Lynette said."However, the one question that he failed to answer before he died at 56 years old in 1964 from a heart attack was, 'Who was the real James Bond? Was he based on a real spy?'"For a start, some of the events depicted in the James Bond series most certainly happened," she said. "For example, a gambling incident inspired 'Casino Royale', and the opening scene of 'Goldfinger' was based on an event Fleming personally witnessed, when wartime Serbian double agent, Dusan Popov, emerged from the sea in 1940 to make contact with Dutch agents, wearing full evening dress protected by a rubber suit," Lynette noted. "Wilfred Dunderdale, head of the British spy organisation, Mi6, in Paris, definitely exhibited some of Bond's more flamboyant characteristics." "For instance, Dunderdale had an eye for women and a penchant for fast cars. He also drove an armour-plated Rolls Royce, opted for hand-made suits and wore cufflinks by Cartier." Lynette points out in an exclusive interview wit the Daily Express.One curious question: Who is Fleming's 'primary model' for Bond? "There were also a number of derring-do or danger-defying types who undertook clandestine operations in Europe, who could have supplied the action for Fleming's novels. "But, the one question that has intrigued many and which has never been answered with any degree of satisfaction who Fleming used as his primary model." Lynette said Bond's fictional credentials, which Fleming created for his novels, was a Commander in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, and Agent 007 in Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, also known as Mi6."Many of his well-known tastes and traits mirror those of Fleming himself: his fondness for women and alcohol, his golf handicap, the custom-made cigarettes, his London Club, and the same brand of toiletries. "Fleming would only say that he had based Bond on people he had met during his wartime service with Britain's wartime intelligence."So, who was the real James Bond?
Lynette said she had "dismissed" the various names that people put forward, claiming in some way or other to be 'the' inspiration. "For instance, Sidney Riley 'Ace of Spies' - those who died long before WW2, or were not involved in WW2 intelligence, along with others whose intelligence work was limited solely to the war, who had no close or personal connection to Fleming, or who have, for various reasons disqualified themselves."The 'real' Bond is aformer Mi6 agent: Lynette
"But I am certain that I have identified the 'real' James Bond - a mysterious former Mi6 agent and a close friend of Fleming, who shares too many qualities with Bond for it to be pure coincidence," Lynette was emphatic.Here is how she actually bumped into uncovering the 'real' James Bond story, when she was not looking for it.Rendezvous with the 'real' Bond in 1996!
"The story begin in 1996 when I was researching the final days of Singapore, when I learned that an 'elderly gentleman', a former British Naval Intelligence Officer, who then lived in Canberra, had been onboard the evacuation ship, Empire Star. His name was Denis Emerson-Elliot," noted Lynette.Denis, wanted on the head hunt list of Japan's Imperial Army for the deaths of Japanese agents, was put on the evacuation ship for civilians and key military officers. "With a name like that he wasn't hard to find," she said. "I looked him up the phone book and made the call.""He was happy to talk to me. After discussing the evacuation from Singapore, we chatted generally about wartime events there. When he mentioned the names of his colleagues, names that were known to me through my research work into secret wartime intelligence, I said, 'well, in that case you must have belonged to Mi6.' "To which he replied, 'I couldn't possibly talk about that on the phone.' The 'real' Bond doesn't like flying!"A week or so later he called to tell me he would be in Sydney and invited to meet him, face to face, so we could talk. As he didn't like flying, he was taking the train to Perth and had a transit stop of four to five hours. He gave me my instructions: Place: Central Railway Station, country platformTime: 11amRecognition Signal: He would be emerging from the Canberra train carrying a black leather briefcase.'"The weather was dreadful that day - cold, drizzly and overcast," Lynette remembered. "But as a bit of a joke I wore a trench coat, which spies supposedly wear," she quipped.The spirited mood contradicted the miserable weather, however."Despite the depressing winter weather, I was in high spirits. Denis Emerson-Elliot, whom I have privately dubbed 'Mi6', sounded very intriguing. "As an Officer in the Royal Naval Reserve, he had served with the Department of Naval Intelligence in Australia after his evacuation from Singapore and had spent the remainder of the war as a personal assistant of the Director, who was Mi6's 'man in Australia'. "The train consisted of only two carriages. I had no idea of what he looked like but I did know from our phone conversations that Mi6 sounded terribly British," said Lynette.In the company of aformer Mi6 master spy!
