British Naval Intelligence

Frey WG. 1969. British naval intelligence and scurvy. New Engl. J. Med. 281 1430-1433. 

Ian Fleming is a character almost as fascinating as his fictional creation, James Bond. Most of you reading this book are already famihar with his history. Fleming s life has been chronicled fairly comprehensively—or so one would think. Yet, one occasionally comes across previously unknown adventures of his, recorded outside the standard Fleming references, particularly of his illustrious wartime career as a Commander in British Naval Intelligence. 

The simple fact was that the British Intelhgence Service didn t trust him and never had. Nor did others. A 1918 report compiled by the US Navy s Office of Naval Intelligence probably came closest to the mark when it labeled him and his dubious cronies as international confidence men of the highest class (Spence, 2002 144). Reilly was always more a con man and crook than a spy. Bribery, blackmail and even murder were his standard operating procedure. As we shall see, Reilly s System mimicked that of his erstwhile employer and probable mentor, Basil Zaharoff... 

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