Over the last half century there’s always been some exaggeration in James Bond movies concerning how the British Intelligence services work.
Last year the current real life M (known as C), Sir Alex Younger, claimed that 007 would fail the MI6 recruitment process because of his immoral character.
Despite this, a new book by historian Henry Hemming has revealed that the original M – who Ian Fleming based his MI6 boss on – recruited agents in the same way that Bond is in the films.
The book, Maxwell Knight: MI5’s greatest spymaster, looked at the most important qualities that M wanted in his spies.
Speaking with The Telegraph, Hemming revealed: “M was looking for watchers: people who pick up unusual details that other people might not.
“And in his experience, usually these are people who have been held back in some way in childhood.
“Somebody who has lost a parent at an early age, or had some physical handicap meaning they hadn’t been able to join in with games when they were growing up, so they were literally on the sidelines.
“When it comes to losing a parent at an early age you are in need of a father figure – and a spymaster becomes this father figure in your life and fills the void. It could be a mother as well, it’s just losing a parent.”
From examining declassified documents on Knight’s spies, the historian found a pattern.
He continued: “Again and again, I found that they had something go dramatically wrong in their childhood – a lot of them had lost a parent or they had some kind of physical handicap.”
One example is spy thriller writer John Le Carré, who worked for M during the 1950s and had an absent father for the majority of his childhood.
Hemming added: “The first [quality] was, strangely enough, having a sense of humour. M would always say that someone who neither made jokes nor got jokes was unlikely to ever think fast on their feet.
“The other was memory, loyalty was also crucial [and] the ability to not only lie but also to know you are being lied to. He wanted someone who was motivated in other words someone who was patriotic and wanted to serve their country.”
With years of cheesy puns, especially from Sir Roger Moore, a real life James Bond would certainly have done well when it came to humour.
Daily Express :: Entertainment Feed
