186 • FLEMING, PETER
reader ofJohn Buchan’s novels, it may well be that there was no
single model for Bond, and Fleming simply relied upon his imagina-
tion. However, there was an occasion when Fleming stayed in neutral
Lisbon while en route to the United States, and it is widely believed
that the spectacle of watching Axis spies and diplomats playing rou-
lette alongside their Allied counterparts may have inspired some of
the scenes for his first Bond novel,Casino Royale, which he com-
pleted in 1952. After its publication he approached his wife’s old
friend,Somerset Maugham, for an endorsement that could be used
to promote the book, but the old man declined, not because he had
not thoroughly enjoyed the book but because he was not prepared to
break his rule against advertising other authors. At the end of the war,
Fleming returned to Fleet Street before moving permanently to Ja-
maica, where he had built his famous home, Goldeneye. Fleming
died in 1964 aged 56, at the height of his fame, having published 13
Bond thrillers.FLEMING, PETER.A well-known writer and traveler before World
War II and brother ofIan Fleming, Peter Fleming was educated at
Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, before joining the Grenadier
Guards as a reservist in 1930. He saw action in Norway in 1940 and
upon his return to England was posted toMI(R)to trainAuxiliary
Unitsat a country house in Bilting, Kent. In 1941 Fleming was dis-
patched toPalestineto recruit Italian prisoners of war foryak, but
when the project failed he took a team of saboteurs toGreeceto
block the German invasion. His escape took place in the typically
elegant surroundings of the British Legation’s yacht. Soon after his
return to Haifa, MI(R) was wound up, and Fleming was recalled to
London for a new assignment, as head of Allieddeceptionin India
andBurma, designatedD Division, where he invented numerous in-
genious schemes to mislead the Japanese.
FLETCHER, REX.Reginald T. H. Fletcher, known to his friends as
Rex, joined the Royal Navy in 1899 at the age of 14 and saw action
in destroyers at the Dardanelles and with the Grand Fleet and the
Channel Patrol. After World War I he was posted to theNaval Intelli-
gence Division, where, as head of the Near East section, he served
under AdmiralHugh Sinclair, soon to be appointed chief of theSe-