The Name’s Bond....James Bond

Why did Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming, choose that name for his Agent 007? It’s an interesting story.

During World War II, Fleming was a British Naval Intelligence Officer. He spent some time at Camp X [in Ontario], where allied recruits learned their spy craft. The top secret installation, on the north shore of Lake Ontario was a very busy place and, during the Summer 1942, the camp was filled to capacity.

So, visitors like FBI Director J.Edgar Hoover, as well as the head of the U.S. Office of Strategic Studies or OSS, precursor to the CIA, “Wild Bill” Donovan, were encouraged by the camp commander to stay at local hotels. Fleming, however, chose not to. He decided, instead to stay with friends in Toronto, about a 45 minute drive away.
There, every morning, sipping his tea on the front porch, while awaiting his ride to Camp X, Fleming gazed directly across the street to a church.... St.James-Bond United Church.

There’s no such saint as St.James-Bond. Why the name, then? Well, the short answer is that St.James Square Presbyterian Church and Bond Street Congregational Church merged. In any case, the building is now vacated. However, that’s where Ian Fleming first saw “James Bond”.

One of Fleming’s contemporaries at Camp X was Paul Edward Dehn, a British Major and political warfare instructor at the installation. Dehn was never a household name like Fleming became. He was nevertheless a very interesting man. An Oxford graduate and Oscar-winning screen-writer, his post-war film credits included “Murder on the Orient Express”, “The Spy who came in from the Cold” and “Night of the Generals”.

Dehn and Fleming remained in contact, long after the war. In fact, the two collaborated on the screen play for “Goldfinger”, arguably the best James Bond film of them all. Their backgrounds in intelligence and their shared knowledge of unconventional warfare training no doubt helped.

And, one more small thing....When the Camp X staffers needed to unwind, they left the camp and went to a downtown hotel bar. They parked their cars behind the hotel, which just happened to back onto BOND STREET.
Richard Inwood May 2016 

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