"The train eventually arrived and out stepped an elderly man, immaculately dressed and groomed. I didn't need to look for the black leather briefcase under his arm. I knew that this had to be my Mi6 spy."He suggested that we had lunch and led the way. He did not select one of the smaller cafes, which were quiet and cosily inviting. Instead he headed for one filled with a chattering lunch-time crowd. "I doubted that there would be a spare table, but 'Mi6'spotted one and made a beeline for it," Lynette recalled a swift, direct and somewhat baffling choice of venue."Old habits die hard - especially if you have spent your whole life in the Secret Service. The table Emerson-Elliot chose was in the far corner of this busy, noisy cafe. The chair he selected for himself allowed him to have his back to the wall, at the same time giving him a direct line of sight to the door. My trench coat was no longer a joke," a distinct realisation that she was in the company of a former master spy."We had plenty to talk about and it is not surprising that we developed an instant rapport. I had spent years immersing myself in wartime events which he was describing from first hand experience. We were like two old friends, reliving the glorious days of the Empire and reminiscing about former colleagues, many of them secret agents, whom I also 'knew' through my research," she said.Son of 'real' Bond Derekno idea dad was a spy!
Dubbed as a "walking encyclopaedia" on the Death March, it was no surprise that Emerson-Elliot was impressed with Lynette's knowledge of secret wartime operations in Southeast Asia and Australia, and the two forged a close relationship and his younger son, Derek, a barrister, who had no idea that his father was a spy until 1990. "Until this revelation," she said, "Derek had thought his father had amassed the wealth from a company he had owned to support a good lifestyle - lovely homes in exotic places round the world, servants, nice (and fast) cars - and that he had retired early!" Lynette began to sound even more absorbing."During my discussion with Denis", Lynette said, "he revealed more and more information, talking to me about wartime matters he had never mentioned to his family.""He told Derek, after one meeting: That girl (Lynette) knows too much!"However, he also confided that he was speaking to me about many things he believed should be made known, as 'she (Lynette) knows how to handle the truth'. Some of this previously unknown information about wartime missions appears in my book Deadly Secrets," said Lynette. The day when British Secret Service No BB007 identifies Emerson-Elliot! Lynette said it wasn't until some years after Emerson-Elliot's death in 1997 that she discovered that he had kept one particular secret to himself."That particular secret struck home one day when Derek showed me some of his father's papers and, as I was reading through them, the number BB007 came up. I asked Derek if he knew what it meant. He didn't. But I did," Lynette said. "I told him that it was his father's British secret service number, and laughed that it was the same number as the fictitious James Bond!" Was it a laughing matter? "I was astonished when Derek replied, 'Well, Dad was a friend of Ian Fleming, trained within in Scotland for Mi6' and was his 'opposite' number in England during the war, where he held the same post with British Naval Intelligence, as Dad had in Australia. "They were in close contact throughout the entire war," Lynette recalled the stunning moment of truth."Derek also showed me a photo of Emerson-Elliot and Fleming, taken while they were at an Mi6 training house in Scotland, in 1934." "BB", Lynette explained, stands for British Bureau, a prefix that was assigned to secret agents. "I knew this because I had previously investigated two other British agents who had joined special operations in Australia. Their numbers were BB187 and BB233, which shows Denis had been recruited very early."Son found mother wasn't'English rose' but Russian
"Derek also discovered, from his father's papers, that his mother,'Norma Emerson-Elliot', was not an 'English rose' born in Taunton Somerset but a white Russian, named Nona Orlov, whose mother had escaped from the Bolsheviks to Malaya. British intelligence had reinvented her in 1939 and given her a British passport," Lynette delved progressively into the climax of the story. The 'real' Bond infiltrated Chin Peng's communist headquartersin Cameron Highlands!
