One of Britain’s greatest spies of World War II, known by the code name “White Rabbit”, has been identified as the inspiration behind Ian Fleming’s celebrated character James Bond, claims a new book.
A new biography of Wing Commander Forest “Tommy” Yeo-Thomas claims that, like Bond, he surrounded himself with women and ruthlessly saw off his enemies.
It also suggests that many of his real-life adventures were recreated in Fleming’s novels, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
Yeo-Thomas was parachuted into occupied France three times — after one mission reporting back directly to Churchill — before being captured and tortured by the Gestapo. He was taken to Buchenwald but managed to escape and reach Allied lines. Historian Sophie Jackson discovered Yeo-Thomas’ link to Bond in recently declassified documents. The dossier includes a May 1945 memo in which Fleming, who also worked in intelligence during the war, informs colleagues of his escape.
Jackson explores the link in her book, Churchill’s White Rabbit: The True Story Of A Real-Life James Bond.
“It shows that Fleming was interested in the case and had been following it. Fleming picked up the story and was interested in it,” she was quoted as saying by the paper. “There are other significant parallels between Yeo-Thomas and Bond, in their personal life, their relationships with women ... and the way Yeo-Thomas acted as a secret agent. He acts in a way we think of fictional spies acting,” she said.