William Stephenson contributed in many ways to the war against Hitler. Not the least of his achievements was running an espionage camp in Whitby, Ontario, Canada, where he trained American, Canadian, and British operatives. Retiring in Bermuda, he was visited by Ian Fleming who listened to his stories with great interest. Ian admitted to using some of William’s characteristics in the building of James Bond.
This is rather dismissive when Ian Fleming explicitly credited William Stephenson for not only being one of the main inspirations, but being a far more effective spy than Bond:
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