"Derek," Lynette added, "was old enough in 1947 to remember living in a large house in the Cameron Highlands during the Communist Uprising, known as the 'Malayan Emergency'. "The house next door was the Secret Communist Headquarters, but the family, unlike many other Europeans who were killed by bandits, were never attacked. The reason being that the communists believed that Emerson-Elliot was on their side. Just as well. Anyone who crossed the communists ended up dead, buried in the rose garden of the house," Lynette said. It is no surprise that Emerson-Elliot knew Chin Peng, head of the Malayan Communist Party. Even Derek remembered seeing Chin Peng, Lynette said. "After the Emergency ended, the family went to England, where Derek met many prominent Mi6 people who visited their country mansion, Almer Manor. Guests included Fleming who, of course, was yet to publish the first Bond novels."Finding the 'real' Bond who loved fast cars and spoke many languages Applying the Process of Elimination to identify the individual of interest by excluding all other guys, Lynette eventually narrowed down the 'real' Bond to Emerson-Elliot. "Some of the people who were supposed to be the inspiration for Bond can be dismissed, because they either weren't involved in intelligence work before or after WW2, or had no close or personal connection to Fleming," Lynette noted."For example, the name of Wing Commander Forest Yeo - Thomas, known as the White Rabbit, has been put forward. He served with distinction behind enemy lines as secret agent but his only connection to Fleming was a memo Fleming wrote in May 1945 outlining Yeo-Thomas' escape from Nazis."Denis, on the other hand, ticks all the boxes. Firstly, we have his long-term friendship with Fleming. Both men were recruited by Mi6 around the same time and trained together in Scotland. They were colleagues before, during and after the war," Lynette argued."Secondly, Bond and Emerson-Elliot share a similar background," she added."Emerson-Elliot was an officer with the Royal Naval Reserve. Like Bond, he worked for Mi6 - before, during and after the war. Like Bond, he spoke several languages fluently. "He also enjoyed the company of women, was suave, sophisticated, urbane, charming, charismatic and loved fast cars. But most importantly, Emerson-Elliot had a British secret service number. And like Bond, it was 007," Lynette dropped the bombshell.Ruthless 'real' Bond kept low profile
Although Emerson-Elliot could be ruthless and assassinate people if the need arose, which it did, he kept a low profile. "Real spies do not behave like James Bond!" Lynette noted."But like Bond, real spies do not operate under their own names," she added. "So, Denis Emerson-Elliot wasn't his real name," Lynette unleashed more surprise."He was born in London in 1905 as Leonard Emerson. But according to his British passport, he was born in Somerset in 1908 as Leslie Denis Elliot. He used this name when he went out to India and Malaya in the 1920s, after he'd become involved with Mi6. Later he added his real surname, and a new passport was issued as Leslie Denis Emerson-Elliot," she said.Book 95pc 'faction': Lynette
Lynette and Derek have co-authored the book 'In the Mouth of the Tiger', based on Emerson-Elliot's early life.Written as a novel, she says the book is best described as 'faction', fact written as fiction because "almost all the characters are real people, and almost everything that happens, actually happened", Lynette explained. "The ending though, is pure invention. We decided on this format because we can add bits to make the story flow, and put in conversation. In percentage terms, about 95 per cent is true. We leave it to the readers to work out what is not! A bit like Fleming's plots," she explained.Reason for 'In the Mouth of the Tiger'
"We call this book In the Mouth of the Tiger, taken from a Malayan saying that the safest place in the jungle is in the mouth of the tiger. This was certainly true during the Emergency! "They were right in the tiger's mouth, but protected, just as a tiger cub is safe from attack when its mother moves it from place to place," Lynette explained further."Emerson-Elliot's James Bond connection, which is also revealed in the book, has created a great deal of interest in Australia, and has been picked up by James Bond buffs," she said.Derek has been interviewed by the media on a number of occasions since the book was published, and yesterday (Saturday) Lynette appeared on Channel 9, national TV in Australia, interviewed by a James Bond look-alike, on a James Bond set!The 'real' Bond ashamed of himself: Lynette
"We are at pains to point out, however, that Bond is fictional," Lynette said."But only a fictional character could possibly smile his way through the deceit, treachery and mayhem that James Bond encounters," Lynette said. "The reality is very different. Being a spy profoundly affected Emerson-Elliot. In later life, he was ashamed he had to lie, deceive and betray people he often knew and even liked," she said. "I found he was deeply saddened by some of the things he had done. This included bumping-off a Dutch-Eurasian, who was a Japanese agent. Enemy messages intercepted and decoded by Naval Intelligence had revealed that he (the Dutch-Eurasian) had infiltrated the Coast watching network in the islands to Australia's north and had to be eliminated. "Emerson-Elliot shot him through the head while the man was kneeling down, rummaging in his pack on an isolated jungle trail, but at the last instant he raised his hand and Emerson-Elliot blew off the top of his head," Lynette related the cold blooded incident to Daily Express. 'Real' Bond haunted by his own ruthless killing
"Emerson-Elliot was also haunted by the elimination of a Soviet Naval officer, Vladimir Skripkin, who worked for Russian intelligence and tried to defect to Mi6's far Eastern Bureau in 1946, when he was back in Singapore," she said."We believe that Emerson-Elliot deliberately betrayed Skripkin to the Russians, in order to convince the communists that he was on their side. This enabled him to infiltrate the Communist movement in Malaya," Lynette said. "The irony is, Kim Philby, the infamous English spy who really was working for the Russians, was blamed for betraying Skripkin, who was subsequently executed by the KGB. Philby always denied he had betrayed Skripkin, and I believe him," Lynette opined."I don't suppose anyone really knew the real Denis Emerson-Elliot, secret agent 007," Lynette reflected. "His very name, along with his background details, are all fake. But to me, he was an utterly charming man, smooth as silk, intriguing, secretive and wonderful company - just like James Bond!"Lynette summed up her single 1996 face-to-face rendezvous in Perth with mystery guy who had inspired the fictitious James Bond which had rocked the world of entertainment.
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