Hugh Sebagmontefiore

Spy fiction

Have historians exaggerated Ian Fleming’s role in the cracking of the Enigma code?

Have historians exaggerated Ian Fleming’s role in the cracking of the Enigma code?

Ian Fleming is best known for his novels about the superspy James Bond. But his reputation as a creative genius has been considerably enhanced by his exploits during the second world war as a lieutenant commander in naval intelligence. He has been praised in particular for coming up with Operation Ruthless, the first viable plan to capture naval Enigma codebooks for Alan Turing and his codebreakers at Bletchley Park.

In the words of the official Enigma historian, this was ‘a somewhat ungentlemanly scheme’. That was putting it mildly. The plan was that a British pilot would crash land a captured German bomber beside a German rescue ship in the English Channel, and British secret agents disguised as Germans would mow down their German rescuers so that they could seize the Enigma codebooks.

That drama never took place. But Ruthless has never been forgotten, because it inspired a series of similar schemes which eventually led to the capture of the Enigma codebooks and the breaking of the code. Fleming has always taken the credit for it: his authorship is even celebrated in an exhibit at Bletchley Park, the country estate near Milton Keynes where the Enigma codebreaking took place.

There is only one problem. Newly disclosed documents show that Fleming was not in fact the author. The documents — which were released to me by GCHQ so I could include them in an updated edition of my Enigma book, but remain Crown copyright because they have yet to be declassified — suggest that the plan was really thought up by a man named Frank Birch. Like Fleming, Birch had served his time in naval intelligence and was a writer, though he was also an actor and broadcaster.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in